The great documentary “War/Dance” reveals the redemptive power of music, even in the most dire of places. War/Dance follows three teenage children in war-torn Uganda — stoic Nancy, aggressive Dominique, and soft-spoken Rose — and follows a school in the refugee camp of Patongo as they struggle to get into Uganda’s National Music Competition.
The contrast is striking; in interviews, the children describe how their parents were killed by rebels, and then rehearsal footage shows them singing and dancing happily with their classmates.
Some sequences are harrowing (the scene where Nancy mourns the loss of her murdered father is harrowing), but without her we wouldn’t be able to understand the hard-won sense of pride and accomplishment when her school judges the competition.
The inherent structure of the competition gives the documentary a clean and compelling storyline, similar to Mad Hot Ballroom, but the heartbreaking situations and emotional openness of the three teenagers make War/Dance even more compelling.
