Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters movie review (2021)

Rosalynde LeBlanc, a former member of Jones’ company (she said she decided to become a dancer after seeing “D-Man in the Waters” when she was 16 years old) and now on the dance faculty at Loyola Marymount University, co-directed “Can You Bring It” with cinematographer Tom Hurwitz. The film operates on a couple of different tracks simultaneously. There are interviews with Jones, and other original members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane dance company (Arthur Aviles, Janet Lilly, Heidi Latsky, Lawrence Goldhuber, Seán Curran), who talk about 1980s New York, the formation of the company, and the rich and exciting atmosphere of the era right before AIDS arrived. On a separate track, LeBlanc directs her Loyola students in a re-creation of the famous dance, and the film tracks that grueling process from auditions to opening night. Jones himself shows up to witness the students’ progress and provide tips and insight.

LeBlanc faces the challenge of moving “D-Man” out of its original context, where a group of real-life friends came to terms with what was happening to their community (one original company member says, “Half of my phone book died.”). LeBlanc hosts a group discussion about AIDS (shockingly, judging from the students’ responses, knowledge of AIDS has not been passed down), as well as sharing what current-day issues are on their minds. The students have a difficult time translating the issues that matter to them into the dance. They can do the dance moves, but they can’t fill them with intention. LeBlanc’s desire to pull the students out of what she calls their “stasis” is a beautiful thing to see. She has them do exercises to help them connect, and it’s amazing to watch one girl literally dissolve in tears just by looking in the eyes of a fellow dancer. Whether or not the students are “successful” in moving “D-Man” into their own time is not really the point. What matters is the attempt, what matters is the process. Among its many other virtues “Can You Bring It” is a great film about the creative process. People think of the creative process as “inspiration” leading to a triumphant public reveal. But process is sweat, sweat, and more sweat. Watch how specific LeBlanc’s coaching style is, and how helpful such specificity is to the young dancers. At one point LeBlanc senses a certain moment is missing something, and she tells the dancer to really feel the body of the dancer behind her, sink into his body, let his body support hers. The move is totally transformed the next time the dancer does it. It’s expressive and full. When LeBlanc asks the students what’s bothering them, so often the answers have to do only with what affects them in their small sphere. Her directive is to include “us”—the audience, the world.

Interspersed throughout all this is dreamy footage of the current Bill T. Jones company dancers performing “D-Man In the Waters,” on a darkened stage, their bodies launching into the air, backs arched, with dancers underneath stretching their arms up to catch the falling figure. Showing the different sections of the dance, done as they are meant to be done by professional dancers, is very helpful when the scene shifts back to the Loyola rehearsals. We now know what it’s supposed to look like, and what the students are trying to achieve. All in all, it’s very elegantly put together.