Originally produced for a West Virginia public television station, Dancing Outlaw is a portrait of Boone County resident Jesse White (Jesco), which somehow manages to be simultaneously scary, truthful, and hilarious. Shown on the PBS series Different Drummers, it gained a cult following and was released on VHS with equally funny outtakes adding to its 30-minute running time. Director Jacob Young apparently intended to make a documentary about the late Appalachian clogger D. Ray White, but ended up focusing on his son, Jesco, and the remaining members of the White family. Young lets his subjects talk at length about themselves without a sense of intrusion, allowing what may be the last bits of Appalachian hillbilly culture to present itself. Jesco's volatile mood changes prove as dangerous as they are unintentionally funny, enough so that Young lost a few sound engineers during the filmmaking process. Although there is certainly violence implied in Jesco's ramblings, there is also an evident appreciation for the dying art form of mountain tap dancing that he has inherited from his dad. There are also numerous repeatable lines that are trademark for Jesco fans. Young's affection for his subjects is marked by the fact that the project must have required a sense of etiquette and respect that few big-city filmmakers could have exhibited. Dancing Outlaw won the Best Documentary award in 1993 from the American Film Institute.
by Andrea LeVasseur
review
