One post is all it took to turn Morgan Bullock into a household name in the world of Irish Dancing. In 2020, the Virginia-born dancer posted a TikTok of herself stepping to Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage.” By matching the fluid footwork of traditional Irish dance with the snare and kick drum of the Billboard chart-topper, Bullock brought two seemingly opposing worlds together—proving that passion transcends binaries.

In this moving portrait of a genre-defying dancer, director Haley Anderson pared down the frame to spotlight the static virtuosity of Irish dancing. Shot on analog film against a simple black backdrop, Bullock challenges herself to a dance-off soundtracked by Cautious Clay and Saba’s “Strange Love.” The screen splits to reveal two Bullocks; one in traditional competition dress and the other in a blue sweatsuit, dancing in a laid-back manner.
The phenom describes how, at the age of 10, when she first fell in love with Irish dancing, she had to become her own inspiration as there were not many Black Irish dancers to look up to. In 2021, Bullock made her dream debut with the acclaimed Irish dancing show, Riverdance. Now the star uses her new platform to be an inspiration to younger generations of young, Black Irish dancers.
Read an interview with director Haley Anderson:

As someone who has created stunning music videos and commercial work, how did working with a dancer differ from working with a musician or actor?

First of all thank you—for the compliment and for having me on this project. I’ve followed Jacob’s Pillow’s projects over the years so it meant a lot to contribute in some way.

My objective for everyone I have the privilege of filming is to find the best way to highlight them and what they do. How can I capture their essence, their work or their story in the most cinematic way that doesn’t detract from them and draw attention to the filmmaking? How can the filmmaking enhance or flow with who they are and what they’re doing? Morgan’s dance videos are so special and memorable, I wanted to make something that was reminiscent of them.

What is your visual approach to character-driven storytelling?

I think this is related to the previous question. Oftentimes, I can tell a lot about a person just by sitting next to them for some time. Visually, I always think of how we see a person or see into a person. In narratives, point of view is everything. Intimacy is everything. When watching Morgan dance, I took into consideration how she filmed herself and how people are familiar with her. I wanted people to relate to the image in a way they did with the images of her on TikTok, but also wanted to elevate it, putting her in the spotlight.

How did Morgan's genre-blending dance style challenge or inspire your approach to filming this project?

Irish Dance is very static—there’s little travel throughout the dance pieces. It’s about the steps, the footwork and the posture. As Morgan says, it’s not the most natural way to move a body but it’s grounded in historical narrative. While we were filming, she explained why the top of the body needed to be static while dancing—that it was related to the Irish trying to avoid the suspicion of British soldiers passing by, looking through their windows. If the top of their body looked stiff, they wouldn’t know they were doing traditional Irish dances that were outlawed at the time. I hope I’ve remembered that correctly!

Because of these elements, I wanted the film to highlight the steps, Morgan’s feet and costume. Watching her dance made me realize that we could fracture the dance in the edit to highlight what makes it special and cause it to feel more dynamic. I started thinking about a few references: old school Sesame Street shorts, Fred Astaire, and The Wiz. In the smallest of ways they crept into the video.

What did you learn about Irish Dancing that you think everyone should know?

Imani Johnson, another Black young woman who is competing at a very high level in Irish Dance, mentioned that she was inspired by Morgan. It’s an art form that many Black young women are interested in and I hope that when people learn about them, they keep in mind how much love, respect, and passion they put into their craft to keep the tradition alive.