Jit the Funk Up and Dance!
Presented by QWNTYM
Jit the Funk Up and Dance! is part concert and part showcase. It centers on Detroit’s techno sounds and its original urban dances born in the 1970s: Jit and Funkateer. Hosted by QWNTYM (Quantum) and featuring DJ Deadline, this event is packed with original music performances, DJ sets, choreography, and freestyle solos, combining choreography and live rap performance simultaneously.
Jit the Funk Up and Dance! is the merging of the jit and funkateer dance forms, sprinkled with a bit of history, acknowledgments, and crowd-participation lessons. The project engages the very residents who preserve, perform, and protect our dance heritage. Ronald Ford Jr. held workshops in several high schools to attract younger audiences, starting with Southeastern High School of Technology and Law and Denby High School, where he attended and first learned how to jit then funkateer.
During the show, each song features a different set of jitters that individualizes that song’s concept. Between sets, live mixes highlight new locally produced techno, house, & electro tracks as jitters freestyle. Members of the audience also have a chance to display their dance skills. Local jitters address the problem of underrepresentation of urban dance culture in the very city that gave birth to those forms.
Date: November 23, 2019
Partner: International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit
Location: 111 E Kirby St, Detroit, MI 48202
Coordinates: 42.36108, -83.06473
About the Artist
Ronald Ford Jr. first began dancing at two years old, when he mimicked James Brown. Little did he know that 10 years later, he would be learning the only two original Detroit dance styles: jit and funkateer. Since then, he has been thrilling audiences in Germany, Korea, at the Palace of Auburn Hills, The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, and the Movement Electronic Music Festival’s main stage, to name a few. Along with his dance group, Unstoppables, he has danced for world-renowned acts such as Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, Los Hermanos, and AUX 88. Using the stage name QWNTYM, pronounced “Quantum,” Ronald has also been composing electronic music for 15 years, mainly focusing on the Detroit techno and electro genres. His mission is to continue showcasing unique Detroit dances and music to the world. In addition to his music and dance endeavors, Ronald is also a playwright and director.