00:00My name is Jelaine Edwards, producer of the new season of Why Not Us? Southern Dance premiering exclusively on ESPN Plus on August 11th.
00:17Coming out to join me and talk about the series is executive producer and NBA superstar, Mr. Chris Paul.
00:25How you doing? What's up? What's up? How you doing? Excellent. Excellent. All right, Chris, let's talk about the Why Not Us series. It focuses specifically on HBCU storytelling. Season one, we did North Carolina Central Basketball. Season two, we did FAMU football. And this season, we are talking about Southern Dance.
00:53Why is it important for you to tell authentic HBCU stories?
00:58Man, I think it's important because a lot of times these stories don't get told, right?
01:03I grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, right in the heart of all the different HBCUs.
01:09And it's very important to tell these stories, especially these strong black women and what they're doing and what they're trying to achieve.
01:16Yes. Now, this season, we're talking about a very unique part of HBCU culture, dance lines.
01:24Now, why is it important to you to help showcase and shine a light on the dance culture at HBCUs?
01:30Man, dance culture is everything. I think a lot of times when people think about HBCUs, they think about the athletes, the football team, basketball team.
01:39But me and my brother, we used to go to the games so that we could see the band, right, so that we could see the dance team.
01:45And I think there's so much energy and so much that goes into it that kids need to see people that look like them who are out there training to do big things.
01:56Yes, definitely, definitely. Now, Chris, you always support women's sports, always showing out for the ladies and women's athletics.
02:05How important is it for this show to specifically shine a light on the young black women at Southern University?
02:12Man, I think it's very important. You know, with Southern being right here down in Baton Rouge, these women, they work hard.
02:19They work really, really hard. They train day in and day out.
02:23I talked to some of the some of the ladies backstage. They they've been dancing since they were two years old. Right.
02:29So to see all of the sacrifice that goes into it. I'm a father.
02:34I have a 13 year old son, a nine daughter. Right. So a lot of times they don't get a chance to turn on the TV and see people that look like them.
02:41And especially for my daughter, I'm always going to try to make sure that I empower her and show her other women of color that are that are strong and beautiful and doing doing nice things.
02:51Now, I will say me personally, I'm excited for everyone to see this series specifically because it gives people a chance to see themselves on TV.
03:01Now, what do you hope the fans will get once they watch this amazing series on ESPN Plus?
03:07I think the biggest thing that I hope fans get from seeing why not us dancing dolls is to see the passion that these women have. Right.
03:19Like I said, as a kid, I grew up going to all these games. I would be at, you know, the big, big games where Winston-Salem State played against A&T and all of this stuff.
03:31But I think a lot of times you see the band, you see the dancers, you see them when they come out there at halftime before the games.
03:37But you don't get a chance to see the work that they put into it. You don't get a chance to see the exercise and the weightlifting that they're doing, the diet and everything that they're doing.
03:45So this is a real behind the scenes of giving you an opportunity to see what it's like to be a fabulous dancing doll.
03:53Yes, definitely. This show is all about the culture.
03:57So remember, why not us? Southern Dance premieres exclusively on ESPN Plus August 11th.
04:06And head upstairs to the film festival where we will be debuting the first episode of the series.
04:14So come upstairs and meet us at the film festival. I see y'all up there.
04:27Hey Janice Gold.
04:43That's not telling you.
Comments