Jesco White was born in Bandytown, a small community located in the Appalachian Mountains of Boone County, West Virginia and is an acclaimed mountain dancer. He is best known for two short films about him which detail his desire to follow in his famous father’s footsteps, while trying to overcome depression, drug addiction, and the poverty that afflicts some of rural Appalachia.

His father was D. Ray (Donald Ray) White (1927-1985), who was profiled in the PBS documentary Talking Feet, and his mother is Birty Mae White. Before his murder, D. Ray White was known as one of the greatest mountain dancers in the United States. His style, along with Jesco’s, is a subtle mix of tap and clog dancing that is native to Appalachia.

Jesco White was first profiled on the Public Broadcasting Service’s “A Different Drummer” Series. Because of his popularity, PBS eventually released two documentaries about Jesco. The first was The Dancing Outlaw , directed by Jacob Young, which featured him at home in West Virginia and gave audiences a glimpse into his troubled life.

This film has been difficult to find (not really a Blockbuster type rental), but through the magic that is YouTube, you too can enjoy Jesco.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 13th, 2007 at 5:01 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.