Dance in Film · 1996
They Don't Care About Us (1996)
Spike Lee turns Michael Jackson's protest single into a Brazilian street-procession short where Jackson's sharp solo accents and Olodum's samba-reggae drumline make movement, percussion, and place inseparable.
They Don't Care About Us is a 1996 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 2 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: Free authorized Brazil Version on Michael Jackson's official YouTube channel via MichaelJackson.com (verified 2026-08-09): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q; Apple Music also lists the 1996 video. Availability may change.
Watch it in full
The complete work, on the rights holder's official channel.
The dance sequences in They Don't Care About Us
2 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Brazil version — Olodum street and favela performance
Commercial / Industry DanceDanced by Michael Jackson; Olodum; Pelourinho and Santa Marta community ensemble
Jackson in the red Olodum shirt dancing among the drummers and residents, continuing the performance through the unscripted fan embrace and fall.
Jackson's sharp camera-facing phrasing is carried through Pelourinho and Santa Marta inside Olodum's massed percussion and community procession, so the city streets and crowd become the scale and pulse of the choreography.
Watch this sequence · The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The Estate and official YouTube retain the complete Brazil version; Apple Music identifies the Michael Jackson video as 1996. One continuous performance is retained rather than manufacturing subsections. No scene choreographer or edition-specific timestamp was verified.
Prison version — handcuffed cellblock performance
Commercial / Industry DanceDanced by Michael Jackson
A handcuffed Jackson moving and singing inside the prison as images of police violence, war, and repression cut through the performance.
Confining Jackson's performance to the cellblock turns compact isolations, directional accents, and direct address into protest movement; the surrounding human-rights montage makes each physical attack register as testimony rather than decorative spectacle.
Watch this sequence · The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The Estate and official YouTube retain the complete separate Prison version; Apple Music identifies it as Michael Jackson's 1996 official video. One continuous performance is retained rather than manufacturing subsections. No scene choreographer or edition-specific timestamp was verified.
Poster artwork and title data from TMDB. This site uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.