Southfield studio bringing back Jit Dance

(FOX 2) - Jit dance may be woven into the fabric of Detroit, but it's only recently seeing a resurgence as a Southfield studio attempts to bring it back.

Requiring some serious arm and foot work, the genre mixes aerobics and the dance floor into a smooth synchronization of kicks, shuffles, stomps, and slides.

"It's a Detroit thing," one dancer declared at Jit Masters LLC.

"It belongs to us," said Michael Smith. "You got all of these different styles all over the country and we wanted to have Jit be respected and bring that back. And that's where you've seen this movement in the last five or six years go."

Smith started Jit Masters LLC as a way to teach the art on the proper platform.

"It's funky. Upbeat. But you can do it slow. You can do it to how you feel. Freedom of expression, that type of thing," he said.

Smith said the dance art is also making its mark on the stage in other venues, including Black opera. "It's exciting to have this dance, which was kind of a dying art, to have that resurgence and people being able to enjoy it," he said.

One dancer described the dance as a little like kung fu. "So when I say that, I know everybody has seen Enter the Dragon. Are those fancy martial arts movies, like Jit is one of those things where you can never ever stop learning."

Learn more about the studio by visiting their location at 21630 Melrose Avenue in Southfield.