BARBED WIRE TO BOOGIE WOOGIE
A Story of Resilience in the
WWII Japanese American Concentration Camps

In WWII, over 125,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were unjustly imprisoned in US Army, Department of Justice, and War Relocation Authority camps during World War II - now called American Concentration Camps. Families survived this horrendous experience through "gaman" - the Japanese term meaning "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity." This program demonstrates one way the parents used "gaman" for their children through music and dance.

Dance preservationist Rusty Frank presents the uniquely American art form of swing dance through oral history and archival clips, and discusses how it gave young people respite from their lives in the WWII American prison camps.

In each of the camps, dance bands were formed and the young Nisei held weekly dances enjoying the swing music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington.

Takayo Tsubouchi Fischer and June Aochi Berk, who met while incarcerated at the Rohwer Relocation Center(prison camp) in Arkansas at the age of 10, share photos, dance cards and other memorabilia.

Rusty pictured with June Berk and Takayo Fischer