The Dance

The Billy Roth Story

The product of alcoholism, abuse, and neglect, Louisiana native Billy Roth was sent to live with
relatives at the age of four. Taught to box by an uncle who raised him for a short while, by the time he was 16, he was boxing inmates at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Juggled between homes and cities, he disappeared into the world of amateur, and later professional, boxing, while his father slowly drank himself to death.

The Dance is a hypnotic, unflinching look at the past four decades of the remarkable life of Billy Roth, from his amateur and professional boxing victories, to his tireless efforts as a volunteer coach and referee in the Louisiana prison system, to his role as surrogate father to men convicted of armed robbery, manslaughter, and murder. When he could have given in to self-pity or despair, he used the only tool he had to build a life for himself. In the process, he has transformed
the lives of many, many more.

The Dance combines a visually stunning look inside the country’s most dangerous prisons, along with music from world class blues, gospel and bluegrass musicians, and first hand accounts from inmates, former students, and Billy himself, the man thousands of convicted felons call “Pops.”

One day, he dreams that one of his students will become world champion – to make it to “The Dance.” And it seems that dream just may be within reach.