'Will I Dance Again' Discovers Hope Amid the Ruins of One of America's Darkest Times

      Spoiler alert: Princella D. Smith’s impressive animated short “Will I Dance Again” is likely to resonate most if approached without prior knowledge. Featuring Alfre Woodard and Misty Copeland—who also served as an executive producer—the film revisits one of the darkest chapters of American history through the perspective of a genuine survivor (voiced by Shea Smith). If you’re in Little Rock, check out the film on Saturday at Filmland, and return for an interview with Smith. Alternatively, you can follow her on Instagram for updates. Many spoilers about the real-life events depicted in this remarkable film follow.—M.M.

      Princella D. Smith was hosting a radio show on KARN in Little Rock when she was prompted to interview an author who wrote a book about the Oklahoma City bombing, an event where right-wing terrorist Timothy McVeigh set off a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, claiming 168 lives, including the author’s two grandchildren.

      With a degree in political science and communication, Smith's interest in terrorism began following the September 11, 2001 attacks, which occurred during her senior year of high school. At the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, she was too young to comprehend its significance. However, her perspective shifted after interviewing the author of the book.

      “She asked me if I could help transform her work into some sort of production,” Smith recalls. “Though we ended up parting ways, my fascination with the bombing remained, and I chose to pursue other stories surrounding the OKC bombing, focusing on themes of triumph over tragedy, aiming to create a live-action full-length film.”

      Due to the numerous challenges of creating a full-length live-action film—particularly one featuring widespread destruction—she opted to start with an animated short. In 2024, she released “Walk in the Light,” which tells the story of Raymond Washburn, a hero who helped others to safety despite being blind. This film was Oscar-qualified and nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

      Now, Smith has returned with another animated tale regarding the Oklahoma City bombing, titled “Will I Dance Again.” It centers on Daina Bradley, who was at the Social Security office in the federal building with her mother, sister, and two young children—three-year-old Peachlyn Bradley and three-month-old Gabreon DeShawn Lee Bruce—to pick up a social security card for Gabreon.

      When the bomb exploded, Daina's mother, Cheryl Bradley Hammon, and the two small children lost their lives. Daina and her sister, Falesha, sustained severe injuries, and the film portrays Daina’s struggle for survival.

      The film will screen Saturday morning at the Filmland film festival in Little Rock, a city deeply connected to the story. It's where Smith's interest in the bombing first took root and was one of the locations McVeigh considered for his attack. This city was once home to then-President Bill Clinton, whose signing of an assault weapons ban in 1994 angered McVeigh. Though McVeigh contemplated bombing the federal building in Little Rock, he ultimately deemed the plaza “too open” for the proximity he desired, as noted in Jeffrey Toobin’s 2023 book, *Homegrown*. McVeigh was also influenced by the white-supremacist novel *The Turner Diaries*.

      Smith, who both wrote and directed the film, titled it “Will I Dance Again” after Daina Bradley’s background in ballet, which she began studying as a child under her mother's guidance. We spoke with her about bringing Woodard and Copeland on board, the contrast of animation with real-life devastation, and Daina Bradley’s important place in American history.

      **Princella D. Smith on 'Will I Dance Again'**

      "Will I Dance Again" writer-director Princella D. Smith. Photo by Todd Williamson

      **MovieMaker:** From the moment I saw Daina and her family walk past a sign for the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, I knew the story's context, having been reading Jeffrey Toobin's *Homegrown*. Many viewers, especially those born after the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, may not know the story’s significance. How did you craft the film to engage both those familiar and unfamiliar with the event?

      **Princella D. Smith:** You’re absolutely correct. The Oklahoma City bombing is seldom addressed in American education. Yet, it stands as the largest domestic act of terrorism in U.S. history, and the FBI consistently emphasizes that the foremost threat to the country is domestic terrorism, not international terrorism.

      I aimed to educate viewers about the history without making the script overly lecture-like. My background in communications, passion for history, and studies in counterterrorism positioned me well for this task. In monumental, tragic events, we often forget that real individuals are at the center of these occurrences. After the media coverage ceases