1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:09,609 --> 00:00:10,442 Okay. 4 00:00:10,442 --> 00:00:12,140 All right, okay. 5 00:00:12,140 --> 00:00:15,320 So, there's this thing about well, I will never be considered, 6 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,150 in the dance world, as simply a dancer. 7 00:00:18,150 --> 00:00:21,060 I will always be looked at as an anomaly. 8 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:22,240 I can not be compared. 9 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:26,000 I can't be sort of set next to any of these other 10 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,290 whatever great dancers that might be out there, 11 00:00:28,290 --> 00:00:31,350 that, you know, are sort of the hallmarks of dance. 12 00:00:32,770 --> 00:00:33,900 I'm saying that. 13 00:00:33,900 --> 00:00:35,130 I'm saying that because that's how I, 14 00:00:35,130 --> 00:00:37,433 I mean that's how I experienced, you know, 15 00:00:40,954 --> 00:00:42,127 the dance world, you know, 16 00:00:42,127 --> 00:00:47,127 'cause they supposedly have this big focus on dance 17 00:00:47,767 --> 00:00:51,115 and the body and all that, but the reality is that, 18 00:00:51,115 --> 00:00:53,565 you know, they're interested in the perfect body. 19 00:00:54,545 --> 00:00:57,712 (light ambient music) 20 00:01:15,115 --> 00:01:16,848 He's known as the Crutch Master 21 00:01:16,848 --> 00:01:18,752 and he's surprised audiences all across the world. 22 00:01:18,752 --> 00:01:20,099 This is something 23 00:01:20,099 --> 00:01:21,010 I guarantee you have never seen before. 24 00:01:21,010 --> 00:01:23,630 This is Bill Shannon, who is the Crutch Master, 25 00:01:23,630 --> 00:01:26,370 and his buddies back here, who are the Step Fenz, 26 00:01:26,370 --> 00:01:27,960 direct from New York City- 27 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:30,830 The show is called The Art Of Weightlessness. 28 00:01:30,830 --> 00:01:32,650 It's sponsored by The Dance Umbrella, 29 00:01:32,650 --> 00:01:35,420 and Bill Shannon defies gravity with the help 30 00:01:35,420 --> 00:01:36,749 of his crutches. 31 00:01:36,749 --> 00:01:38,470 Get down to the studio at the Opera House 32 00:01:38,470 --> 00:01:40,440 because there's an amazing performer 33 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,641 from Brooklyn coming out, called Bill Shannon. 34 00:01:42,641 --> 00:01:43,540 And the night is called Spatial Theory. 35 00:01:43,540 --> 00:01:44,466 It's had rave reviews. 36 00:01:44,466 --> 00:01:45,548 I've never seen anything like this. 37 00:01:45,548 --> 00:01:46,440 I was looking at the video tape yesterday 38 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:47,578 and I was amazed. 39 00:01:47,578 --> 00:01:50,880 (indistinct chatter) 40 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,560 His art sometimes capitalizes 41 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,014 on interactions with others. 42 00:01:54,014 --> 00:01:57,014 (indistinct chatter) 43 00:02:00,949 --> 00:02:03,263 It's sort of a funky dance routine too. 44 00:02:03,263 --> 00:02:06,430 (audience applauding) 45 00:02:17,267 --> 00:02:20,267 (upbeat jazz music) 46 00:02:33,248 --> 00:02:35,331 Extension 3320. 47 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:39,033 Are we ready? 48 00:02:39,033 --> 00:02:39,866 What's going on? 49 00:02:39,866 --> 00:02:41,473 I feel like I'm treading water. 50 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:44,633 Are we going? 51 00:02:44,633 --> 00:02:45,771 This way? 52 00:02:45,771 --> 00:02:46,604 Okay. 53 00:02:46,604 --> 00:02:47,437 Let's go get a rental. 54 00:02:51,490 --> 00:02:53,463 I wanna sit in the back. Okay. 55 00:02:58,380 --> 00:03:01,173 Keep right toward I-275 North at Tampa. 56 00:03:05,670 --> 00:03:08,020 It's kind of blindsided me like oh yeah, Perthes Camp, 57 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:09,670 cool, they're like okay, 58 00:03:09,670 --> 00:03:10,890 you're gonna meet a bunch of kids with Perthes. 59 00:03:10,890 --> 00:03:13,073 I'm like oh, wait a second. 60 00:03:14,638 --> 00:03:16,683 (indistinct chatter) 61 00:03:16,683 --> 00:03:19,031 It's gonna be right on beat, okay? 62 00:03:19,031 --> 00:03:21,589 Three, two, one, jump! 63 00:03:26,022 --> 00:03:28,847 (light ambient music) 64 00:03:28,847 --> 00:03:31,500 Turn left to stay at Camp Florida Road, 65 00:03:31,500 --> 00:03:33,563 then your destination will be on the right. 66 00:03:36,641 --> 00:03:39,474 (indistinct chatter) 67 00:03:51,039 --> 00:03:53,706 (kids cheering) 68 00:04:00,770 --> 00:04:02,440 It's really emotional for me because 69 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,120 I'm gonna have this moment of like seeing kids 70 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,400 living their life at that age and the way 71 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,503 that I lived my life at that age, which is really tough, 72 00:04:15,015 --> 00:04:15,848 you know. 73 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:19,650 I'm already gonna cry just thinking about it. 74 00:04:21,270 --> 00:04:26,270 It's something that's really a hard time in my life. 75 00:04:30,151 --> 00:04:34,790 (light acoustic guitar music) 76 00:04:34,790 --> 00:04:35,797 When Bill was born, 77 00:04:35,797 --> 00:04:38,973 Randa and I were both activists. 78 00:04:41,470 --> 00:04:44,130 I had come of age basically on the doorstep 79 00:04:44,130 --> 00:04:46,230 of the Civil Rights Movement in Nashville. 80 00:04:47,090 --> 00:04:49,420 And I was in the Peace Movement, the whole variety 81 00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:52,120 and spectrum of organizations in the Women's Movement. 82 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,390 My parents were like all about humanitarianism, 83 00:04:56,390 --> 00:04:59,040 and like helping the steelworkers, 84 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,823 and helping the unemployed, and ending, you know, apartheid. 85 00:05:04,270 --> 00:05:07,140 I grew up with the smell of permanent markers 86 00:05:07,140 --> 00:05:12,140 on banners, going door to door, delivering leaflets. 87 00:05:12,380 --> 00:05:17,150 The big picture was we can do better as human beings. 88 00:05:17,150 --> 00:05:19,918 And we can, we can treat each other better 89 00:05:19,918 --> 00:05:21,468 and we can have a better world. 90 00:05:24,060 --> 00:05:26,440 As a toddler, Bill, he loved speed. 91 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,050 He loved things like Big Wheels going down steep hills, 92 00:05:29,050 --> 00:05:31,273 and climbing trees and jumping out of them. 93 00:05:33,340 --> 00:05:36,890 Sometimes after he had been running around a lot, 94 00:05:36,890 --> 00:05:39,003 he would limp. 95 00:05:40,770 --> 00:05:42,990 So I took him a doctor and he came in 96 00:05:42,990 --> 00:05:45,860 and told me he has Legg Perthes Disease. 97 00:05:47,940 --> 00:05:49,310 And I said I've never heard of that. 98 00:05:49,310 --> 00:05:51,660 I'm a nurse, you know, but I never heard of it. 99 00:05:53,970 --> 00:05:58,060 It's a developing deformation of the head of the femur, 100 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:00,510 which is normally like a rounded, 101 00:06:00,510 --> 00:06:04,820 very smooth cartilage-covered ball that fits 102 00:06:04,820 --> 00:06:07,890 into a socket very smoothly and rotates. 103 00:06:07,890 --> 00:06:12,440 And in his case, the head of the femur 104 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,860 had no circulation and it becomes necrotic, basically, 105 00:06:15,860 --> 00:06:18,343 sort of rotten, and becomes misshapen. 106 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,573 All the doctors in Pittsburgh wanted to operate. 107 00:06:24,190 --> 00:06:27,040 We talked about subjecting a four-year-old 108 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,023 to multiple surgeries. 109 00:06:30,140 --> 00:06:33,090 I'm an anesthetist, I work in a major medical center 110 00:06:33,090 --> 00:06:35,060 and I know what the aftermath can be 111 00:06:35,060 --> 00:06:38,950 if you don't have a good result, major pain, 112 00:06:38,950 --> 00:06:40,583 major risk of infection. 113 00:06:41,540 --> 00:06:43,670 There's the danger of any kind of mishap, 114 00:06:43,670 --> 00:06:45,287 a blood clot, you know, things happen 115 00:06:45,287 --> 00:06:47,463 to people all the time in surgery. 116 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,117 It's kinda scary, you know? 117 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,410 And that's when I started researching metallurgy 118 00:06:56,410 --> 00:06:58,490 of these implants. 119 00:06:58,490 --> 00:07:02,240 And all these things they've been putting in people's hips, 120 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,693 you know, deteriorate and the implant kills the bone. 121 00:07:07,890 --> 00:07:10,580 I was like this, this is not going to happen, 122 00:07:10,580 --> 00:07:13,773 you know, not for an active kid, so no. 123 00:07:16,162 --> 00:07:19,980 Randa talked to so many doctors until she finally 124 00:07:19,980 --> 00:07:21,773 found a doctor that said, you know, 125 00:07:21,773 --> 00:07:24,193 there's an alternative, which is the brace. 126 00:07:27,290 --> 00:07:30,000 It felt really sad not to see him, you know, 127 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,130 crashing down the alley in his Big Wheel 128 00:07:32,130 --> 00:07:33,660 and doing things like that anymore 129 00:07:33,660 --> 00:07:35,913 because it had been such a joy for him. 130 00:07:38,540 --> 00:07:41,797 They were like this, this kind of a cage in a way, you know 131 00:07:41,797 --> 00:07:44,823 It was like literally living in a cage. 132 00:07:47,050 --> 00:07:49,640 I went to put him in elementary school 133 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,793 and they said oh, he'll be in a special education class. 134 00:07:53,850 --> 00:07:55,780 I had to go to the school board to insist 135 00:07:55,780 --> 00:07:57,730 that Bill be in a mainstream classroom. 136 00:08:00,250 --> 00:08:03,860 Bill had to learn to deal with the world 137 00:08:03,860 --> 00:08:07,060 as it was treating him because he was a freak 138 00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:08,993 in the eyes of a lot of kids. 139 00:08:10,923 --> 00:08:11,760 And there was a kid who called him 140 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,470 a four-legged chicken a bunch, and so I chased him down, 141 00:08:15,470 --> 00:08:18,483 and wrestled him, and held him 'til Bill got there. 142 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:21,740 With Perthes, you know, because you have 143 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:26,070 that sort of dexterity of your legs and they kind of work, 144 00:08:26,070 --> 00:08:29,450 and they look okay, it's like somehow harder 145 00:08:29,450 --> 00:08:30,943 for people to deal with. 146 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,510 Even with my disability and kids calling me faker in, 147 00:08:35,510 --> 00:08:38,150 in the playground, and when I'm wearing a chunk of steel, 148 00:08:38,150 --> 00:08:39,570 and crutches and running around, 149 00:08:39,570 --> 00:08:41,370 and hey like still think I'm faking. 150 00:08:43,140 --> 00:08:45,030 It's alienating when you have a disability 151 00:08:45,030 --> 00:08:48,180 that no one else understands, and that no one else 152 00:08:48,180 --> 00:08:49,733 has to solve problems for. 153 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,940 Bill was a provocateur when he was a month old, you know. 154 00:08:57,940 --> 00:09:01,963 He was a never a person who was gonna just ride along, 155 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,549 so he would sneak around without the brace and the crutches. 156 00:09:06,549 --> 00:09:08,660 (upbeat jazz music) 157 00:09:08,660 --> 00:09:12,920 In my medical expertise as a third grader, 158 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,113 I thought the brace should come off. 159 00:09:18,370 --> 00:09:20,760 I began to play and to try and participate 160 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,640 as much as I could, even though I was definitely limited, 161 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,830 like you know, king of the hill, I mean 162 00:09:24,830 --> 00:09:25,837 every time I would climb up that hill, man, 163 00:09:25,837 --> 00:09:27,713 I'd get pushed the fuck back down and I hated it. 164 00:09:27,713 --> 00:09:29,723 I would get so mad, I would cry. 165 00:09:31,134 --> 00:09:33,353 I mean I would get calls from the neighbors 166 00:09:33,353 --> 00:09:35,580 they would say your little boy is jumping off walls 167 00:09:35,580 --> 00:09:37,329 with his crutches, you know. 168 00:09:37,329 --> 00:09:38,763 And he's climbing a tree. 169 00:09:40,172 --> 00:09:42,390 The thing is when you're a kid with Perthes, 170 00:09:42,390 --> 00:09:44,050 like you can always be off crutches, 171 00:09:44,050 --> 00:09:47,590 like you can always stand up and walk around if you want. 172 00:09:47,590 --> 00:09:49,700 You can even run if you want and that's kind 173 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:53,100 of frustrating as a kid, like I know I can do these things, 174 00:09:53,100 --> 00:09:55,240 but you're gonna pay the price 175 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,240 'cause you're gonna feel pain later, extreme pain. 176 00:10:09,935 --> 00:10:13,550 During your teenage years, your bones harden 177 00:10:13,550 --> 00:10:15,690 and at that point in terms of Perthes, 178 00:10:15,690 --> 00:10:18,690 whatever damage has been done to your hip is done. 179 00:10:18,690 --> 00:10:20,250 But if you don't feel any pain, 180 00:10:20,250 --> 00:10:21,800 you don't need to use crutches. 181 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:26,500 I remember coming home from school 182 00:10:27,580 --> 00:10:29,480 and he was standing next to the couch, 183 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:31,877 and he was like "No crutches!" 184 00:10:32,806 --> 00:10:35,889 (upbeat dance music) 185 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:38,890 I remember walking out of the hospital 186 00:10:38,890 --> 00:10:41,520 sort of feeling weird, like lighter. 187 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,700 I really felt very strange with my arms 188 00:10:43,700 --> 00:10:45,200 without walking with crutches. 189 00:10:46,890 --> 00:10:49,530 When you grow up always being, you know, 190 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:52,850 that kid on crutches or that kid with something's wrong 191 00:10:52,850 --> 00:10:55,230 with him, when you get that moment 192 00:10:55,230 --> 00:10:58,460 where you're just a regular kid, it's like thank you, 193 00:10:58,460 --> 00:11:01,390 like I just wanna just do everything, 194 00:11:01,390 --> 00:11:03,611 like it truly is an explosion. 195 00:11:03,611 --> 00:11:06,694 (upbeat dance music) 196 00:11:15,921 --> 00:11:17,350 It took me a good year to really, 197 00:11:17,350 --> 00:11:18,380 to get back into walking. 198 00:11:18,380 --> 00:11:21,200 And then there was break-dancing right there waiting for me. 199 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,520 When straight from like learning how to walk to learning how 200 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:25,486 to moon walk. 201 00:11:25,486 --> 00:11:27,962 (laughing) 202 00:11:27,962 --> 00:11:29,580 I remember they had a talent show. 203 00:11:29,580 --> 00:11:31,500 He's a freshmen in high school. 204 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:33,650 Bill would get out there and he was popping 205 00:11:33,650 --> 00:11:36,442 and moon-walking, and all of the girls 206 00:11:36,442 --> 00:11:38,740 in the audience went, "Ahhhhhh!" 207 00:11:40,936 --> 00:11:43,500 It was magical, the, the movement was magical. 208 00:11:43,500 --> 00:11:45,173 And my brother was lit up. 209 00:11:50,828 --> 00:11:54,722 ♪ It's a beautiful day to go skating ♪ 210 00:11:54,722 --> 00:11:58,047 ♪ Won't you shred, won't you rip ♪ 211 00:11:58,047 --> 00:12:01,372 ♪ Won't you skate your balls off ♪ 212 00:12:01,372 --> 00:12:04,372 (upbeat rock music) 213 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,070 They still were doing break-dancing 214 00:12:08,070 --> 00:12:09,833 and then they went into the skateboarding thing. 215 00:12:11,943 --> 00:12:14,043 And we just attacked the streets. 216 00:12:17,014 --> 00:12:17,972 ♪ Marijuana! ♪ 217 00:12:18,930 --> 00:12:19,763 [Bill] Oh shit. 218 00:12:19,763 --> 00:12:21,873 It changed my life in one day. 219 00:12:21,873 --> 00:12:24,200 ♪ Cheap beer! ♪ 220 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:25,853 I knew it was like no going back. 221 00:12:26,707 --> 00:12:29,166 ♪ Women! ♪ 222 00:12:29,166 --> 00:12:30,749 Bill, Bill. 223 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:35,860 Look what I did to my board, oh no. 224 00:12:35,860 --> 00:12:38,583 That was just when street skating was coming about, 225 00:12:38,583 --> 00:12:41,630 like wall riding, and rail sliding, 226 00:12:41,630 --> 00:12:43,500 but it wasn't like the rails yet. 227 00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:45,510 It was like more on the long curbs 228 00:12:45,510 --> 00:12:47,660 that would be outside the gas stations 229 00:12:47,660 --> 00:12:49,410 and we'd just slide the whole curb. 230 00:12:53,990 --> 00:12:56,840 Bill was the kind of skateboarder who, you know, 231 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,140 looked like he would probably sprain 232 00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:01,360 an ankle or break an ankle doing a trick, 233 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,490 and just figure it was the cost of learning 234 00:13:03,490 --> 00:13:04,353 to do that trick. 235 00:13:13,070 --> 00:13:15,220 Young people are trying to fight the establishment 236 00:13:15,220 --> 00:13:17,430 of an ordinance that would prohibit skateboards 237 00:13:17,430 --> 00:13:19,230 in Pittsburgh's business districts. 238 00:13:19,230 --> 00:13:22,290 These skaters say their board is their transportation. 239 00:13:22,290 --> 00:13:24,060 Because I work in Oakland and, you know, 240 00:13:24,060 --> 00:13:25,000 I live here in Point Breeze, 241 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,430 so I have to skate through Oakland just to get to work. 242 00:13:27,430 --> 00:13:28,979 And if they ban that, 243 00:13:28,979 --> 00:13:30,783 then I'm gonna get a fine going to work. 244 00:13:31,820 --> 00:13:34,520 You should get the footage of Bill getting arrested. 245 00:13:35,550 --> 00:13:37,250 He got arrested for skateboarding. 246 00:13:38,213 --> 00:13:41,818 (all shouting) (rock music) 247 00:13:41,818 --> 00:13:44,286 (screaming) 248 00:13:44,286 --> 00:13:47,753 Get off my fucking hand. 249 00:13:47,753 --> 00:13:49,120 Just get off my wrist, man. 250 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:50,083 What the fuck? 251 00:13:52,926 --> 00:13:54,418 (grunting) 252 00:13:54,418 --> 00:13:55,251 Fuck. 253 00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:56,737 What the fuck is this, man? 254 00:13:56,737 --> 00:14:00,032 I'm just a skateboarder. 255 00:14:00,032 --> 00:14:02,263 I'm skating down the street. 256 00:14:02,263 --> 00:14:04,373 And the cops threw him in jail. 257 00:14:05,422 --> 00:14:06,500 It was all in the news. 258 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:10,010 And he went to jail saying, "Skateboarding is not a crime!" 259 00:14:10,010 --> 00:14:11,510 Skateboarding is not a crime! 260 00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:14,080 Skateboarding is not, that was like the slogan. 261 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,163 And but actually technically it was. 262 00:14:19,510 --> 00:14:23,160 I followed them to jail, then they came out 263 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,860 and we cheered like they were 264 00:14:24,860 --> 00:14:27,017 political prisoners being released. 265 00:14:27,017 --> 00:14:28,833 What happened, Bill? 266 00:14:28,833 --> 00:14:29,714 I don't know. 267 00:14:29,714 --> 00:14:30,547 (camera shutter clicking) 268 00:14:30,547 --> 00:14:33,363 After that they had his picture in Sassy Magazine. 269 00:14:34,310 --> 00:14:37,760 He became a big rockstar to all the girls, 270 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,390 Like damn, Bill, you look cute. 271 00:14:40,390 --> 00:14:42,640 (laughing) 272 00:14:51,950 --> 00:14:55,033 (light guitar music) 273 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,340 Bill's situation with his illness, you know, 274 00:15:07,340 --> 00:15:10,090 that had been such a focus for our family that 275 00:15:10,090 --> 00:15:11,440 when that was gone, then Randy 276 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,340 and I had to look at our relationship. 277 00:15:15,604 --> 00:15:17,510 That's the way life goes, perfect storms 278 00:15:17,510 --> 00:15:19,140 every once in a while where everything 279 00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:22,033 just goes to fragments. 280 00:15:24,787 --> 00:15:25,954 , wow, look. 281 00:15:27,075 --> 00:15:29,650 It's totally destroyed. 282 00:15:29,650 --> 00:15:32,380 I think Bill felt responsible for me 283 00:15:32,380 --> 00:15:33,863 and Randy getting divorced. 284 00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:39,270 Me and my brother, like we were very dependent on 285 00:15:39,270 --> 00:15:41,723 each other and we were split during the divorce. 286 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:44,150 My brother went to live with my mom, 287 00:15:44,150 --> 00:15:45,950 but I still had to live with my dad. 288 00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:48,370 And that was really tough. 289 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:56,053 Randy and Bill had a dynamic that was really, 290 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:58,923 they had horrible fights. 291 00:16:00,050 --> 00:16:02,720 My brother really started to get the brunt 292 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,720 of my dad's hard-ass reactions to being defied. 293 00:16:16,620 --> 00:16:21,273 Bill often saw his art as a sword and a shield. 294 00:16:22,710 --> 00:16:26,450 For Bill, his art has been very cathartic 295 00:16:26,450 --> 00:16:28,930 and has been shaped by whatever happened 296 00:16:28,930 --> 00:16:31,560 to be happening with him at that particular period 297 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,819 in his life, and his reactions to it. 298 00:16:34,819 --> 00:16:38,236 (light electronic music) 299 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,310 Support the troops. 300 00:16:50,168 --> 00:16:51,501 Bring them home. 301 00:16:52,410 --> 00:16:54,900 I call the Pentagon's war. 302 00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:56,150 This is my body. 303 00:16:58,175 --> 00:16:59,220 My body. 304 00:16:59,220 --> 00:17:01,143 Art was just the place I went, 305 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,620 the place I went when I wanted to be 306 00:17:04,620 --> 00:17:07,370 on a level playing ground with the other kids in class, 307 00:17:08,780 --> 00:17:12,623 the place I went to get away from my family issues. 308 00:17:13,556 --> 00:17:15,973 (vocalizing) 309 00:17:17,139 --> 00:17:20,880 Everybody has that experience of suffering. 310 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:26,330 [Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken. 311 00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:30,540 [Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken. 312 00:17:30,540 --> 00:17:33,860 But I think sharing the experience and understanding it 313 00:17:33,860 --> 00:17:35,520 as other people experience it 314 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:37,123 is another step in the process. 315 00:17:38,881 --> 00:17:41,777 [Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken. 316 00:17:43,110 --> 00:17:45,310 Hey, were you sleeping? 317 00:17:45,310 --> 00:17:47,840 No sleeping, no sleeping today, bud! 318 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,773 Uh-uh, it's National Un-Holiday. 319 00:17:51,826 --> 00:17:52,790 ♪ Wake up ♪ 320 00:17:52,790 --> 00:17:55,207 (vocalizing) 321 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,940 I remember there's one scene that, you know, 322 00:18:05,940 --> 00:18:08,830 everybody goes and does an acid drop. 323 00:18:08,830 --> 00:18:10,530 An acid drop is like an old move where you 324 00:18:10,530 --> 00:18:13,053 just like ride off a drop and you just drop down. 325 00:18:14,170 --> 00:18:15,240 I was just scared of it, 326 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,740 like I didn't have flexibility in my right leg. 327 00:18:17,740 --> 00:18:20,490 Every time I would fall or my back leg would get, 328 00:18:20,490 --> 00:18:21,560 would get pulled out, 329 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,163 it was like horrible excruciating pain. 330 00:18:28,230 --> 00:18:30,680 When we were skating, we would just go, go, go. 331 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,253 And he couldn't keep up. 332 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,780 And so it would be a question of okay, 333 00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:41,580 do we stop skating or do we leave my brother behind? 334 00:18:41,580 --> 00:18:43,060 Are you all right, man? 335 00:18:43,060 --> 00:18:43,893 Are you okay? 336 00:18:43,893 --> 00:18:44,970 Yeah, I'm fine. 337 00:18:44,970 --> 00:18:46,106 You'll be all right? 338 00:18:46,106 --> 00:18:48,722 Yeah, I'll be fine. 339 00:18:48,722 --> 00:18:52,140 (dramatic guitar music) 340 00:18:52,140 --> 00:18:55,030 I knew that my time like without any problems 341 00:18:55,030 --> 00:18:59,050 with my hips was already into those days were numbered, 342 00:18:59,050 --> 00:19:00,540 just a matter of time. 343 00:19:00,540 --> 00:19:04,150 I knew that when I was 16 and I was skateboarding, 344 00:19:04,150 --> 00:19:06,390 like this shit isn't gonna last. 345 00:19:06,390 --> 00:19:07,720 There's no fucking way. 346 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,233 I better enjoy it while I can. 347 00:19:10,700 --> 00:19:12,770 And then it happened and I started having really, 348 00:19:12,770 --> 00:19:13,853 really bad pain. 349 00:19:15,743 --> 00:19:16,576 And there would be times when he would 350 00:19:16,576 --> 00:19:19,450 just be like in tears from the pain. 351 00:19:19,450 --> 00:19:22,880 And I'd feel like I was seeing the pain change him 352 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,083 in his personality. 353 00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:31,010 It was really, really, really heartbreaking 354 00:19:31,010 --> 00:19:34,083 to tell him that he had to go back on crutches. 355 00:19:35,170 --> 00:19:40,170 And for Bill, a bottomless pit of sorrow. 356 00:19:41,850 --> 00:19:43,620 He cried. 357 00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:44,583 We all cried. 358 00:19:47,524 --> 00:19:50,274 (dramatic music) 359 00:20:53,956 --> 00:20:56,789 (indistinct chatter) 360 00:21:04,061 --> 00:21:04,894 All right, Twenty. 361 00:21:06,770 --> 00:21:07,653 Go, Twenty. 362 00:21:10,082 --> 00:21:11,660 Another thing you can do is we go down to the floor 363 00:21:11,660 --> 00:21:15,110 and come back up, so you have different ranges of, 364 00:21:15,110 --> 00:21:16,470 levels of your movement. 365 00:21:16,470 --> 00:21:18,290 You know, you're standing here doing this. 366 00:21:18,290 --> 00:21:20,150 You open up, you start to step it around, 367 00:21:20,150 --> 00:21:22,623 two, one, two, spin. 368 00:21:23,530 --> 00:21:25,470 Like that, get, keep going with your feeling, 369 00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:27,690 whatever your flow is, but then go, try to go to the ground. 370 00:21:27,690 --> 00:21:31,170 Go to the ground and do it again, and come back up. 371 00:21:31,170 --> 00:21:32,283 Just do another turn. 372 00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:35,550 Yeah, so you go lower down. 373 00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:38,360 Yeah, beau-, good, then come back up. 374 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,012 Good. 375 00:21:40,012 --> 00:21:41,101 Come here, give me five, man. 376 00:21:41,101 --> 00:21:41,934 You got skills. 377 00:21:42,874 --> 00:21:44,044 All right. 378 00:21:44,044 --> 00:21:47,461 (light electronic music) 379 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:54,321 Here you go, like that. 380 00:21:54,321 --> 00:21:57,488 Pop your chest out and roll it around. 381 00:22:09,667 --> 00:22:10,600 And keep 'em moving. 382 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:11,783 Keep your neck alive. 383 00:22:12,940 --> 00:22:13,773 Good, yeah. 384 00:22:17,918 --> 00:22:19,640 I have a question that I don't think came up. 385 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,322 What's that? 386 00:22:21,322 --> 00:22:22,490 What hip do you have it on? 387 00:22:22,490 --> 00:22:23,630 I have it bilaterally. 388 00:22:23,630 --> 00:22:25,480 My right ended up worse than my left. 389 00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:29,350 Yeah, it started in my right and went to my left, 390 00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:31,600 so when I started compensating for my left with my right, 391 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,310 my right wasn't fully healed, 392 00:22:33,310 --> 00:22:35,310 so I damaged my right more than my left. 393 00:22:36,297 --> 00:22:37,130 Yeah. 394 00:22:38,961 --> 00:22:40,340 I'm gonna take you for your x-rays, okay? 395 00:22:40,340 --> 00:22:41,900 Okay. 396 00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:44,140 And you're here today for your hips, right? 397 00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:44,973 Yeah. 398 00:22:44,973 --> 00:22:45,806 Okay, you're gonna be lying down 399 00:22:45,806 --> 00:22:46,890 on the table on your back. 400 00:22:46,890 --> 00:22:47,920 Eww, it's cold in here. 401 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,040 Do they have to A/C it so much? 402 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,000 Yeah, for the film. 403 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,800 For the film it has to be cold, too. 404 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,223 That's why it's so cold in these rooms. 405 00:22:59,370 --> 00:23:01,330 You know, I've been wondering why the hell this room 406 00:23:01,330 --> 00:23:02,889 was so cold my entire life. 407 00:23:02,889 --> 00:23:06,306 (light electronic music) 408 00:23:11,810 --> 00:23:13,500 Coming in here when I was five years old 409 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:15,290 and just being cold, like all the sudden it would 410 00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:16,530 just be freezing. 411 00:23:16,530 --> 00:23:19,433 I just thought why is it so cold. 412 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,659 Like this machine in 1978, 413 00:23:26,659 --> 00:23:29,742 (imitating whirring) 414 00:23:30,887 --> 00:23:33,554 It was like a monster, you know? 415 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,660 Back then it was like the hole in the window 416 00:23:37,660 --> 00:23:39,320 was like a little thin little slat 417 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,140 they would look through like it was a gun hole. 418 00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:42,525 And they would speak on a microphone, 419 00:23:42,525 --> 00:23:43,390 (imitating static) 420 00:23:43,390 --> 00:23:44,420 okay now, 421 00:23:44,420 --> 00:23:45,870 we're gonna take the picture. 422 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:51,270 You know, Perthes Disease, 423 00:23:51,270 --> 00:23:53,660 the big question is should he or shouldn't he 424 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:54,560 have an operation. 425 00:23:56,350 --> 00:23:58,400 So there's your right hip. 426 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,820 Normally, that should be a sphere within a sphere, 427 00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:04,563 a ball in a ball, you know, and that is a mushroom. 428 00:24:05,481 --> 00:24:08,220 It was very confusing in treating Perthes Disease 429 00:24:08,220 --> 00:24:10,130 because there's so many different options 430 00:24:10,130 --> 00:24:12,240 on just attempting to treat it 431 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,670 and there's no solid method of how to do things. 432 00:24:15,670 --> 00:24:18,160 And there's still no cure, and no one knows what's right 433 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:18,993 and what's wrong. 434 00:24:18,993 --> 00:24:20,640 It's not always a direct- 435 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,020 We've inherited a medical model of disability 436 00:24:24,020 --> 00:24:26,920 that assumes that when there is a body 437 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,810 that doesn't fit a stereotypical abled body, 438 00:24:30,810 --> 00:24:34,760 that it is something sad or tragic, 439 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,780 and something that needs to be cured. 440 00:24:37,780 --> 00:24:40,580 And so when you see that in Bill Shannon's life, 441 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,050 when people say well, if you have this hip problem, 442 00:24:43,050 --> 00:24:45,380 why don't you just get hip replacements? 443 00:24:45,380 --> 00:24:47,011 And you're doing pretty well, 444 00:24:47,011 --> 00:24:49,000 but it's gonna go someday 445 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,670 and you're gonna need a total hip replacement 446 00:24:50,670 --> 00:24:52,940 when that hits someday. 447 00:24:52,940 --> 00:24:56,330 The pain that I have is a, is a constant adjustment. 448 00:24:56,330 --> 00:24:59,273 It's like always adjusting for different gradations of it. 449 00:25:00,710 --> 00:25:04,260 Perthes Disease causes quite a bit of damage. 450 00:25:04,260 --> 00:25:06,960 That dead bone, you know, it starts to flatten out, 451 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,970 and causes a lot of pain and friction in that hip area, 452 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:11,870 and so it causes kids to limp, 453 00:25:11,870 --> 00:25:14,520 or you have pain after walking for a while 454 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,063 or any physical activity. 455 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,660 I tell my parents that sometimes it 456 00:25:20,660 --> 00:25:22,910 was like something was stabbing my leg 457 00:25:22,910 --> 00:25:24,270 'cause it got so painful 458 00:25:24,270 --> 00:25:26,660 that I felt like somebody was cutting my leg off. 459 00:25:26,660 --> 00:25:28,410 The pain it's really bad. 460 00:25:28,410 --> 00:25:32,140 It's like you, kinda feel this grinding every time you 461 00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:34,170 take a step. 462 00:25:34,170 --> 00:25:36,591 In the spring I started 463 00:25:36,591 --> 00:25:38,523 having just a teeny tiny bit of pain. 464 00:25:40,220 --> 00:25:43,153 And in the summer I started limping a lot. 465 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,720 'Cause you never know like whenever you want 466 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,360 to do something fun, you can't, if you barely walk, 467 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:51,320 you really wanna do it. 468 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:52,530 Somebody will have to take you 469 00:25:52,530 --> 00:25:54,370 or you will have to go in your wheelchair and do it, 470 00:25:54,370 --> 00:25:55,383 and that sucks. 471 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,290 Do you have any thigh pain? 472 00:25:58,290 --> 00:26:00,460 Yeah, it radiates down to my knee. 473 00:26:00,460 --> 00:26:02,580 That's, that's part of it that people don't understand, 474 00:26:02,580 --> 00:26:04,619 like yeah, okay, my hip hurts, 475 00:26:04,619 --> 00:26:07,860 but does it hurt enough for me to go get surgery 476 00:26:07,860 --> 00:26:08,830 to replace it. 477 00:26:08,830 --> 00:26:12,417 And then how long's that surgery last for? 478 00:26:14,780 --> 00:26:16,870 You can, you know, get a hip replacement 479 00:26:16,870 --> 00:26:19,310 and in 10 years you're getting another one. 480 00:26:19,310 --> 00:26:21,724 And in another 10 years you're getting another one. 481 00:26:21,724 --> 00:26:24,150 And after so many of them, you can't get another one. 482 00:26:24,150 --> 00:26:26,150 That's it, you know, you reach the end of the line. 483 00:26:26,150 --> 00:26:28,920 Now you have to fuse your hip, which is basically 484 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,443 put it in one position and freeze it. 485 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:36,193 And just like I'm not into that option at all. 486 00:26:38,124 --> 00:26:41,093 I wanna be, you know, responsible for my own fate. 487 00:26:45,701 --> 00:26:47,420 (light electronic music) 488 00:26:47,420 --> 00:26:50,930 And so I tried to use canes and they were just useless, 489 00:26:50,930 --> 00:26:53,380 I mean, because, when my hip really was hurting, 490 00:26:53,380 --> 00:26:55,270 they kinda really didn't do enough. 491 00:26:55,270 --> 00:26:57,140 And then when I was trying to be preventative 492 00:26:57,140 --> 00:26:59,570 and kind of not use them fully but use them some, 493 00:26:59,570 --> 00:27:01,337 they kind of were in the way 'cause you, 494 00:27:01,337 --> 00:27:04,830 you can't really have your hands free when using canes, 495 00:27:04,830 --> 00:27:07,547 so I started using a single point crutch. 496 00:27:08,590 --> 00:27:11,188 And then he started developing better tips 497 00:27:11,188 --> 00:27:14,003 for them, and then one day I saw the rocker bottom. 498 00:27:16,070 --> 00:27:19,240 Those crutches were like no other crutches 499 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,450 that you see, really. 500 00:27:21,450 --> 00:27:23,720 And they were legitimate crutches, 501 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,223 but they were just U-shaped. 502 00:27:26,482 --> 00:27:29,482 (light dance music) 503 00:27:32,397 --> 00:27:34,360 With the rocker bottom you had the range. 504 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:37,170 You reach forward and you have that range around the curve, 505 00:27:37,170 --> 00:27:41,150 so you get a longer, smoother push. 506 00:27:41,150 --> 00:27:43,500 That really made a difference with skateboarding. 507 00:27:45,070 --> 00:27:47,870 A doctor, you know, with no experience skateboarding 508 00:27:47,870 --> 00:27:50,300 would probably just look at that and go this motherfucker 509 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:55,300 is so stupid, not realizing that with a hip like that, 510 00:27:55,780 --> 00:27:58,320 you take one push on a board and you just roll 511 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,220 for like half a block, so you're actually saving your hip. 512 00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:06,840 When we see Bill Shannon using a skateboard 513 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:11,270 as a mobility aid we forget that the mobility aids 514 00:28:11,270 --> 00:28:14,120 that we're more familiar with, like wheelchairs, 515 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,070 came out of somebody solving a problem. 516 00:28:19,220 --> 00:28:21,193 It's just creative necessity. 517 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,180 I was looking at my childhood 518 00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:27,786 and how I was in certain situations with my peers where, 519 00:28:27,786 --> 00:28:29,300 you had to come up with a solution now. 520 00:28:29,300 --> 00:28:30,791 That's creative necessity. 521 00:28:30,791 --> 00:28:33,920 It's like the necessary instant reaction gut. 522 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,930 You know, and that's a, that's playground mentality. 523 00:28:35,930 --> 00:28:38,040 That's like on the street and you have to come up 524 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,973 with a solution in the moment. 525 00:28:39,973 --> 00:28:43,473 (upbeat electronic music) 526 00:29:05,510 --> 00:29:07,670 He would use them to hit the ball, 527 00:29:07,670 --> 00:29:09,633 so it was like an extra appendage. 528 00:29:11,210 --> 00:29:13,480 He could really gain a lot of ground just 529 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,230 by swinging when we were sprinting, 530 00:29:16,230 --> 00:29:17,940 and I think that might even have been 531 00:29:17,940 --> 00:29:19,593 where the glide kinda came from. 532 00:29:58,349 --> 00:30:00,156 (indistinct chatter) 533 00:30:00,156 --> 00:30:01,006 ♪ With the camera lens ♪ 534 00:30:01,006 --> 00:30:03,197 ♪ Spittin' the freestyle with my friends ♪ 535 00:30:03,197 --> 00:30:05,226 ♪ Yeah, I'm makin' ♪ 536 00:30:05,226 --> 00:30:08,309 (upbeat dance music) 537 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,510 They roll up like construction paper. 538 00:30:13,268 --> 00:30:15,592 Step Fenz, baby, Step Fenz, baby. 539 00:30:15,592 --> 00:30:16,425 Yeah! 540 00:30:17,935 --> 00:30:21,018 (upbeat dance music) 541 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,130 My crew, the Step Fenz, here, 542 00:30:24,130 --> 00:30:26,990 we counted 15 different clubs a night in New York City 543 00:30:26,990 --> 00:30:30,930 to dances, just underground shit, after hours in Chinatown, 544 00:30:30,930 --> 00:30:33,415 but it was like just dance, dance, 545 00:30:33,415 --> 00:30:35,433 and we would go dance all fucking night. 546 00:30:37,140 --> 00:30:39,947 There were no established competitions to go to. 547 00:30:39,947 --> 00:30:42,683 There were these circles and people would battle. 548 00:30:46,140 --> 00:30:49,520 Their style was clashing with styles, egos clashing 549 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,190 with egos, you know, going at each other through dance, 550 00:30:52,190 --> 00:30:53,540 you know, as an expression. 551 00:30:55,020 --> 00:30:57,410 Anybody that we had known, like we were gonna 552 00:30:57,410 --> 00:30:58,690 throw some rounds. 553 00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:00,517 In that, there was a conversation, you know, 554 00:31:00,517 --> 00:31:01,960 but what if part of the conversation 555 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,740 was like back the fuck up, you know. 556 00:31:04,740 --> 00:31:05,940 No sympathy in a cypher. 557 00:31:06,856 --> 00:31:09,939 (upbeat dance music) 558 00:31:13,430 --> 00:31:14,460 Crutch knew where to go. 559 00:31:14,460 --> 00:31:16,420 Where the music was, Crutch would show up 560 00:31:16,420 --> 00:31:17,821 just like we would. 561 00:31:17,821 --> 00:31:20,904 (upbeat dance music) 562 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:24,940 I came to New York 563 00:31:24,940 --> 00:31:26,480 and I had a little of this and a little 564 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,493 of that, you know, but I didn't have any footwork for real. 565 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,963 (upbeat dance music) 566 00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:41,530 He was still working on the movement side of it. 567 00:31:41,530 --> 00:31:44,570 You know, he wasn't as far along by any stretch. 568 00:31:44,570 --> 00:31:47,953 He was doing a whole lot of falling before he was flying. 569 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,660 The way he was able to navigate himself around 570 00:31:53,660 --> 00:31:56,923 on them crutches, that shit don't take overnight, man. 571 00:31:59,060 --> 00:32:00,210 I started going out to clubs 572 00:32:00,210 --> 00:32:01,880 and other people were dancing at the cub. 573 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,010 And I just naturally just started doing little moves, 574 00:32:04,010 --> 00:32:05,530 like fuck it. 575 00:32:05,530 --> 00:32:08,070 You know, and then I started going to hip hop spots 576 00:32:08,070 --> 00:32:10,083 and like doing whatever the fuck I could do 577 00:32:10,083 --> 00:32:11,933 what I can pull off with my crutches. 578 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:14,393 We would dance. 579 00:32:14,393 --> 00:32:15,226 He would come in. 580 00:32:15,226 --> 00:32:17,410 He would do a move and if he didn't bust his ass, 581 00:32:17,410 --> 00:32:18,790 I'd be like yeah, that shit was dope. 582 00:32:18,790 --> 00:32:21,490 And if he didn't, he always got up and tried it again. 583 00:32:22,420 --> 00:32:25,010 But there's no way Crutch got a pass. 584 00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:26,630 There's no way it was, it was easier for him 585 00:32:26,630 --> 00:32:30,493 to get recognition or props just because he was on crutches. 586 00:33:16,900 --> 00:33:18,430 But when you first introduce something different, 587 00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:21,340 everybody's isn't gonna just immediately start hugging you, 588 00:33:21,340 --> 00:33:22,280 like wow, that's great. 589 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,337 They're gonna look at you like 590 00:33:24,337 --> 00:33:25,370 what the fuck are you doing, you know. 591 00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:26,203 Go home. 592 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,261 Don't come in here with that bullshit. 593 00:33:29,261 --> 00:33:32,344 (upbeat dance music) 594 00:33:36,940 --> 00:33:39,140 Until I got good enough, until I got better. 595 00:33:41,482 --> 00:33:45,992 ♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪ 596 00:33:45,992 --> 00:33:48,589 ♪ Servin' a rhyme, workin' on time, yes sir ♪ 597 00:33:48,589 --> 00:33:50,593 ♪ One of a kind ♪ 598 00:33:50,593 --> 00:33:51,509 ♪ Free-Form fetish ♪ 599 00:33:51,509 --> 00:33:53,048 ♪ Medicine in for your headaches ♪ 600 00:33:53,048 --> 00:33:55,587 ♪ We bomb fellas, better sin for the medics ♪ 601 00:33:55,587 --> 00:33:58,089 (crowd cheering) 602 00:33:58,089 --> 00:33:59,327 ♪ Stay on mellow ass ♪ 603 00:33:59,327 --> 00:34:00,645 ♪ Why you don't walk it ♪ 604 00:34:00,645 --> 00:34:01,650 ♪ Nights sparklin' ♪ 605 00:34:01,650 --> 00:34:04,085 ♪ Charlie here is my man ♪ 606 00:34:04,085 --> 00:34:06,335 When he's in it, woo-hoo. 607 00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:10,190 Let it go 'cause he's like ah, yeah, bring it 608 00:34:10,190 --> 00:34:11,307 'cause you think I don't got it? 609 00:34:11,307 --> 00:34:12,140 Ah. 610 00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:13,839 ♪ Ripped them off and wax shit gets to solve this ♪ 611 00:34:13,839 --> 00:34:14,982 ♪ Gift revolves around ♪ 612 00:34:14,982 --> 00:34:17,253 ♪ Earth space station that'll rock you, pa ♪ 613 00:34:17,253 --> 00:34:18,864 ♪ Have you runnin' for your ground ♪ 614 00:34:18,864 --> 00:34:19,984 ♪ A little baklava ♪ 615 00:34:19,984 --> 00:34:20,979 ♪ Let me talk to y'all ♪ 616 00:34:20,979 --> 00:34:22,178 ♪ About some off the wall ♪ 617 00:34:22,178 --> 00:34:23,634 ♪ Rapper wannabe in front of me ♪ 618 00:34:23,634 --> 00:34:25,577 ♪ That got the balls to not know ♪ 619 00:34:25,577 --> 00:34:29,830 You know, how he would slide that, before he brought it up 620 00:34:29,830 --> 00:34:31,960 and held it up for a second, like... 621 00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:37,090 I've seen Shaolin monks with the sticks 622 00:34:37,090 --> 00:34:38,420 and I gotta tell you, they, 623 00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:40,288 it's the same 624 00:34:40,288 --> 00:34:42,630 span of time he's on that stick and he's turning 625 00:34:42,630 --> 00:34:45,090 and putting moves in concession to make it 626 00:34:45,090 --> 00:34:47,691 to a combo to a beat. 627 00:34:47,691 --> 00:34:49,902 ♪ One of a kind ♪ 628 00:34:49,902 --> 00:34:52,310 ♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪ 629 00:34:52,310 --> 00:34:54,609 ♪ One of a kind, heard it in my first step ♪ 630 00:34:54,609 --> 00:34:56,849 ♪ One of a kind ♪ 631 00:34:56,849 --> 00:34:59,485 ♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪ 632 00:34:59,485 --> 00:35:01,885 ♪ One of a kind, heard in my first step ♪ 633 00:35:01,885 --> 00:35:04,760 ♪ Servin' rhymes and workin' on time, yes sir ♪ 634 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,884 This is Crutch Master, man, you know what I mean? 635 00:35:07,884 --> 00:35:10,523 (crowd cheering) 636 00:35:10,523 --> 00:35:13,440 (percussive music) 637 00:35:16,503 --> 00:35:20,130 I thought I'd seen it all until I seen UFOs, 638 00:35:20,130 --> 00:35:22,960 turtles and body rolls on crutches. 639 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,210 That shit right there is real. 640 00:35:26,210 --> 00:35:29,460 I like his style and I like the way he's aggressive. 641 00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:33,284 I like how he goes out there and hits his freezes on point. 642 00:35:33,284 --> 00:35:36,023 (crowd cheering) 643 00:35:36,023 --> 00:35:39,790 This man right here is an inspiration to all dancers. 644 00:35:43,395 --> 00:35:45,764 If you all ain't seen this cat get down, 645 00:35:45,764 --> 00:35:47,114 you all ain't seen nothing. 646 00:35:49,752 --> 00:35:53,169 (light electronic music) 647 00:35:57,182 --> 00:35:59,170 You know, a lot of people like obsess about oh, 648 00:35:59,170 --> 00:36:01,390 I'm too skinny, I'm too fat, all that stuff 649 00:36:01,390 --> 00:36:03,640 about not having the right body type to dance 650 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:04,553 is all bullshit. 651 00:36:06,970 --> 00:36:08,420 I'm dancing, it's in your head. 652 00:36:08,420 --> 00:36:11,313 No matter how healthy you are, your body is limited. 653 00:36:12,380 --> 00:36:13,540 Once you get that through your head 654 00:36:13,540 --> 00:36:15,590 that your body is limited, that dancing 655 00:36:15,590 --> 00:36:17,910 is in your mind and not in your body, 656 00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:20,183 then you're pretty much free as a dancer. 657 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,520 So if you're driven to dance, if your soul is of a dancer, 658 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,690 and you have a bad leg and you're on crutches, 659 00:36:28,690 --> 00:36:30,390 you're gonna dance no matter what. 660 00:36:33,182 --> 00:36:36,265 (upbeat piano music) 661 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,090 It's 6:42 right now and chances 662 00:36:39,090 --> 00:36:41,300 are you're never seen anything like this before. 663 00:36:41,300 --> 00:36:44,200 The show is called The Art of Weightlessness. 664 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,020 It's sponsored by The Dance Umbrella, 665 00:36:46,020 --> 00:36:48,270 and Bill Shannon defies gravity 666 00:36:48,270 --> 00:36:51,970 with the help of his crutches in a unique dance performance. 667 00:36:51,970 --> 00:36:53,560 Bill, thanks for coming. 668 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,520 Thanks for being here so early. 669 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:56,880 I'd never seen anything like this. 670 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,520 I was looking at the videotape yesterday 671 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,460 and I was amazed because when you start dancing 672 00:37:01,460 --> 00:37:02,550 around on these crutches, 673 00:37:02,550 --> 00:37:04,870 it is just like you have no weight. 674 00:37:04,870 --> 00:37:06,570 It's like you're light as a feather moving about. 675 00:37:06,570 --> 00:37:09,440 And it's sort of a funky dance routine, too. 676 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,440 I heard one critic say that your hip is bad, 677 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:14,090 but your hop is spectacular. 678 00:37:14,090 --> 00:37:16,273 Yeah, that's a, that's a little, 679 00:37:16,273 --> 00:37:19,126 that was a little cute little title, yeah. 680 00:37:19,126 --> 00:37:22,209 (upbeat dance music) 681 00:37:30,570 --> 00:37:32,910 Bill had an idea of putting a couple 682 00:37:32,910 --> 00:37:37,910 of his old pieces together and create an hour-long piece. 683 00:37:38,350 --> 00:37:40,000 The Art of Weightlessness, man. 684 00:37:40,932 --> 00:37:43,930 (upbeat dance music) 685 00:37:43,930 --> 00:37:46,300 Bill was on another level at the time. 686 00:37:46,300 --> 00:37:47,960 There were only two pioneering companies 687 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,040 that was doing hip hop dance 688 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,190 on the concert stage and he was one of 'em. 689 00:37:53,642 --> 00:37:54,810 I was completely ignorant 690 00:37:54,810 --> 00:37:57,310 at that point to like what performance art was. 691 00:37:57,310 --> 00:38:00,632 You know, if you thought theater, I though the-at-er. 692 00:38:00,632 --> 00:38:02,110 And so I didn't think about theater as being a place 693 00:38:02,110 --> 00:38:04,970 that we could like illustrate anything hip hop. 694 00:38:04,970 --> 00:38:07,400 How can you bring something that exists in a circle 695 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,870 in a club into the square, into the proscenium. 696 00:38:10,870 --> 00:38:14,037 (light ambient music) 697 00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:24,583 Crutch's whole like approach wasn't just 698 00:38:24,583 --> 00:38:27,970 that he was bringing genuine hip hop into it, 699 00:38:27,970 --> 00:38:30,700 but he was also bringing in like this abstract art 700 00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:32,373 into the space at the same time. 701 00:38:33,950 --> 00:38:36,360 Bill had a raincoat, you know, he came out. 702 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:39,378 I had this rain sound effects, you know, on. 703 00:38:39,378 --> 00:38:41,202 It's trippy, man. 704 00:38:41,202 --> 00:38:44,190 I mean the show is just like trippy, I'm telling you. 705 00:38:44,190 --> 00:38:45,820 I'm sitting there during the show 706 00:38:45,820 --> 00:38:47,410 and I was tripping looking at it, 707 00:38:47,410 --> 00:38:49,767 like don't forget your cues, you know what I mean? 708 00:38:49,767 --> 00:38:52,684 (percussive music) 709 00:38:59,570 --> 00:39:02,940 The politics, the current state of affairs, 710 00:39:02,940 --> 00:39:05,360 his background, all that stuff is 711 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,913 put into everything that Bill Shannon does. 712 00:39:08,788 --> 00:39:11,205 (vocalizing) 713 00:39:16,977 --> 00:39:20,060 (upbeat dance music) 714 00:39:41,620 --> 00:39:44,741 ♪ Take it easy ♪ 715 00:39:44,741 --> 00:39:48,183 ♪ Don't worry about it ♪ 716 00:39:48,183 --> 00:39:52,023 ♪ I got this, I got this ♪ 717 00:39:52,023 --> 00:39:57,023 ♪ Let me work it, let me work it out ♪ 718 00:39:57,026 --> 00:40:02,026 ♪ Take it easy ♪ 719 00:40:02,842 --> 00:40:11,684 ♪ Take it easy ♪ 720 00:40:13,882 --> 00:40:18,794 ♪ Don't let me bother you ♪ 721 00:40:18,794 --> 00:40:22,978 ♪ I got this, I got this ♪ 722 00:40:22,978 --> 00:40:27,698 ♪ Let me work it out, let me work it out ♪ 723 00:40:27,698 --> 00:40:30,281 ♪ Take it easy ♪ 724 00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:34,180 So much was happening with his career. 725 00:40:34,180 --> 00:40:36,647 It just got to be like one thing after another. 726 00:40:36,647 --> 00:40:40,150 (upbeat jazz music) 727 00:40:40,150 --> 00:40:43,210 Hip hop is out of all things, it's really important 728 00:40:43,210 --> 00:40:45,520 to maintain your individuality. 729 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,560 My name is Jeff Grosso and I'm your host. 730 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,643 This is fucking Love Letters. Welcome back. 731 00:40:53,590 --> 00:40:56,670 The Guggenheim, I met Crazy Legs, 732 00:40:56,670 --> 00:40:58,763 I'm going to Kuwait, I'm going to Japan. 733 00:41:00,589 --> 00:41:01,756 Whooo. 734 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,204 We went to France. 735 00:41:05,204 --> 00:41:06,940 Look at this shit. 736 00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:08,158 England. 737 00:41:08,158 --> 00:41:09,870 (humming) 738 00:41:09,870 --> 00:41:11,349 Scotland. 739 00:41:11,349 --> 00:41:12,182 Freedom! 740 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:14,396 ♪ Only y'all know what happened ♪ 741 00:41:14,396 --> 00:41:15,495 ♪ With some passion ♪ 742 00:41:15,495 --> 00:41:17,159 ♪ Rappers battlin' all rappers ♪ 743 00:41:17,159 --> 00:41:18,556 ♪ Carry it all backwards ♪ 744 00:41:18,556 --> 00:41:19,775 ♪ Laugh and say that's it ♪ 745 00:41:19,775 --> 00:41:20,608 ♪ It's battlecon ♪ 746 00:41:20,608 --> 00:41:21,736 ♪ Future blackness ♪ 747 00:41:21,736 --> 00:41:24,736 (upbeat jazz music) 748 00:41:34,610 --> 00:41:37,030 There were some good reviews and people really 749 00:41:37,030 --> 00:41:38,810 like the work and, you know, all this stuff, 750 00:41:38,810 --> 00:41:41,780 but at the same time the dance world, they were looking 751 00:41:41,780 --> 00:41:43,703 at it like ahh, isn't that cute, 752 00:41:43,703 --> 00:41:46,563 he does the break-dance on the crutches. 753 00:41:48,088 --> 00:41:49,510 I've seen Crutch get angry. 754 00:41:49,510 --> 00:41:52,540 They keep asking him about his crutches and, you know, 755 00:41:52,540 --> 00:41:55,740 not about the, the artwork, the music, or the dancers. 756 00:41:55,740 --> 00:41:59,980 It was a lot about his disability, you know. 757 00:41:59,980 --> 00:42:01,417 It's kind of fucked up. 758 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,450 No matter how high you go on skills on crutches, 759 00:42:06,450 --> 00:42:08,760 there's still the baggage 760 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:10,900 of a crutch representing failure 761 00:42:10,900 --> 00:42:13,533 that can trump your achievements. 762 00:42:20,770 --> 00:42:21,620 Ready? 763 00:42:21,620 --> 00:42:22,940 Yeah. 764 00:42:22,940 --> 00:42:26,070 So tonight we're gonna see 765 00:42:26,930 --> 00:42:31,930 the two pieces that I choreographed for "Varekai", 766 00:42:32,170 --> 00:42:33,870 Cirque Du Soleil's "Varekai" show. 767 00:42:35,267 --> 00:42:39,059 (light orchestral music) 768 00:42:39,059 --> 00:42:41,476 (vocalizing) 769 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:47,820 Just knowing that Bill had anything 770 00:42:47,820 --> 00:42:50,460 to do with Cirque Du Soleil was just a huge honor 771 00:42:50,460 --> 00:42:54,189 that one of us made it, one of us did it. 772 00:42:54,189 --> 00:42:57,606 (grand orchestral music) 773 00:42:58,601 --> 00:43:01,060 So we were really proud, but I don't think it was like 774 00:43:01,060 --> 00:43:02,447 anything that really shocked us so hard. 775 00:43:02,447 --> 00:43:05,020 It was like, it was almost like of course. 776 00:43:05,020 --> 00:43:06,763 You're supposed to be doing that. 777 00:43:07,900 --> 00:43:10,400 The contacted me after they saw my glide 778 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:12,710 and they wanted me to actually be a performer 779 00:43:12,710 --> 00:43:16,560 in the show, like a, a main character, basically. 780 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,260 But then I found out like what their artists 781 00:43:18,260 --> 00:43:19,210 have to go through. 782 00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:26,130 I watched these dudes one night 783 00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:29,103 and this guy was busting his ass. 784 00:43:32,020 --> 00:43:33,900 I was worried about it damaging my hips 785 00:43:33,900 --> 00:43:35,790 or damaging the nerves in my arms from doing 786 00:43:35,790 --> 00:43:37,680 that much every day, same exact thing. 787 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:39,130 That just does wear and tear. 788 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:43,600 I said I'll train somebody to do what I do and become a part 789 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:45,650 of the creative team and do choreography. 790 00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,460 Yeah, yeah, hell yeah. 791 00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:52,530 Nice. 792 00:43:52,530 --> 00:43:54,640 He had to teach these gentlemen 793 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,460 to dance on crutches. 794 00:43:56,460 --> 00:44:00,523 Vladimir Ignatenkov, three time world champion tumbler. 795 00:44:01,830 --> 00:44:02,663 Do a flair. 796 00:44:02,663 --> 00:44:04,630 Flair your legs out, both. 797 00:44:04,630 --> 00:44:05,640 Yeah. 798 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,524 And also he had to train several aerialists. 799 00:44:09,524 --> 00:44:11,453 Keep going, keep your flow on. 800 00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:15,130 I had these guys threading and parroting and tick tocking, 801 00:44:15,130 --> 00:44:18,713 and all these different flavors of like boogaloo style. 802 00:44:20,150 --> 00:44:23,090 Then they had their own acrobatic moves on top of that, 803 00:44:23,090 --> 00:44:25,045 so it just looked really, really sick. 804 00:44:25,045 --> 00:44:26,462 Whooo, beautiful. 805 00:44:29,682 --> 00:44:33,293 (camera shutter clicking) 806 00:44:33,293 --> 00:44:35,340 The director wanted to put like 807 00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:37,730 an upside down wheelchair act in the show, 808 00:44:37,730 --> 00:44:39,180 where there's like clowns in a wheelchair 809 00:44:39,180 --> 00:44:41,640 that flips upside down and clowns fall out. 810 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:45,100 And I was like you're not fucking putting that in the show, 811 00:44:45,100 --> 00:44:48,170 like I felt insulted literally because he was trying 812 00:44:48,170 --> 00:44:51,570 to make into like a disability theme where 813 00:44:51,570 --> 00:44:54,780 my work was gonna be a part of the spectrum 814 00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:57,440 of representation of disability. 815 00:44:57,440 --> 00:44:59,420 And I was very uncomfortable with that. 816 00:44:59,420 --> 00:45:02,563 I didn't want to be a part of the disabled Cirque show. 817 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:06,973 I wanted to, my character to be the one that flies. 818 00:45:07,826 --> 00:45:12,826 (light electronic music) (audience applauding) 819 00:45:47,492 --> 00:45:50,909 (light orchestral music) 820 00:45:52,833 --> 00:45:53,920 When you want to teach people, 821 00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:55,910 they have to understand what it is you're doing, 822 00:45:55,910 --> 00:45:58,290 and the communication has to be the same. 823 00:45:58,290 --> 00:46:00,713 Otherwise everything gets lost in translation. 824 00:46:02,020 --> 00:46:04,460 So when you develop a technique, 825 00:46:04,460 --> 00:46:08,340 you begin to codify a language for, 826 00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:10,590 for a particular vocabulary. 827 00:46:10,590 --> 00:46:14,480 You name it, you call it what it is, and Bill Shannon 828 00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,853 is doing that in the Shannon Technique. 829 00:46:16,853 --> 00:46:18,651 (upbeat dance music) 830 00:46:18,651 --> 00:46:22,484 (singing in foreign language) 831 00:46:25,230 --> 00:46:28,930 By him creating a specific vocabulary and naming it, 832 00:46:28,930 --> 00:46:31,560 it creates an awareness that those movements 833 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,800 have been absolutely articulated, like it's a real choice 834 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,020 of his body to go to a very specific place 835 00:46:38,020 --> 00:46:39,680 and he can hit it every time. 836 00:46:46,092 --> 00:46:47,740 I was in the studio with him. 837 00:46:47,740 --> 00:46:49,860 We had six weeks of one-to-one mentoring, 838 00:46:49,860 --> 00:46:53,063 and I expected to be able to do things like that. 839 00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:55,493 And he just cracked up, 840 00:46:55,493 --> 00:46:58,220 he's like you've been trying this for 15 minutes. 841 00:46:58,220 --> 00:47:00,573 I've been doing that for 15 years. 842 00:47:01,770 --> 00:47:03,730 Yes, it was dance, it was movement, 843 00:47:03,730 --> 00:47:05,680 but it was this thing that absolutely 844 00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:08,230 exploded the preconceptions that I even had 845 00:47:08,230 --> 00:47:09,263 of what dance was. 846 00:47:10,610 --> 00:47:12,640 Those are the respected art forms 847 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,260 or genres in dance are the ones that have technique. 848 00:47:16,260 --> 00:47:18,070 One that puts itself in 849 00:47:18,070 --> 00:47:20,130 that frame deserves respect. 850 00:47:20,130 --> 00:47:22,980 And that is learned and that requires discipline. 851 00:47:22,980 --> 00:47:25,940 But it's also there's a little bit like a little fuck you to 852 00:47:25,940 --> 00:47:27,970 that system at the same time. 853 00:47:27,970 --> 00:47:31,053 (upbeat dance music) 854 00:47:33,519 --> 00:47:36,686 (audience applauding) 855 00:47:38,227 --> 00:47:39,487 Yeah, yeah. 856 00:47:39,487 --> 00:47:40,745 (crowd cheering) 857 00:47:40,745 --> 00:47:42,570 Yeah, let me hear it, New York. 858 00:47:42,570 --> 00:47:43,608 (crowd cheering) 859 00:47:43,608 --> 00:47:44,691 Raise the roof up! 860 00:47:44,691 --> 00:47:46,252 Raise the roof up, come on, 861 00:47:46,252 --> 00:47:49,585 all right, all right, let's get this started. 862 00:47:50,425 --> 00:47:51,258 Yeah. 863 00:47:51,258 --> 00:47:52,216 Sketchy, Sketchy. 864 00:47:52,216 --> 00:47:54,200 That's his Sketchy, he definitely stepped it up 865 00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:56,378 after coming from Cirque. 866 00:47:56,378 --> 00:47:59,559 One, two, two, two. 867 00:47:59,559 --> 00:48:03,186 It was a sketchy attempt at bringing hip hop to theater. 868 00:48:03,186 --> 00:48:05,450 Oooh, nice, D. 869 00:48:05,450 --> 00:48:07,550 I wasn't necessarily that the moves were sketchy, 870 00:48:07,550 --> 00:48:09,900 but having hip hop in the theater at that point 871 00:48:09,900 --> 00:48:11,570 was a sketchy idea to people, 872 00:48:11,570 --> 00:48:14,561 so it was like a little bit of sarcasm behind it 873 00:48:14,561 --> 00:48:15,693 if you know Crutch. 874 00:48:21,220 --> 00:48:22,300 He finally had a little bit 875 00:48:22,300 --> 00:48:24,250 of money behind it and so we were able 876 00:48:24,250 --> 00:48:26,863 to give a little bit more to like costumes. 877 00:48:28,810 --> 00:48:30,460 He was incorporating so many things 878 00:48:30,460 --> 00:48:32,650 that aren't even typical in hip hop, you know, 879 00:48:32,650 --> 00:48:34,790 like slow motion capture. 880 00:48:38,229 --> 00:48:39,364 Hype him up, right? 881 00:48:39,364 --> 00:48:41,244 We want to see it again, right? 882 00:48:41,244 --> 00:48:42,980 Come on, are you with me? 883 00:48:42,980 --> 00:48:44,310 Sketchy attempts trying moves 884 00:48:44,310 --> 00:48:47,100 that you don't necessarily know that you that you can land. 885 00:48:47,100 --> 00:48:49,968 You're never gonna see that in a contemporary show. 886 00:48:49,968 --> 00:48:54,968 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 887 00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,400 eight, nine, whoaaa! 888 00:48:57,400 --> 00:48:59,400 (crowd cheering) 889 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,750 You could feel people, like the energy, 890 00:49:01,750 --> 00:49:04,293 like oooh please, you know, like you can make it. 891 00:49:05,170 --> 00:49:08,130 (crowd cheering) 892 00:49:08,130 --> 00:49:09,750 The crowds absolutely loved it. 893 00:49:09,750 --> 00:49:13,100 Hand hops, elbow hops, whoa! 894 00:49:13,100 --> 00:49:15,500 There's so many people in New York that came out 895 00:49:15,500 --> 00:49:17,770 to see us that we grew up in the clubs with. 896 00:49:17,770 --> 00:49:20,200 And I think it was their first take at ever seeing us 897 00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:21,310 in theater. 898 00:49:21,310 --> 00:49:23,100 It was like we just won a contest somewhere, 899 00:49:23,100 --> 00:49:24,950 like a battle, and like everybody 900 00:49:24,950 --> 00:49:27,690 was just so fucking thrilled to see, see it happen. 901 00:49:27,690 --> 00:49:30,641 Like I, I wanted to clap, but I'm like yeah, we did it. 902 00:49:30,641 --> 00:49:33,808 (audience applauding) 903 00:49:52,510 --> 00:49:54,960 Were to add another character to his repertoire, 904 00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:55,860 did you read that? 905 00:50:01,900 --> 00:50:04,773 Oh my God, she started out with the ax. 906 00:50:09,058 --> 00:50:09,970 What are you gonna do? 907 00:50:09,970 --> 00:50:11,110 Is a real person with pretenses of being... 908 00:50:11,110 --> 00:50:12,400 oh my God. 909 00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:14,023 Pretenses of being what? 910 00:50:14,023 --> 00:50:15,150 A contemptual artists. 911 00:50:15,150 --> 00:50:16,030 Conceptual. 912 00:50:16,030 --> 00:50:17,230 Conceptual, I'm sorry. 913 00:50:18,470 --> 00:50:19,320 That's very nice. 914 00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:20,493 I'm upside down. 915 00:50:21,550 --> 00:50:23,520 Well, you either are or you aren't. 916 00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:24,509 Right? 917 00:50:24,509 --> 00:50:26,520 If you don't have the potential to be. 918 00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:27,471 You can't have a pre, 919 00:50:27,471 --> 00:50:28,360 you don't have a, you don't have a pretense about it. 920 00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:29,920 You either are or you're not, you know, 921 00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:31,770 so what she's saying is I'm not, but. 922 00:50:34,130 --> 00:50:35,630 It's just like I don't know, 923 00:50:35,630 --> 00:50:40,110 I want to send Crazy Legs to review a ballet show. 924 00:50:40,110 --> 00:50:41,192 Okay? 925 00:50:41,192 --> 00:50:42,025 (laughing) 926 00:50:42,025 --> 00:50:42,858 That's what I want to do. 927 00:50:42,858 --> 00:50:44,613 And he'll write for The New York Times. 928 00:50:45,820 --> 00:50:48,060 They're used to seeing one thing one way, 929 00:50:48,060 --> 00:50:51,480 like theater to them is supposed to be the old fashioned way 930 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:54,590 or what they see as, as hip hop, 931 00:50:54,590 --> 00:50:56,340 that's the way it's supposed to be. 932 00:50:57,660 --> 00:50:59,880 Any dance critic that comes to my work does not 933 00:50:59,880 --> 00:51:01,600 know what I did. 934 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:03,760 Like ballet is well documented. 935 00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:05,643 Modern dance is well documented. 936 00:51:07,751 --> 00:51:09,310 Like I'm out here pushing the boundaries 937 00:51:09,310 --> 00:51:12,060 of a form I've invented in ways that are completely 938 00:51:12,060 --> 00:51:14,873 like invisible to someone who's just looking at me. 939 00:51:19,005 --> 00:51:22,761 Uhhh, it's a feeling of being profoundly misunderstood. 940 00:51:22,761 --> 00:51:24,564 (laughing) 941 00:51:24,564 --> 00:51:27,314 (dramatic music) 942 00:51:36,176 --> 00:51:38,659 Which is, this is how you learn your balance. 943 00:51:38,659 --> 00:51:40,392 Which is this tight line 944 00:51:45,249 --> 00:51:50,249 That's how you, bend your knees, keep low, point, 945 00:51:50,757 --> 00:51:53,282 be like, I'm going! 946 00:52:01,989 --> 00:52:02,822 Whoa. 947 00:52:04,251 --> 00:52:07,668 (light electronic music) 948 00:52:25,161 --> 00:52:27,828 (kids cheering) 949 00:52:50,817 --> 00:52:53,159 Use your muscles, Earl. 950 00:52:53,159 --> 00:52:54,722 That was Bill. 951 00:52:54,722 --> 00:52:56,733 (laughing) 952 00:52:56,733 --> 00:52:57,816 Come on, buddy. 953 00:53:03,193 --> 00:53:06,050 While I was here, like I was retouching some part 954 00:53:06,050 --> 00:53:08,990 of my childhood and revisiting that part of my life, 955 00:53:08,990 --> 00:53:13,600 and I don't know, my dad during the time 956 00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:15,960 that I had my disability was going 957 00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:19,970 through a lot of emotional healing from his own childhood. 958 00:53:19,970 --> 00:53:23,090 And so I think a lot of the brunt 959 00:53:23,090 --> 00:53:24,330 of that was taken out on me. 960 00:53:24,330 --> 00:53:26,100 I was the oldest. 961 00:53:26,100 --> 00:53:27,900 And that's really hard because I have to think 962 00:53:27,900 --> 00:53:30,730 like my own relationship to my, 963 00:53:30,730 --> 00:53:32,960 to my own kids is so different. 964 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:35,913 Like I never, I never raised a hand on my kids. 965 00:53:37,020 --> 00:53:41,273 And my dad didn't know any different, you know. 966 00:53:43,470 --> 00:53:44,303 So, 967 00:53:48,490 --> 00:53:50,513 I don't know, it's just hard to imagine. 968 00:53:59,556 --> 00:54:02,639 (upbeat dance music) 969 00:54:10,150 --> 00:54:11,900 Bill told me he had met somebody. 970 00:54:12,980 --> 00:54:16,470 He was pretty smitten, you know, kinda like really kid 971 00:54:16,470 --> 00:54:18,220 in the candy store kind of smitten. 972 00:54:20,870 --> 00:54:23,383 Bill was, you know, cute. 973 00:54:24,590 --> 00:54:26,183 He was very different from me. 974 00:54:27,350 --> 00:54:31,200 We met in New York and he likes to tell the story 975 00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:33,950 of us being from the opposite sides of the tracks, 976 00:54:33,950 --> 00:54:36,340 'cause I was in Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, 977 00:54:36,340 --> 00:54:39,190 which was, you know, brownstones. 978 00:54:39,190 --> 00:54:41,650 And at that time he was in Red Hook, 979 00:54:41,650 --> 00:54:44,337 which was down and dirty. 980 00:54:44,337 --> 00:54:46,520 (laughing) 981 00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:49,760 They were both like theses salmon, just swimming upstream 982 00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:50,690 as hard as they could. 983 00:54:50,690 --> 00:54:52,953 I mean you could just, you could just read it 984 00:54:52,953 --> 00:54:54,743 like from a mile away, this is it. 985 00:55:00,727 --> 00:55:03,212 Mmmm, boogy, boogy, boogy, yeah. 986 00:55:03,212 --> 00:55:04,580 Uh-oh, is a lip coming out? 987 00:55:04,580 --> 00:55:05,760 Look at the lip. 988 00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:06,593 He's so cute. 989 00:55:06,593 --> 00:55:07,648 Wait, where's the lip? 990 00:55:07,648 --> 00:55:08,723 There it is. 991 00:55:08,723 --> 00:55:10,340 Give 'em the lip, give 'em the lip. 992 00:55:10,340 --> 00:55:11,173 Ohhh. 993 00:55:14,430 --> 00:55:17,323 After Sketchy, everybody goes in their own path. 994 00:55:23,448 --> 00:55:24,281 Daddy. 995 00:55:27,949 --> 00:55:29,100 Oh, watch out. 996 00:55:29,100 --> 00:55:29,933 Watch out. 997 00:55:31,670 --> 00:55:33,080 Crutch did the last thing 998 00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:34,784 you would expect from Crutch. 999 00:55:34,784 --> 00:55:36,403 You know, he's like I'm moving to Pittsburgh. 1000 00:55:38,310 --> 00:55:41,970 Like he's growing his own food and vegetables, and has a car 1001 00:55:41,970 --> 00:55:44,360 that runs off like fucking potatoes or something. 1002 00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:45,940 That's, that's Crutch, you know. 1003 00:55:47,502 --> 00:55:50,720 But he goes back to a more refined Crutch 1004 00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:51,963 into solo work. 1005 00:55:54,830 --> 00:55:57,240 Back into his like organic interactions 1006 00:55:57,240 --> 00:55:58,307 with people or their reactions, 1007 00:55:58,307 --> 00:56:00,818 to Bill, you know, doing his thing, 1008 00:56:00,818 --> 00:56:02,068 going through the street. 1009 00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:07,060 It's fucking raining, man. 1010 00:56:07,060 --> 00:56:08,410 Come on, we gotta get started here! 1011 00:56:08,410 --> 00:56:09,900 What's going on? 1012 00:56:09,900 --> 00:56:11,624 What's taking so long! 1013 00:56:11,624 --> 00:56:14,124 (banjo music) 1014 00:56:14,989 --> 00:56:15,863 Hear yourself. 1015 00:56:21,945 --> 00:56:23,018 Oh! 1016 00:56:23,018 --> 00:56:24,080 So I met Bill at School of the Art Institute 1017 00:56:24,080 --> 00:56:26,630 of Chicago in around 1993. 1018 00:56:26,630 --> 00:56:29,640 And I actually remember him, you kinda, can't not, 1019 00:56:29,640 --> 00:56:31,333 remember the way he looked. 1020 00:56:31,333 --> 00:56:32,880 (barking) 1021 00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,311 I was like damn, this kid wants attention like really bad. 1022 00:56:36,311 --> 00:56:38,561 (shouting) 1023 00:56:47,310 --> 00:56:49,040 You know, I think being a public spectacle 1024 00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:52,320 as a child, going to demonstrations in public 1025 00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:55,270 throughout my whole childhood, and then being 1026 00:56:55,270 --> 00:56:58,300 in the street skateboarding and break-dancing 1027 00:56:58,300 --> 00:57:01,000 just all fed into like I'm just a performing artist 1028 00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:03,516 in the street, this feels natural to me. 1029 00:57:03,516 --> 00:57:06,016 (banjo music) 1030 00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:23,638 In Chicago we shot on some really nasty, bad cameras, man, 1031 00:57:23,638 --> 00:57:24,743 and it was all noise. 1032 00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:29,137 And just like hidden camera guy in the, 1033 00:57:29,137 --> 00:57:32,240 in the corner, whatever, like off, 1034 00:57:32,240 --> 00:57:35,813 offsite where you can't see any spying on innocent people. 1035 00:57:45,740 --> 00:57:48,480 You know, he's getting tangled up on the street, 1036 00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:50,273 getting caught in doors, you know. 1037 00:57:50,273 --> 00:57:52,883 He's just falling down and he's got crutches. 1038 00:57:55,380 --> 00:57:59,263 So then, you know, somebody'll go to help him. 1039 00:58:02,980 --> 00:58:06,583 And then he'll just make them fail in helping him, 1040 00:58:08,180 --> 00:58:12,447 which is kind of a sad place to be, you know what I mean? 1041 00:58:23,890 --> 00:58:28,020 Once the reemergence of my disability came back in my 20s, 1042 00:58:28,020 --> 00:58:33,020 I was like dealing with the same expressions 1043 00:58:33,040 --> 00:58:34,800 in people's faces again. 1044 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:38,080 And it was like a really old memory, a very old memory to 1045 00:58:38,080 --> 00:58:40,752 have people treat me the way they did. 1046 00:58:40,752 --> 00:58:43,600 (light electronic music) 1047 00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:47,240 One of the most difficult things about the transition 1048 00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:50,530 from the status of non-disabled to disabled 1049 00:58:50,530 --> 00:58:54,230 is figuring out how to manage the awkwardness 1050 00:58:54,230 --> 00:58:59,193 of encounters between themselves and non-disabled people. 1051 00:59:05,288 --> 00:59:06,650 It was like a turning point when I realized 1052 00:59:06,650 --> 00:59:09,390 that I have this relationship to the public doing tricks 1053 00:59:09,390 --> 00:59:12,550 on crutches, and that it's not all 1054 00:59:12,550 --> 00:59:15,110 like look how cool I am on crutches. 1055 00:59:15,110 --> 00:59:16,810 There's all this other stuff happening. 1056 00:59:16,810 --> 00:59:19,723 And that I have not even begun to deal with it. 1057 00:59:21,168 --> 00:59:23,123 And that was the beginning of that journey. 1058 00:59:26,865 --> 00:59:29,615 (static hissing) 1059 01:00:10,430 --> 01:00:11,693 It's provocative. 1060 01:00:12,880 --> 01:00:16,000 You're taking advantage of people's good nature. 1061 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:19,223 Like these are good people that care. 1062 01:00:20,820 --> 01:00:23,790 But I was often in the position of helping him 1063 01:00:23,790 --> 01:00:27,020 when he needed help, so I know what it's like 1064 01:00:27,020 --> 01:00:30,770 to be the person who's reaching down to help somebody up 1065 01:00:30,770 --> 01:00:32,810 who may or may not need it. 1066 01:00:32,810 --> 01:00:35,613 So I identify with both sides. 1067 01:00:50,030 --> 01:00:51,320 What happened in that performance 1068 01:00:51,320 --> 01:00:55,210 that's so interesting was that my skateboard was there, 1069 01:00:55,210 --> 01:00:59,560 but the sidewalk had a slight incline to it, 1070 01:00:59,560 --> 01:01:01,520 and so the skateboard just rolled out 1071 01:01:01,520 --> 01:01:02,773 and went into the street. 1072 01:01:05,100 --> 01:01:10,100 A cab crossed three lanes to run over the board on purpose. 1073 01:01:10,910 --> 01:01:13,470 Now mind you, I had no money at that time. 1074 01:01:13,470 --> 01:01:16,770 I was on full scholarship at the Art Institute of Chicago. 1075 01:01:16,770 --> 01:01:18,620 I had no real job. 1076 01:01:18,620 --> 01:01:21,670 My family doesn't have money, plus I no longer 1077 01:01:21,670 --> 01:01:23,740 had a way to get back to the train station 1078 01:01:23,740 --> 01:01:26,570 and back to my house, which, like, tons of distance. 1079 01:01:26,570 --> 01:01:28,288 I mean it was a long ass way. 1080 01:01:28,288 --> 01:01:30,480 I had to walk all the way to the train. 1081 01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:31,410 And I was just miserable. 1082 01:01:31,410 --> 01:01:33,400 And I started crashing to the ground, 1083 01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:35,610 and people were coming and helping me. 1084 01:01:35,610 --> 01:01:37,487 Instead of being like no, I'm not gonna let you help me, 1085 01:01:37,487 --> 01:01:38,903 I just started hugging them. 1086 01:01:40,152 --> 01:01:43,053 And I would be hugging like three or four people at once, 1087 01:01:43,053 --> 01:01:45,370 and they would all be lifting me up. 1088 01:01:45,370 --> 01:01:49,940 They'd lift me up and stand me up, and instead 1089 01:01:49,940 --> 01:01:52,490 of rejecting them I was just kind of like okay, 1090 01:01:52,490 --> 01:01:54,100 I'm just accepting this. 1091 01:01:55,330 --> 01:01:58,287 I was just really upset about my situation, 1092 01:01:59,870 --> 01:02:02,020 but also just everything that has happened. 1093 01:02:03,383 --> 01:02:06,800 (light electronic music) 1094 01:02:11,370 --> 01:02:14,423 It was like I was just surrendering when I realized 1095 01:02:16,790 --> 01:02:18,020 I don't really want to mess with people. 1096 01:02:18,020 --> 01:02:22,103 I just want to express these feelings and these ideas. 1097 01:02:25,540 --> 01:02:28,010 You know, I imagine that people might be a little upset 1098 01:02:28,010 --> 01:02:29,170 by that. 1099 01:02:29,170 --> 01:02:32,030 Some people are, like how could you do that to people, 1100 01:02:32,030 --> 01:02:34,120 like isn't that mean? 1101 01:02:34,120 --> 01:02:35,920 Come on, there's at least a couple people in here 1102 01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:37,363 that think it's really mean. 1103 01:02:38,930 --> 01:02:40,252 I want to know who they are. 1104 01:02:40,252 --> 01:02:42,520 I think you're awful. 1105 01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:43,753 Okay. 1106 01:02:43,753 --> 01:02:44,710 (laughing) 1107 01:02:44,710 --> 01:02:46,123 This guy behind you, here. 1108 01:02:48,010 --> 01:02:49,940 I think it's kind of manipulative. 1109 01:02:49,940 --> 01:02:52,060 You think it's what? Kind of manipulative. 1110 01:02:52,060 --> 01:02:53,190 Manipulative. 1111 01:02:53,190 --> 01:02:55,420 Ahh, okay. 1112 01:02:55,420 --> 01:02:59,423 Um, well, I kind of want to talk about that a little bit. 1113 01:03:03,129 --> 01:03:04,920 You know, like "Regarding the Fall" was a question 1114 01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:08,260 and some of the questions were asked in a wrong way. 1115 01:03:08,260 --> 01:03:11,230 And that there are failures to it that happened 1116 01:03:11,230 --> 01:03:13,170 in order for me to dig further into it, 1117 01:03:13,170 --> 01:03:15,590 I had to go down paths, every dead end. 1118 01:03:15,590 --> 01:03:17,860 And out of that mistake came the concept 1119 01:03:17,860 --> 01:03:18,950 of the neutral palette, 1120 01:03:18,950 --> 01:03:22,460 which is that you never see me like just all, 1121 01:03:22,460 --> 01:03:24,083 all out and out fall. 1122 01:03:25,930 --> 01:03:30,350 Bill realized that he was in some ways being manipulative 1123 01:03:30,350 --> 01:03:34,783 of people because he was putting them into a crisis moment, 1124 01:03:35,790 --> 01:03:40,790 so he decided that a better way to continue to investigate, 1125 01:03:41,170 --> 01:03:43,880 because he was very interested in how people 1126 01:03:43,880 --> 01:03:48,360 were responding to him, was not to present himself 1127 01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:50,260 as something flashy 1128 01:03:50,260 --> 01:03:53,773 that would very obviously draw attention. 1129 01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:01,297 I mean this shit is just beyond like reasonable, 1130 01:04:03,820 --> 01:04:06,140 it's almost like so strange, 1131 01:04:06,140 --> 01:04:07,040 one, for him to do it, 1132 01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:08,790 two, for me to accept him doing it. 1133 01:04:10,086 --> 01:04:11,320 You know, it's just uh, 1134 01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:13,270 I'm sitting there going oh my God, 1135 01:04:13,270 --> 01:04:16,120 he actually fucking gave me a drink of water. 1136 01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:18,250 At that point I had surrendered myself 1137 01:04:18,250 --> 01:04:20,910 to whatever other people thought I needed, 1138 01:04:20,910 --> 01:04:23,250 and this was like probably the height of that, 1139 01:04:23,250 --> 01:04:25,020 somebody actually feeding me. 1140 01:04:25,020 --> 01:04:29,033 Like that is just, that really gets to the core of help. 1141 01:04:30,250 --> 01:04:31,910 You know, you will have people who will, you know, 1142 01:04:31,910 --> 01:04:36,150 try to feed you in your real life and you'll be offended, 1143 01:04:36,150 --> 01:04:37,927 but in your performance you embrace it 1144 01:04:37,927 --> 01:04:39,493 and you try to understand it. 1145 01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:43,590 It's like I am out there interacting with phenomena 1146 01:04:43,590 --> 01:04:45,513 that extend throughout my whole life. 1147 01:04:46,410 --> 01:04:48,620 And the people that are representing those phenomena 1148 01:04:48,620 --> 01:04:51,970 are individuals, but I don't look at them 1149 01:04:51,970 --> 01:04:56,800 as good or bad people based on how they act. 1150 01:04:56,800 --> 01:05:01,800 I look at them as individuals that manifest phenomena 1151 01:05:05,410 --> 01:05:07,910 that occur to me whether I'm performing or not. 1152 01:05:10,880 --> 01:05:13,080 The phenomenology of disability 1153 01:05:13,080 --> 01:05:16,370 that Shannon explores comes out 1154 01:05:16,370 --> 01:05:19,880 of an experience of repeated patterns of interaction. 1155 01:05:19,880 --> 01:05:22,150 He sees the same things and experiences 1156 01:05:22,150 --> 01:05:25,040 the same things over, and over and over again. 1157 01:05:25,040 --> 01:05:28,480 That's burdensome, but what it also does 1158 01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:33,480 for someone who as thoughtful as Shannon is it pushes him 1159 01:05:34,010 --> 01:05:36,268 to want to name those things. 1160 01:05:36,268 --> 01:05:38,270 (upbeat jazz music) 1161 01:05:38,270 --> 01:05:40,770 Imagine if I get up, I get dressed, I go outside, 1162 01:05:40,770 --> 01:05:43,200 I throw on my tunes, jump on the board and start 1163 01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:45,240 to like bop down the street. 1164 01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:46,200 And as I go down the street, 1165 01:05:46,200 --> 01:05:49,170 pushing on my crutches, everyone turns to stare. 1166 01:05:49,170 --> 01:05:50,670 A lot of people stare directly at me, 1167 01:05:50,670 --> 01:05:53,705 but even more people turn after I pass. 1168 01:05:53,705 --> 01:05:56,663 So I continue on down the block and a cab pulls up, 1169 01:05:56,663 --> 01:05:57,496 (car horn honking) 1170 01:05:57,496 --> 01:05:58,997 "Hey, hoo, what do you call that?" 1171 01:05:58,997 --> 01:06:01,980 And before I can even answer, the car's gone. 1172 01:06:01,980 --> 01:06:02,960 I get to the bus stop. 1173 01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:03,793 I sit down. 1174 01:06:03,793 --> 01:06:05,050 A perfect stranger comes along 1175 01:06:05,050 --> 01:06:07,850 and looks at me and says, "Sorry." 1176 01:06:07,850 --> 01:06:09,410 And then another person comes 1177 01:06:09,410 --> 01:06:11,090 and sits down on the bench, and then the guy looks 1178 01:06:11,090 --> 01:06:12,443 at me and goes, "Hey, what happened to you?" 1179 01:06:12,443 --> 01:06:14,637 And I'm like, what happened to you? 1180 01:06:14,637 --> 01:06:16,460 And he's like, "No, I mean the crutches." 1181 01:06:16,460 --> 01:06:18,440 And I said, everybody has crutches; 1182 01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:21,440 some of them you can see, some of them are invisible. 1183 01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:23,550 He goes, "Come on, man, what happened to your leg? 1184 01:06:23,550 --> 01:06:24,800 I bet it was your ankle. 1185 01:06:24,800 --> 01:06:26,530 I broke my ankle once." 1186 01:06:26,530 --> 01:06:28,893 And he continues to tell me his whole story. 1187 01:06:30,450 --> 01:06:33,240 Then the bus pulls up, the bus driver opens the door 1188 01:06:33,240 --> 01:06:35,470 and says, "Hey, come on, buddy, I got ya. 1189 01:06:35,470 --> 01:06:36,707 You can do it." 1190 01:06:38,780 --> 01:06:41,040 I get off the bus and there's a store. 1191 01:06:41,040 --> 01:06:42,520 I'm looking a the store and I realize 1192 01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:44,450 that the thing I need to get, there's two places 1193 01:06:44,450 --> 01:06:46,270 that sell it and one of them's maybe having a sale. 1194 01:06:46,270 --> 01:06:47,250 And I can't remember which one. 1195 01:06:47,250 --> 01:06:48,560 And as I'm standing there I notice 1196 01:06:48,560 --> 01:06:50,780 there's a woman holding the door open for me, 1197 01:06:50,780 --> 01:06:52,800 waiting for me to go into the store, 1198 01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:54,470 but I'm still trying to decide. 1199 01:06:54,470 --> 01:06:57,240 And she's holding it longer, and she's looking at me. 1200 01:06:57,240 --> 01:06:59,820 And her face changes, are you coming to the door? 1201 01:06:59,820 --> 01:07:03,620 And I get this little bit of a backlash eye roll, 1202 01:07:03,620 --> 01:07:05,000 but I go into the store anyway. 1203 01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:06,910 And I find the item I want, and I go to the register. 1204 01:07:06,910 --> 01:07:09,730 The cashier says, "Hey, man, did you break your ankle? 1205 01:07:09,730 --> 01:07:11,700 I broke my ankle once." 1206 01:07:11,700 --> 01:07:13,000 And that's just one day. 1207 01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:14,010 It's not even a whole day. 1208 01:07:14,010 --> 01:07:15,530 It's just one errand. 1209 01:07:15,530 --> 01:07:19,010 And these things all are cumulative, day after day, week 1210 01:07:19,010 --> 01:07:23,253 after week, month after month, year after year after year. 1211 01:07:27,724 --> 01:07:30,150 (light piano music) 1212 01:07:30,150 --> 01:07:33,550 Disability always demands a story. 1213 01:07:33,550 --> 01:07:36,170 Non-disabled people are never required 1214 01:07:36,170 --> 01:07:39,280 to give an account of themselves in the same way. 1215 01:07:39,280 --> 01:07:40,752 What happened? 1216 01:07:40,752 --> 01:07:43,694 To my hip? 1217 01:07:43,694 --> 01:07:45,506 I was born with a disease. 1218 01:07:45,506 --> 01:07:47,639 It's a really long story, but my hip is not round. 1219 01:07:47,639 --> 01:07:49,000 Really? Yeah. 1220 01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:52,260 Most of us simply learn to manage this. 1221 01:07:52,260 --> 01:07:54,260 We have a standard answer. 1222 01:07:54,260 --> 01:07:56,993 We get it out of the way and we move on. 1223 01:07:58,100 --> 01:08:02,030 So that he's turned this into a performance piece, 1224 01:08:02,030 --> 01:08:06,950 into an art form where he evokes this question, 1225 01:08:06,950 --> 01:08:10,453 this interrogation is absolutely brilliant. 1226 01:08:13,240 --> 01:08:15,980 It's a language, and it's a tool, 1227 01:08:15,980 --> 01:08:18,970 and it's a way of seeing, but it's not a sort 1228 01:08:18,970 --> 01:08:21,440 of guidebook to "do's and don'ts" of dealing 1229 01:08:21,440 --> 01:08:23,190 with disabled people who need help. 1230 01:08:25,220 --> 01:08:30,220 What I actually encourage is to abandon assumptions. 1231 01:08:33,136 --> 01:08:36,686 (light electronic music) 1232 01:08:36,686 --> 01:08:38,410 Get down to The Studio at the Opera House 1233 01:08:38,410 --> 01:08:40,380 because there's an amazing performer 1234 01:08:40,380 --> 01:08:42,230 from Brooklyn coming out called Bill Shannon. 1235 01:08:42,230 --> 01:08:44,120 And the night is called Spatial Theory. 1236 01:08:44,120 --> 01:08:45,870 It's had rave reviews. 1237 01:08:45,870 --> 01:08:48,100 You know that I was doing these performances 1238 01:08:48,100 --> 01:08:50,460 where I was having these interactions with people based 1239 01:08:50,460 --> 01:08:54,970 on their ideas of who I was, people were responding to it, 1240 01:08:54,970 --> 01:08:56,447 you know, interested in it. 1241 01:08:56,447 --> 01:08:57,875 (audience applauding) 1242 01:08:57,875 --> 01:08:59,594 Yeah, yeah. 1243 01:08:59,594 --> 01:09:02,760 And it became necessity to communicate it to audiences. 1244 01:09:02,760 --> 01:09:05,760 So welcome to this evening's presentation of Spatial Theory. 1245 01:09:06,681 --> 01:09:09,098 (vocalizing) 1246 01:09:16,370 --> 01:09:18,090 (audience applauding) 1247 01:09:18,090 --> 01:09:20,970 Okay, now I'm gonna sit down and talk a little, 1248 01:09:20,970 --> 01:09:23,400 go over some video of some street performance work, 1249 01:09:23,400 --> 01:09:26,930 where I perform simple utilitarian tasks in public 1250 01:09:26,930 --> 01:09:31,047 and sort of begin to look at people look at me. 1251 01:09:31,047 --> 01:09:34,047 (upbeat jazz music) 1252 01:09:35,210 --> 01:09:36,043 So I said you know what I'm gonna do, 1253 01:09:36,043 --> 01:09:38,053 I'm just gonna pick up a bottle. 1254 01:09:39,580 --> 01:09:40,630 I'm just gonna pick up this bottle in public. 1255 01:09:40,630 --> 01:09:44,010 It's a utilitarian task, a very simple task. 1256 01:09:44,010 --> 01:09:45,270 And you're gonna see, this is me. 1257 01:09:45,270 --> 01:09:46,103 I'm the hero. 1258 01:09:46,103 --> 01:09:47,277 This is the villain, right. 1259 01:09:48,387 --> 01:09:52,080 And that's a random babushka from a Russian marketplace, 1260 01:09:52,080 --> 01:09:54,100 so here's the reach for the bottle, 1261 01:09:54,100 --> 01:09:55,900 which could be like the initiation 1262 01:09:55,900 --> 01:09:58,000 of what I call projective narrative. 1263 01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:00,260 So her story about me picking up the bottle 1264 01:10:00,260 --> 01:10:02,610 is like way deeper than my own story 1265 01:10:02,610 --> 01:10:03,630 of me picking up the bottle, 1266 01:10:03,630 --> 01:10:06,732 which is basically a high mid, low mid split reach. 1267 01:10:06,732 --> 01:10:07,620 (audience laughing) 1268 01:10:07,620 --> 01:10:11,340 She's looking at it like will the man pick up the bottle? 1269 01:10:11,340 --> 01:10:16,340 I cannot go on to my destination until I know 1270 01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:19,223 if the man will pick up the bottle. 1271 01:10:20,090 --> 01:10:22,870 Now, if you watch the purse area here, 1272 01:10:22,870 --> 01:10:26,384 you're going to see this height of the conflict 1273 01:10:26,384 --> 01:10:28,320 reach a cataclysmic point. 1274 01:10:28,320 --> 01:10:30,547 Watch the purse, get it, get it, get it. 1275 01:10:30,547 --> 01:10:31,761 Ohhh. 1276 01:10:31,761 --> 01:10:34,890 (audience laughing) 1277 01:10:34,890 --> 01:10:39,180 A psychosomatic reaction to the height 1278 01:10:39,180 --> 01:10:41,249 of the arc of her narrative. 1279 01:10:41,249 --> 01:10:42,550 (audience laughing) 1280 01:10:42,550 --> 01:10:45,290 And what I've noticed in, this next little moment 1281 01:10:45,290 --> 01:10:48,360 here is what I call fate of distraction at the top 1282 01:10:48,360 --> 01:10:51,171 of the stairs, fate of distraction right here. 1283 01:10:51,171 --> 01:10:52,590 Whoa. 1284 01:10:52,590 --> 01:10:57,590 Okay, I don't, I mean when it happened I was like terrified, 1285 01:10:57,990 --> 01:11:00,193 like oh no, she's going down on the stairs. 1286 01:11:01,680 --> 01:11:03,410 You can see my good samaritan impulse, 1287 01:11:03,410 --> 01:11:05,780 I mean I'm ready to like dive down after her, 1288 01:11:05,780 --> 01:11:08,290 so I'm not like out here just like accusing people 1289 01:11:08,290 --> 01:11:10,490 of like being stupid for trying to help other people 1290 01:11:10,490 --> 01:11:12,400 in need because I do it myself. 1291 01:11:12,400 --> 01:11:14,640 And then there's final reckoning, you'll see it here, 1292 01:11:14,640 --> 01:11:16,373 this look of like, right here. 1293 01:11:18,530 --> 01:11:21,186 She's like you know, I almost died looking at you. 1294 01:11:21,186 --> 01:11:22,922 (audience laughing) 1295 01:11:22,922 --> 01:11:25,620 (audience applauding) 1296 01:11:25,620 --> 01:11:27,960 I think Bill understands people's reaction 1297 01:11:27,960 --> 01:11:31,410 to disability more than most people do, 1298 01:11:31,410 --> 01:11:34,370 and he knows he's being misunderstood. 1299 01:11:34,370 --> 01:11:39,370 And he can reach in and like bloop, here it is, 1300 01:11:39,890 --> 01:11:41,080 you see that. 1301 01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:43,830 So this next relationship I call peripheral fluctuation. 1302 01:11:43,830 --> 01:11:45,540 So peripheral fluctuation is the kind of thing 1303 01:11:45,540 --> 01:11:47,023 where your periphery is like right here, right, 1304 01:11:47,023 --> 01:11:49,030 you can see my field of vision. 1305 01:11:49,030 --> 01:11:51,830 Then you have like peripheral over here, right, 1306 01:11:51,830 --> 01:11:54,493 so then as soon as my periphery starts to move 1307 01:11:54,493 --> 01:11:56,070 towards a full field of vision, 1308 01:11:56,070 --> 01:11:57,570 it's like peripheral function. 1309 01:11:58,950 --> 01:12:00,428 No, I wasn't looking. 1310 01:12:00,428 --> 01:12:02,393 (audience laughing) 1311 01:12:02,393 --> 01:12:03,510 All of those things, were things 1312 01:12:03,510 --> 01:12:06,130 that I could recognize in my life in different ways, 1313 01:12:06,130 --> 01:12:08,410 and oh yeah, I do that or I know that. 1314 01:12:08,410 --> 01:12:11,280 And and yeah, that's not, 1315 01:12:11,280 --> 01:12:13,240 that's not understood by everybody. 1316 01:12:13,240 --> 01:12:15,120 This next relationship I call "Gesture of Help." 1317 01:12:15,120 --> 01:12:18,020 A gesture of help is very different than real help. 1318 01:12:18,020 --> 01:12:20,090 Real help, you know, like put me over your shoulder 1319 01:12:20,090 --> 01:12:21,160 and carry me up the stairs. 1320 01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:25,520 A gesture of help is like I'm gonna help her help me 1321 01:12:26,420 --> 01:12:27,290 up the stairs. 1322 01:12:27,290 --> 01:12:28,310 (audience laughing) 1323 01:12:28,310 --> 01:12:31,020 Now normally for me, I go like up the stairs, 1324 01:12:31,020 --> 01:12:32,451 but she's going sideways. 1325 01:12:32,451 --> 01:12:34,140 (audience laughing) 1326 01:12:34,140 --> 01:12:35,790 I'm like where are you taking me? 1327 01:12:36,720 --> 01:12:38,503 I'm going to another dimension. 1328 01:12:41,620 --> 01:12:44,880 People who haven't experienced these interactions, 1329 01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:46,800 people who move through the world with sort 1330 01:12:46,800 --> 01:12:49,640 of ordinary bodies don't necessarily understand 1331 01:12:49,640 --> 01:12:53,560 what Bill is talking about, but it's that intervention 1332 01:12:53,560 --> 01:12:58,072 with the video technology, that's when people get it. 1333 01:12:58,072 --> 01:13:01,239 (audience applauding) 1334 01:13:13,098 --> 01:13:16,480 (light electronic music) 1335 01:13:16,480 --> 01:13:18,650 People say, they'll write about me, Bill Shannon, 1336 01:13:18,650 --> 01:13:20,010 you know, he's this great dancer, right, 1337 01:13:20,010 --> 01:13:22,690 it's too bad that, you know, he tricks people 1338 01:13:22,690 --> 01:13:24,440 into helping him on the street. 1339 01:13:24,440 --> 01:13:26,770 You know, or he does things where he falls to the ground 1340 01:13:26,770 --> 01:13:28,723 so that, so that people help him. 1341 01:13:30,060 --> 01:13:33,509 So it has this sort of notion that, that I'm getting people 1342 01:13:33,509 --> 01:13:36,560 to do these things as if they don't do them already, 1343 01:13:36,560 --> 01:13:39,460 whether, well, no matter what I'm doing, they're doing it. 1344 01:13:41,410 --> 01:13:44,410 (upbeat jazz music) 1345 01:13:51,803 --> 01:13:53,280 What's it for? 1346 01:13:53,280 --> 01:13:54,329 it's a trio of video projects, 1347 01:13:54,329 --> 01:13:58,450 called "Window, Bench and Traffic." 1348 01:13:58,450 --> 01:14:02,990 And those projects are my sort of way of addressing 1349 01:14:02,990 --> 01:14:07,690 a basic problem about dancing in the street, 1350 01:14:07,690 --> 01:14:09,480 which is my dancing in the street 1351 01:14:09,480 --> 01:14:10,860 is never seen by audiences, 1352 01:14:10,860 --> 01:14:13,411 it's only seen by people who happen to be there. 1353 01:14:13,411 --> 01:14:16,828 (light electronic music) 1354 01:14:18,790 --> 01:14:21,210 He could've just kinda gone down some easy route 1355 01:14:21,210 --> 01:14:23,860 of making some really entertaining dance shows. 1356 01:14:23,860 --> 01:14:26,520 People would love the sort of flippancy 1357 01:14:26,520 --> 01:14:30,150 and the superficial level of the virtuosity that he has. 1358 01:14:30,150 --> 01:14:30,983 And he didn't. 1359 01:14:32,897 --> 01:14:35,020 The mad scientist in him is brewing something, 1360 01:14:35,020 --> 01:14:36,290 he's just, you know, he's brainstorming 1361 01:14:36,290 --> 01:14:39,149 for his next big form of expression. 1362 01:14:39,149 --> 01:14:42,066 (percussive music) 1363 01:14:57,200 --> 01:15:00,690 Moving into a series like "Window, Bench, Traffic" 1364 01:15:00,690 --> 01:15:05,360 solves one problem that Bill had when he 1365 01:15:05,360 --> 01:15:09,750 was doing his click and point edited video talks. 1366 01:15:09,750 --> 01:15:13,740 And that is that people could see him picking and choosing, 1367 01:15:13,740 --> 01:15:15,150 which, in fact, he was. 1368 01:15:15,150 --> 01:15:18,340 He might have captured four hours of film 1369 01:15:18,340 --> 01:15:21,020 and found the three seconds that really illustrated 1370 01:15:21,020 --> 01:15:22,040 his point. 1371 01:15:22,040 --> 01:15:24,350 And people might say well, there's a, 1372 01:15:24,350 --> 01:15:26,430 there's a manipulation that's happening there 1373 01:15:26,430 --> 01:15:27,460 because you're freezing, 1374 01:15:27,460 --> 01:15:31,720 you're stopping does it really unfold that way? 1375 01:15:31,720 --> 01:15:33,333 Well, let's find out. 1376 01:15:34,540 --> 01:15:35,530 There's a fabric. 1377 01:15:35,530 --> 01:15:36,740 There's a social fabric. 1378 01:15:36,740 --> 01:15:40,010 There's a a landscape of gazes, and approaches 1379 01:15:40,010 --> 01:15:44,410 and subtleties around how humans look at each other, 1380 01:15:44,410 --> 01:15:46,680 and pass each other, and the body language 1381 01:15:46,680 --> 01:15:48,070 and the patterns that take place. 1382 01:15:48,070 --> 01:15:51,530 And I really wanted to prove that the spectacle is there, 1383 01:15:51,530 --> 01:15:52,940 I don't have to use anything. 1384 01:15:52,940 --> 01:15:54,670 It happens no matter what I do, 1385 01:15:54,670 --> 01:15:57,653 whether it's my real life or I'm in a performance. 1386 01:16:03,758 --> 01:16:06,530 (upbeat dance music) 1387 01:16:06,530 --> 01:16:11,270 Window was people would be viewing the performance 1388 01:16:11,270 --> 01:16:14,060 through a window in a building on a square, 1389 01:16:14,060 --> 01:16:16,010 and then the audience in the window 1390 01:16:16,010 --> 01:16:19,140 would see the performance, not only directly, 1391 01:16:19,140 --> 01:16:20,210 but also through the camera 1392 01:16:20,210 --> 01:16:22,810 so they could see up close how people were reacting. 1393 01:16:24,230 --> 01:16:26,790 It's an extension of his own investigations 1394 01:16:26,790 --> 01:16:30,240 into how people treat those who are disabled, 1395 01:16:30,240 --> 01:16:32,870 and we often don't know, you know, 1396 01:16:32,870 --> 01:16:34,573 until we see it on screen. 1397 01:16:36,540 --> 01:16:39,290 Bill realizes there are two different audiences, 1398 01:16:39,290 --> 01:16:42,400 the people who have been watching see a guy 1399 01:16:42,400 --> 01:16:45,490 who's clearly capable, whereas people 1400 01:16:45,490 --> 01:16:47,780 who have been walking by, what they have 1401 01:16:47,780 --> 01:16:50,770 is crutches equals fragile. 1402 01:16:50,770 --> 01:16:52,510 Everyone who sees that thinks they know 1403 01:16:52,510 --> 01:16:55,160 what they're seeing, but they're interpreting it 1404 01:16:55,160 --> 01:16:56,750 so differently that it's 1405 01:16:56,750 --> 01:16:58,600 like they're two different realities. 1406 01:17:00,470 --> 01:17:03,930 Bench was before the time of the GoPro, you know, 1407 01:17:03,930 --> 01:17:06,060 he attached cameras all around him to 1408 01:17:06,060 --> 01:17:08,373 give a 360 degree view. 1409 01:17:10,519 --> 01:17:13,623 I remember doing a 360 in a suitcase thing. 1410 01:17:14,570 --> 01:17:17,363 The hidden cameras were a way to get an honest reaction. 1411 01:17:18,846 --> 01:17:20,679 You all right? 1412 01:17:22,834 --> 01:17:24,001 You all right? 1413 01:17:27,120 --> 01:17:30,460 Everyone would see all of these reactions behind him, 1414 01:17:30,460 --> 01:17:32,123 his wake, basically. 1415 01:17:33,550 --> 01:17:36,040 People literally stop on their tracks. 1416 01:17:37,219 --> 01:17:40,190 That happens all the time. 1417 01:17:51,366 --> 01:17:54,449 (upbeat dance music) 1418 01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:06,850 Stage it in the middle of the back. 1419 01:18:09,220 --> 01:18:11,710 Traffic, we put that on wheels 1420 01:18:11,710 --> 01:18:14,263 and it becomes a lot more elaborate. 1421 01:18:25,820 --> 01:18:27,220 The audience boards a bus. 1422 01:18:30,620 --> 01:18:33,230 There's a DJ on the bus. 1423 01:18:33,230 --> 01:18:36,600 The DJ would pipe music that Bill could hear 1424 01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:39,229 and that the audience in the bus could hear, too. 1425 01:18:39,229 --> 01:18:42,312 (upbeat dance music) 1426 01:18:56,705 --> 01:18:58,330 He took his audience into the street. 1427 01:18:58,330 --> 01:19:00,163 He took his audience on a goddamn ride. 1428 01:19:00,163 --> 01:19:02,830 (all laughing) 1429 01:19:02,830 --> 01:19:05,460 And I was on the bus like dude, this is fucking genius. 1430 01:19:05,460 --> 01:19:06,886 It was so cool. 1431 01:19:06,886 --> 01:19:07,719 It was so exciting, like you really felt 1432 01:19:07,719 --> 01:19:08,859 like you were with him. 1433 01:19:08,859 --> 01:19:10,109 Whooo, whooo! 1434 01:19:14,806 --> 01:19:17,520 (all laughing) 1435 01:19:17,520 --> 01:19:19,790 It's interesting enough to be called art, 1436 01:19:19,790 --> 01:19:21,680 but it's got this, you know, spectacle 1437 01:19:21,680 --> 01:19:24,510 of showmanship kind of quality and you're not looking 1438 01:19:24,510 --> 01:19:25,750 at the Empire State Building, 1439 01:19:25,750 --> 01:19:28,023 you're looking at somebody who's living art. 1440 01:19:33,371 --> 01:19:34,204 Hi. 1441 01:19:35,620 --> 01:19:36,920 It's hot out today, right? 1442 01:19:42,540 --> 01:19:43,660 Yeah? 1443 01:19:45,860 --> 01:19:46,730 How is what? 1444 01:19:49,001 --> 01:19:51,551 With these? I try, I flap them, I try to get air. 1445 01:19:53,455 --> 01:19:56,193 Like that, like they catch air and then I can kind of fly. 1446 01:19:59,470 --> 01:20:00,303 I need a what? 1447 01:20:01,136 --> 01:20:02,130 I do need a parachute. 1448 01:20:02,130 --> 01:20:03,130 Thank you. 1449 01:20:03,890 --> 01:20:04,900 You, too. 1450 01:20:09,023 --> 01:20:12,106 (upbeat dance music) 1451 01:20:14,090 --> 01:20:16,460 Traffic is so spontaneous 1452 01:20:16,460 --> 01:20:21,120 that we get to see not only those disability phenomena, 1453 01:20:48,245 --> 01:20:49,691 Bye. 1454 01:20:59,670 --> 01:21:02,753 (upbeat dance music) 1455 01:21:09,755 --> 01:21:12,210 Ah, that's failure. 1456 01:21:12,210 --> 01:21:15,520 But even when I, even when I fail I try to keep it smooth. 1457 01:21:15,520 --> 01:21:17,300 You all right? Yeah, I'm cool. 1458 01:21:17,300 --> 01:21:19,740 I, I look good, don't I? 1459 01:21:19,740 --> 01:21:20,800 I look good, right? 1460 01:21:20,800 --> 01:21:21,633 On the ground. 1461 01:21:22,890 --> 01:21:25,591 Yeah, I'm, I don't really need help, but if you want 1462 01:21:25,591 --> 01:21:27,697 to help me, you can. 1463 01:21:27,697 --> 01:21:28,590 Okay, you wanna help me, all right, cool. 1464 01:21:28,590 --> 01:21:29,700 Here we go, Shannon. 1465 01:21:29,700 --> 01:21:32,123 I don't need this help though. 1466 01:21:32,123 --> 01:21:33,590 No, listen, I don't need the help, 1467 01:21:33,590 --> 01:21:34,423 but I really appreciate it. 1468 01:21:35,530 --> 01:21:36,800 All right, brother. 1469 01:21:36,800 --> 01:21:38,197 Thank you, brother. 1470 01:21:40,558 --> 01:21:41,391 Huh? 1471 01:21:44,323 --> 01:21:47,060 It's my hip isn't round on both sides. 1472 01:21:50,640 --> 01:21:51,640 Well, it's both, actually. 1473 01:21:51,640 --> 01:21:54,280 I'm playing and I have hips that aren't round. 1474 01:21:54,280 --> 01:21:55,308 Yeah. 1475 01:21:55,308 --> 01:21:56,141 So it's, it's in between. 1476 01:21:56,141 --> 01:21:57,110 You know, it's like wearing glasses. 1477 01:21:57,110 --> 01:21:59,750 When you take them off, you're not blind, you know. 1478 01:21:59,750 --> 01:22:01,580 Like, I can walk, but not very far. 1479 01:22:01,580 --> 01:22:02,610 I respect that, man. 1480 01:22:02,610 --> 01:22:03,443 Oh, thank you, man. 1481 01:22:03,443 --> 01:22:04,580 I've got tons of respect for you, 1482 01:22:04,580 --> 01:22:07,153 just your whole vibe is just amazing, man. 1483 01:22:09,125 --> 01:22:09,958 What's that? 1484 01:22:10,820 --> 01:22:11,653 A donation? 1485 01:22:11,653 --> 01:22:12,820 Yeah, sure. 1486 01:22:12,820 --> 01:22:13,926 I love donations. 1487 01:22:13,926 --> 01:22:15,326 (all laughing) 1488 01:22:15,326 --> 01:22:16,830 Oh, man. 1489 01:22:16,830 --> 01:22:17,850 Wow. 1490 01:22:17,850 --> 01:22:18,752 Thank you. 1491 01:22:18,752 --> 01:22:19,585 Thank you, sir. 1492 01:22:19,585 --> 01:22:20,950 Wow, that's, that's a blessing right there. 1493 01:22:20,950 --> 01:22:22,154 Yes. 1494 01:22:22,154 --> 01:22:24,737 (all cheering) 1495 01:22:26,989 --> 01:22:30,322 That's the street, baby, right there. 1496 01:22:40,820 --> 01:22:43,430 You watch people and their reaction to him 1497 01:22:43,430 --> 01:22:45,410 as a person being on crutches, 1498 01:22:45,410 --> 01:22:48,283 they automatically assume that he needs help. 1499 01:22:49,410 --> 01:22:52,843 When in fact, he's helping them help him. 1500 01:22:54,590 --> 01:22:56,640 And he's been able to take that and turn it 1501 01:22:56,640 --> 01:23:01,041 into something magic. 1502 01:23:01,041 --> 01:23:02,196 There he is. 1503 01:23:02,196 --> 01:23:03,363 Wave everyone. 1504 01:23:08,725 --> 01:23:11,808 (upbeat dance music) 1505 01:23:22,567 --> 01:23:25,230 And there is a section in Traffic where he 1506 01:23:25,230 --> 01:23:29,383 is on a staircase and he is clearly acting as a performer. 1507 01:23:30,580 --> 01:23:35,260 He is dancing, he is twirling, he is performing 1508 01:23:35,260 --> 01:23:39,173 in a way that lets us know he has exceptional abilities. 1509 01:23:41,440 --> 01:23:45,973 And then into the frame walk these two men. 1510 01:24:06,437 --> 01:24:09,187 (laughing) 1511 01:24:14,750 --> 01:24:19,100 And they step into offer him this help, but what they 1512 01:24:19,100 --> 01:24:22,363 do is completely disrupt a moment of pure performance. 1513 01:24:32,740 --> 01:24:36,453 That's the power of the habits of interpretation we have. 1514 01:24:37,480 --> 01:24:41,360 It's so abundantly clear that these guys have no idea 1515 01:24:41,360 --> 01:24:42,980 and they're acting on assumptions 1516 01:24:42,980 --> 01:24:45,173 that don't fit the situation. 1517 01:24:46,910 --> 01:24:48,350 There it is. 1518 01:24:48,350 --> 01:24:49,960 And the audience gets it, 1519 01:24:49,960 --> 01:24:51,960 whether they have any background or not. 1520 01:24:53,056 --> 01:24:56,223 (audience applauding) 1521 01:25:21,493 --> 01:25:24,243 (indistinct chatter) 1522 01:25:45,598 --> 01:25:49,150 And now listen, this is really, really important. 1523 01:25:49,150 --> 01:25:49,983 Be yourself. 1524 01:25:52,170 --> 01:25:55,313 Be yourself, don't try, don't fake, don't fake the funk. 1525 01:25:56,320 --> 01:25:58,000 Be you. 1526 01:25:58,000 --> 01:25:59,060 That's how this happened. 1527 01:25:59,060 --> 01:26:00,710 You think everybody was like when I first did 1528 01:26:00,710 --> 01:26:02,160 my moves on crutches, you know how bad 1529 01:26:02,160 --> 01:26:04,040 I looked trying to dance on crutches the first time 1530 01:26:04,040 --> 01:26:05,320 I tried to dance on crutches? 1531 01:26:05,320 --> 01:26:06,512 You wanna see it? 1532 01:26:06,512 --> 01:26:07,345 Yes, yes. 1533 01:26:07,345 --> 01:26:08,290 You wanna see what it looked like in the beginning? 1534 01:26:08,290 --> 01:26:10,393 This is what it looked like in the beginning. 1535 01:26:14,958 --> 01:26:17,125 (humming) 1536 01:26:20,179 --> 01:26:22,030 Then I started to do one of these. 1537 01:26:22,030 --> 01:26:24,760 I started to go woop, boom, da, woop, boom. 1538 01:26:24,760 --> 01:26:26,450 Then I was down here. 1539 01:26:26,450 --> 01:26:28,983 The next thing you know I was doing this. 1540 01:26:28,983 --> 01:26:31,087 (grunting) 1541 01:26:31,087 --> 01:26:36,087 (all cheering) (upbeat orchestral music) 1542 01:27:34,957 --> 01:27:36,920 And so this camp is very special. 1543 01:27:36,920 --> 01:27:37,940 It's special to me. 1544 01:27:37,940 --> 01:27:40,310 This is the first time I've ever met any kids with Perthes, 1545 01:27:40,310 --> 01:27:42,650 so it's really an honor and a pleasure to be here. 1546 01:27:42,650 --> 01:27:46,020 And I really am touched to be invited here, 1547 01:27:46,020 --> 01:27:48,360 and I wanted to thank you all very much and let you know 1548 01:27:48,360 --> 01:27:51,120 I support you and the parents here in the struggles 1549 01:27:51,120 --> 01:27:52,810 that you go through, and the tough choices you have 1550 01:27:52,810 --> 01:27:55,310 to make every day. 1551 01:27:55,310 --> 01:27:58,070 You know, you live with this and, and you struggle, 1552 01:27:58,070 --> 01:28:00,400 and you know, I, I feel you. 1553 01:28:00,400 --> 01:28:01,480 I feel your pain. 1554 01:28:01,480 --> 01:28:02,313 I know I had, 1555 01:28:02,313 --> 01:28:03,980 my parents had to deal with it, 1556 01:28:03,980 --> 01:28:06,690 and so I just feel really blessed to be here 1557 01:28:06,690 --> 01:28:08,540 and thank you so much, all of you. 1558 01:28:08,540 --> 01:28:11,707 (audience applauding) 1559 01:28:22,843 --> 01:28:25,760 (light jazz music) 1560 01:28:39,660 --> 01:28:43,323 There's a necessity to capture moments in time, 1561 01:28:45,160 --> 01:28:47,650 an importance to recognize somebody 1562 01:28:47,650 --> 01:28:49,373 that created his own art form. 1563 01:28:52,090 --> 01:28:55,370 That didn't attempt to be anyone else, 1564 01:28:55,370 --> 01:28:58,240 didn't attempt to dance like anyone else, 1565 01:28:58,240 --> 01:29:02,130 somebody that absolutely personified the potential 1566 01:29:02,130 --> 01:29:03,623 of his own physicality. 1567 01:29:07,870 --> 01:29:10,200 I think he represents hip hop, 1568 01:29:10,200 --> 01:29:13,970 and he represents skateboarding, and he puts 'em together 1569 01:29:13,970 --> 01:29:16,423 in a way that is a one of a kind. 1570 01:29:33,080 --> 01:29:34,080 Look at that shit. 1571 01:29:36,680 --> 01:29:40,550 Our general response is about people who use crutches 1572 01:29:40,550 --> 01:29:44,520 is the story that to use crutches is to be miserable, 1573 01:29:44,520 --> 01:29:47,500 to use crutches is to be awkward, to use crutches 1574 01:29:47,500 --> 01:29:49,660 is to be pitiable. 1575 01:29:49,660 --> 01:29:53,410 And his performances re-script, re-narrate, 1576 01:29:53,410 --> 01:29:57,218 re-tell every single one of those stories. 1577 01:29:57,218 --> 01:30:02,218 (crowd cheering) (light jazz music) 1578 01:30:24,697 --> 01:30:28,410 He's an agent provocateur that's really the essence 1579 01:30:28,410 --> 01:30:30,100 of his character to some extent. 1580 01:30:30,100 --> 01:30:32,513 It's like oh, you think so? 1581 01:30:33,880 --> 01:30:35,835 I'll show you, you know. 1582 01:30:35,835 --> 01:30:39,502 (speaking foreign language) 1583 01:30:41,647 --> 01:30:43,940 (crowd cheering) 1584 01:30:43,940 --> 01:30:48,540 He's brought so much to the world because he has shared 1585 01:30:48,540 --> 01:30:51,150 and taught, let's learn to question the assumptions 1586 01:30:51,150 --> 01:30:54,393 that we bring and let people teach us about who they are. 1587 01:31:00,120 --> 01:31:02,960 What he's doing, I don't think people have caught up 1588 01:31:02,960 --> 01:31:04,147 to that yet, man. 1589 01:31:04,147 --> 01:31:05,920 And when they finally catch on, 1590 01:31:05,920 --> 01:31:08,260 he's like on to something else. 1591 01:31:08,260 --> 01:31:11,247 And I think that's, the way great artists should be. 1592 01:31:11,247 --> 01:31:14,164 (light jazz music) 1593 01:31:24,517 --> 01:31:27,684 (audience applauding) 1594 01:31:37,820 --> 01:31:39,800 There's the dangerous word of inspiration, 1595 01:31:39,800 --> 01:31:42,330 and there's a dangerous world of inspiration porn 1596 01:31:42,330 --> 01:31:44,247 that we talk about now particularly of 1597 01:31:44,247 --> 01:31:46,400 disabled people looking at disabled people 1598 01:31:46,400 --> 01:31:48,167 and going, "That's so inspiring." 1599 01:31:50,580 --> 01:31:54,023 I'm not here to inspire you just by my very being, 1600 01:31:57,000 --> 01:32:01,948 but I'm okay for you to be inspired by me if you change. 1601 01:32:01,948 --> 01:32:04,865 (light jazz music) 1602 01:32:21,727 --> 01:32:24,727 (upbeat jazz music) 1603 01:32:59,708 --> 01:33:03,125 (light electronic music) 1604 01:34:48,935 --> 01:34:52,352 (light electronic music) 1605 01:36:10,109 --> 01:36:13,526 (light electronic music)