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Okay.
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All right, okay.
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So, there's this thing about well,
I will never be considered,
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in the dance world, as simply a dancer.
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I will always be looked at
as an anomaly.
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I can not be compared.
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I can't be sort of set next
to any of these other
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whatever great dancers
that might be out there,
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that, you know, are sort of
the hallmarks of dance.
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I'm saying that.
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I'm saying that because that's how I,
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I mean that's how
I experienced, you know,
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the dance world, you know,
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'cause they supposedly
have this big focus on dance
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and the body and all that,
but the reality is that,
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you know, they're interested
in the perfect body.
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(light ambient music)
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He's known as the Crutch Master
19
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and he's surprised audiences
all across the world.
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This is something
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I guarantee you have never seen before.
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This is Bill Shannon,
who is the Crutch Master,
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and his buddies back here,
who are the Step Fenz,
24
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direct from New York City-
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The show is called
The Art Of Weightlessness.
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It's sponsored by The Dance Umbrella,
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and Bill Shannon
defies gravity with the help
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of his crutches.
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Get down to the studio
at the Opera House
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because there's an amazing performer
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from Brooklyn coming out,
called Bill Shannon.
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And the night is called Spatial Theory.
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It's had rave reviews.
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I've never seen anything like this.
35
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I was looking at the
video tape yesterday
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and I was amazed.
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(indistinct chatter)
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His art sometimes capitalizes
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on interactions with others.
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(indistinct chatter)
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It's sort of a funky dance routine too.
42
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(audience applauding)
43
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(upbeat jazz music)
44
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Extension 3320.
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Are we ready?
46
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What's going on?
47
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I feel like I'm treading water.
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Are we going?
49
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This way?
50
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Okay.
51
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Let's go get a rental.
52
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I wanna sit in the back.
Okay.
53
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Keep right toward I-275 North at Tampa.
54
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It's kind of blindsided me
like oh yeah, Perthes Camp,
55
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cool, they're like okay,
56
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you're gonna meet a bunch
of kids with Perthes.
57
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I'm like oh, wait a second.
58
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(indistinct chatter)
59
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It's gonna be right on beat, okay?
60
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Three, two, one, jump!
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(light ambient music)
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Turn left to stay at Camp Florida Road,
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then your destination
will be on the right.
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(indistinct chatter)
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(kids cheering)
66
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It's really emotional for me because
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I'm gonna have this moment
of like seeing kids
68
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living their life at
that age and the way
69
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,503
that I lived my life at that age,
which is really tough,
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you know.
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I'm already gonna cry
just thinking about it.
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It's something that's really
a hard time in my life.
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(light acoustic guitar music)
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When Bill was born,
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Randa and I were both activists.
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I had come of age basically
on the doorstep
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of the Civil Rights Movement
in Nashville.
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And I was in the Peace Movement,
the whole variety
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and spectrum of organizations
in the Women's Movement.
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00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,390
My parents were like
all about humanitarianism,
81
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and like helping the steelworkers,
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and helping the unemployed,
and ending, you know, apartheid.
83
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I grew up with the smell
of permanent markers
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on banners, going door to door,
delivering leaflets.
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The big picture was we can
do better as human beings.
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And we can, we can
treat each other better
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and we can have a better world.
88
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As a toddler, Bill, he loved speed.
89
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,050
He loved things like Big Wheels
going down steep hills,
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00:05:29,050 --> 00:05:31,273
and climbing trees
and jumping out of them.
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Sometimes after he had
been running around a lot,
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he would limp.
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So I took him a doctor and he came in
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and told me he has Legg Perthes Disease.
95
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And I said I've never heard of that.
96
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I'm a nurse, you know,
but I never heard of it.
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It's a developing deformation
of the head of the femur,
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which is normally like a rounded,
99
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very smooth cartilage-covered
ball that fits
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00:06:04,820 --> 00:06:07,890
into a socket very smoothly and rotates.
101
00:06:07,890 --> 00:06:12,440
And in his case, the head of the femur
102
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had no circulation and it
becomes necrotic, basically,
103
00:06:15,860 --> 00:06:18,343
sort of rotten, and becomes misshapen.
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00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,573
All the doctors in Pittsburgh
wanted to operate.
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00:06:24,190 --> 00:06:27,040
We talked about
subjecting a four-year-old
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to multiple surgeries.
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I'm an anesthetist,
I work in a major medical center
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and I know what the aftermath can be
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if you don't have a
good result, major pain,
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major risk of infection.
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There's the danger
of any kind of mishap,
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a blood clot, you know, things happen
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to people all the time in surgery.
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It's kinda scary, you know?
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And that's when I started
researching metallurgy
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of these implants.
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00:06:58,490 --> 00:07:02,240
And all these things they've
been putting in people's hips,
118
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you know, deteriorate and
the implant kills the bone.
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I was like this,
this is not going to happen,
120
00:07:10,580 --> 00:07:13,773
you know, not for an active kid, so no.
121
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Randa talked to so many
doctors until she finally
122
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found a doctor that said, you know,
123
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there's an alternative,
which is the brace.
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It felt really sad not
to see him, you know,
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crashing down the alley in his Big Wheel
126
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and doing things like that anymore
127
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because it had been such a joy for him.
128
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They were like this, this kind
of a cage in a way, you know
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It was like literally living in a cage.
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I went to put him in elementary school
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and they said oh,
he'll be in a special education class.
132
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I had to go to the
school board to insist
133
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that Bill be in a mainstream classroom.
134
00:08:00,250 --> 00:08:03,860
Bill had to learn to deal with the world
135
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as it was treating him
because he was a freak
136
00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:08,993
in the eyes of a lot of kids.
137
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And there was a kid who called him
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a four-legged chicken a bunch,
and so I chased him down,
139
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and wrestled him,
and held him 'til Bill got there.
140
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With Perthes, you know, because you have
141
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that sort of dexterity of your legs
and they kind of work,
142
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and they look okay,
it's like somehow harder
143
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for people to deal with.
144
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Even with my disability
and kids calling me faker in,
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in the playground, and when I'm
wearing a chunk of steel,
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and crutches and running around,
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and hey like still think I'm faking.
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It's alienating when
you have a disability
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that no one else understands,
and that no one else
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has to solve problems for.
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00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,940
Bill was a provocateur when
he was a month old, you know.
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He was a never a person
who was gonna just ride along,
153
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,549
so he would sneak around
without the brace and the crutches.
154
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(upbeat jazz music)
155
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In my medical expertise
as a third grader,
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I thought the brace should come off.
157
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I began to play and to
try and participate
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as much as I could, even though
I was definitely limited,
159
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like you know, king of the hill, I mean
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every time I would
climb up that hill, man,
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I'd get pushed the fuck back down
and I hated it.
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I would get so mad, I would cry.
163
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I mean I would get calls
from the neighbors
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they would say your little boy
is jumping off walls
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with his crutches, you know.
166
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And he's climbing a tree.
167
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The thing is when you're
a kid with Perthes,
168
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like you can always be off crutches,
169
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like you can always stand up
and walk around if you want.
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You can even run
if you want and that's kind
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of frustrating as a kid,
like I know I can do these things,
172
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but you're gonna pay the price
173
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'cause you're gonna
feel pain later, extreme pain.
174
00:10:09,935 --> 00:10:13,550
During your teenage years,
your bones harden
175
00:10:13,550 --> 00:10:15,690
and at that point in terms of Perthes,
176
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whatever damage has been done
to your hip is done.
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But if you don't feel any pain,
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you don't need to use crutches.
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I remember coming home from school
180
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and he was standing next to the couch,
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00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:31,877
and he was like "No crutches!"
182
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(upbeat dance music)
183
00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:38,890
I remember walking out of the hospital
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sort of feeling weird, like lighter.
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I really felt very strange with my arms
186
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without walking with crutches.
187
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When you grow up always being, you know,
188
00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:52,850
that kid on crutches or that kid
with something's wrong
189
00:10:52,850 --> 00:10:55,230
with him, when you get that moment
190
00:10:55,230 --> 00:10:58,460
where you're just a regular kid,
it's like thank you,
191
00:10:58,460 --> 00:11:01,390
like I just wanna just do everything,
192
00:11:01,390 --> 00:11:03,611
like it truly is an explosion.
193
00:11:03,611 --> 00:11:06,694
(upbeat dance music)
194
00:11:15,921 --> 00:11:17,350
It took me a good year to really,
195
00:11:17,350 --> 00:11:18,380
to get back into walking.
196
00:11:18,380 --> 00:11:21,200
And then there was break-dancing
right there waiting for me.
197
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When straight from like learning
how to walk to learning how
198
00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:25,486
to moon walk.
199
00:11:25,486 --> 00:11:27,962
(laughing)
200
00:11:27,962 --> 00:11:29,580
I remember they had a talent show.
201
00:11:29,580 --> 00:11:31,500
He's a freshmen in high school.
202
00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:33,650
Bill would get out there
and he was popping
203
00:11:33,650 --> 00:11:36,442
and moon-walking, and all of the girls
204
00:11:36,442 --> 00:11:38,740
in the audience went, "Ahhhhhh!"
205
00:11:40,936 --> 00:11:43,500
It was magical, the,
the movement was magical.
206
00:11:43,500 --> 00:11:45,173
And my brother was lit up.
207
00:11:50,828 --> 00:11:54,722
♪ It's a beautiful day to go skating ♪
208
00:11:54,722 --> 00:11:58,047
♪ Won't you shred, won't you rip ♪
209
00:11:58,047 --> 00:12:01,372
♪ Won't you skate your balls off ♪
210
00:12:01,372 --> 00:12:04,372
(upbeat rock music)
211
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:08,070
They still were doing break-dancing
212
00:12:08,070 --> 00:12:09,833
and then they went into
the skateboarding thing.
213
00:12:11,943 --> 00:12:14,043
And we just attacked the streets.
214
00:12:17,014 --> 00:12:17,972
♪ Marijuana! ♪
215
00:12:18,930 --> 00:12:19,763
[Bill] Oh shit.
216
00:12:19,763 --> 00:12:21,873
It changed my life in one day.
217
00:12:21,873 --> 00:12:24,200
♪ Cheap beer! ♪
218
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:25,853
I knew it was like no going back.
219
00:12:26,707 --> 00:12:29,166
♪ Women! ♪
220
00:12:29,166 --> 00:12:30,749
Bill, Bill.
221
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:35,860
Look what I did to my board, oh no.
222
00:12:35,860 --> 00:12:38,583
That was just when street skating
was coming about,
223
00:12:38,583 --> 00:12:41,630
like wall riding, and rail sliding,
224
00:12:41,630 --> 00:12:43,500
but it wasn't like the rails yet.
225
00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:45,510
It was like more on the long curbs
226
00:12:45,510 --> 00:12:47,660
that would be outside the gas stations
227
00:12:47,660 --> 00:12:49,410
and we'd just slide the whole curb.
228
00:12:53,990 --> 00:12:56,840
Bill was the kind of skateboarder
who, you know,
229
00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,140
looked like he would probably sprain
230
00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:01,360
an ankle or break an ankle
doing a trick,
231
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,490
and just figure it was
the cost of learning
232
00:13:03,490 --> 00:13:04,353
to do that trick.
233
00:13:13,070 --> 00:13:15,220
Young people are trying to
fight the establishment
234
00:13:15,220 --> 00:13:17,430
of an ordinance that would
prohibit skateboards
235
00:13:17,430 --> 00:13:19,230
in Pittsburgh's business districts.
236
00:13:19,230 --> 00:13:22,290
These skaters say their board
is their transportation.
237
00:13:22,290 --> 00:13:24,060
Because I work in Oakland and, you know,
238
00:13:24,060 --> 00:13:25,000
I live here in Point Breeze,
239
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,430
so I have to skate through
Oakland just to get to work.
240
00:13:27,430 --> 00:13:28,979
And if they ban that,
241
00:13:28,979 --> 00:13:30,783
then I'm gonna get a fine going to work.
242
00:13:31,820 --> 00:13:34,520
You should get the footage
of Bill getting arrested.
243
00:13:35,550 --> 00:13:37,250
He got arrested for skateboarding.
244
00:13:38,213 --> 00:13:41,818
(all shouting)
(rock music)
245
00:13:41,818 --> 00:13:44,286
(screaming)
246
00:13:44,286 --> 00:13:47,753
Get off my fucking hand.
247
00:13:47,753 --> 00:13:49,120
Just get off my wrist, man.
248
00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:50,083
What the fuck?
249
00:13:52,926 --> 00:13:54,418
(grunting)
250
00:13:54,418 --> 00:13:55,251
Fuck.
251
00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:56,737
What the fuck is this, man?
252
00:13:56,737 --> 00:14:00,032
I'm just a skateboarder.
253
00:14:00,032 --> 00:14:02,263
I'm skating down the street.
254
00:14:02,263 --> 00:14:04,373
And the cops threw him in jail.
255
00:14:05,422 --> 00:14:06,500
It was all in the news.
256
00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:10,010
And he went to jail saying,
"Skateboarding is not a crime!"
257
00:14:10,010 --> 00:14:11,510
Skateboarding is not a crime!
258
00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:14,080
Skateboarding is not,
that was like the slogan.
259
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,163
And but actually technically it was.
260
00:14:19,510 --> 00:14:23,160
I followed them to jail,
then they came out
261
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:24,860
and we cheered like they were
262
00:14:24,860 --> 00:14:27,017
political prisoners being released.
263
00:14:27,017 --> 00:14:28,833
What happened, Bill?
264
00:14:28,833 --> 00:14:29,714
I don't know.
265
00:14:29,714 --> 00:14:30,547
(camera shutter clicking)
266
00:14:30,547 --> 00:14:33,363
After that they had his
picture in Sassy Magazine.
267
00:14:34,310 --> 00:14:37,760
He became a big rockstar
to all the girls,
268
00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,390
Like damn, Bill, you look cute.
269
00:14:40,390 --> 00:14:42,640
(laughing)
270
00:14:51,950 --> 00:14:55,033
(light guitar music)
271
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,340
Bill's situation with his illness,
you know,
272
00:15:07,340 --> 00:15:10,090
that had been such a focus
for our family that
273
00:15:10,090 --> 00:15:11,440
when that was gone, then Randy
274
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,340
and I had to look at our relationship.
275
00:15:15,604 --> 00:15:17,510
That's the way life goes, perfect storms
276
00:15:17,510 --> 00:15:19,140
every once in a while where everything
277
00:15:19,140 --> 00:15:22,033
just goes to fragments.
278
00:15:24,787 --> 00:15:25,954
, wow, look.
279
00:15:27,075 --> 00:15:29,650
It's totally destroyed.
280
00:15:29,650 --> 00:15:32,380
I think Bill felt responsible for me
281
00:15:32,380 --> 00:15:33,863
and Randy getting divorced.
282
00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:39,270
Me and my brother,
like we were very dependent on
283
00:15:39,270 --> 00:15:41,723
each other and we were
split during the divorce.
284
00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:44,150
My brother went to live with my mom,
285
00:15:44,150 --> 00:15:45,950
but I still had to live with my dad.
286
00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:48,370
And that was really tough.
287
00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:56,053
Randy and Bill had a
dynamic that was really,
288
00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:58,923
they had horrible fights.
289
00:16:00,050 --> 00:16:02,720
My brother really started
to get the brunt
290
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,720
of my dad's hard-ass reactions
to being defied.
291
00:16:16,620 --> 00:16:21,273
Bill often saw his art
as a sword and a shield.
292
00:16:22,710 --> 00:16:26,450
For Bill, his art has
been very cathartic
293
00:16:26,450 --> 00:16:28,930
and has been shaped by whatever happened
294
00:16:28,930 --> 00:16:31,560
to be happening with him
at that particular period
295
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,819
in his life, and his reactions to it.
296
00:16:34,819 --> 00:16:38,236
(light electronic music)
297
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,310
Support the troops.
298
00:16:50,168 --> 00:16:51,501
Bring them home.
299
00:16:52,410 --> 00:16:54,900
I call the Pentagon's war.
300
00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:56,150
This is my body.
301
00:16:58,175 --> 00:16:59,220
My body.
302
00:16:59,220 --> 00:17:01,143
Art was just the place I went,
303
00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,620
the place I went when I wanted to be
304
00:17:04,620 --> 00:17:07,370
on a level playing ground
with the other kids in class,
305
00:17:08,780 --> 00:17:12,623
the place I went to get away
from my family issues.
306
00:17:13,556 --> 00:17:15,973
(vocalizing)
307
00:17:17,139 --> 00:17:20,880
Everybody has that
experience of suffering.
308
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:26,330
[Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken.
309
00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:30,540
[Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken.
310
00:17:30,540 --> 00:17:33,860
But I think sharing the experience
and understanding it
311
00:17:33,860 --> 00:17:35,520
as other people experience it
312
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:37,123
is another step in the process.
313
00:17:38,881 --> 00:17:41,777
[Electronic Voice] Three-legged chicken.
314
00:17:43,110 --> 00:17:45,310
Hey, were you sleeping?
315
00:17:45,310 --> 00:17:47,840
No sleeping, no sleeping today, bud!
316
00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,773
Uh-uh, it's National Un-Holiday.
317
00:17:51,826 --> 00:17:52,790
♪ Wake up ♪
318
00:17:52,790 --> 00:17:55,207
(vocalizing)
319
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,940
I remember there's one
scene that, you know,
320
00:18:05,940 --> 00:18:08,830
everybody goes and does an acid drop.
321
00:18:08,830 --> 00:18:10,530
An acid drop is like an
old move where you
322
00:18:10,530 --> 00:18:13,053
just like ride off a drop
and you just drop down.
323
00:18:14,170 --> 00:18:15,240
I was just scared of it,
324
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,740
like I didn't have flexibility
in my right leg.
325
00:18:17,740 --> 00:18:20,490
Every time I would fall
or my back leg would get,
326
00:18:20,490 --> 00:18:21,560
would get pulled out,
327
00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,163
it was like horrible excruciating pain.
328
00:18:28,230 --> 00:18:30,680
When we were skating,
we would just go, go, go.
329
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,253
And he couldn't keep up.
330
00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,780
And so it would be a question of okay,
331
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:41,580
do we stop skating
or do we leave my brother behind?
332
00:18:41,580 --> 00:18:43,060
Are you all right, man?
333
00:18:43,060 --> 00:18:43,893
Are you okay?
334
00:18:43,893 --> 00:18:44,970
Yeah, I'm fine.
335
00:18:44,970 --> 00:18:46,106
You'll be all right?
336
00:18:46,106 --> 00:18:48,722
Yeah, I'll be fine.
337
00:18:48,722 --> 00:18:52,140
(dramatic guitar music)
338
00:18:52,140 --> 00:18:55,030
I knew that my time
like without any problems
339
00:18:55,030 --> 00:18:59,050
with my hips was already
into those days were numbered,
340
00:18:59,050 --> 00:19:00,540
just a matter of time.
341
00:19:00,540 --> 00:19:04,150
I knew that when I was 16
and I was skateboarding,
342
00:19:04,150 --> 00:19:06,390
like this shit isn't gonna last.
343
00:19:06,390 --> 00:19:07,720
There's no fucking way.
344
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,233
I better enjoy it while I can.
345
00:19:10,700 --> 00:19:12,770
And then it happened
and I started having really,
346
00:19:12,770 --> 00:19:13,853
really bad pain.
347
00:19:15,743 --> 00:19:16,576
And there would be times when he would
348
00:19:16,576 --> 00:19:19,450
just be like in tears from the pain.
349
00:19:19,450 --> 00:19:22,880
And I'd feel like I was
seeing the pain change him
350
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,083
in his personality.
351
00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:31,010
It was really, really,
really heartbreaking
352
00:19:31,010 --> 00:19:34,083
to tell him that he had to
go back on crutches.
353
00:19:35,170 --> 00:19:40,170
And for Bill,
a bottomless pit of sorrow.
354
00:19:41,850 --> 00:19:43,620
He cried.
355
00:19:43,620 --> 00:19:44,583
We all cried.
356
00:19:47,524 --> 00:19:50,274
(dramatic music)
357
00:20:53,956 --> 00:20:56,789
(indistinct chatter)
358
00:21:04,061 --> 00:21:04,894
All right, Twenty.
359
00:21:06,770 --> 00:21:07,653
Go, Twenty.
360
00:21:10,082 --> 00:21:11,660
Another thing you can do
is we go down to the floor
361
00:21:11,660 --> 00:21:15,110
and come back up,
so you have different ranges of,
362
00:21:15,110 --> 00:21:16,470
levels of your movement.
363
00:21:16,470 --> 00:21:18,290
You know, you're
standing here doing this.
364
00:21:18,290 --> 00:21:20,150
You open up,
you start to step it around,
365
00:21:20,150 --> 00:21:22,623
two, one, two, spin.
366
00:21:23,530 --> 00:21:25,470
Like that, get, keep going
with your feeling,
367
00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:27,690
whatever your flow is, but then go,
try to go to the ground.
368
00:21:27,690 --> 00:21:31,170
Go to the ground and do it again,
and come back up.
369
00:21:31,170 --> 00:21:32,283
Just do another turn.
370
00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:35,550
Yeah, so you go lower down.
371
00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:38,360
Yeah, beau-, good, then come back up.
372
00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:40,012
Good.
373
00:21:40,012 --> 00:21:41,101
Come here, give me five, man.
374
00:21:41,101 --> 00:21:41,934
You got skills.
375
00:21:42,874 --> 00:21:44,044
All right.
376
00:21:44,044 --> 00:21:47,461
(light electronic music)
377
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:54,321
Here you go, like that.
378
00:21:54,321 --> 00:21:57,488
Pop your chest out and roll it around.
379
00:22:09,667 --> 00:22:10,600
And keep 'em moving.
380
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:11,783
Keep your neck alive.
381
00:22:12,940 --> 00:22:13,773
Good, yeah.
382
00:22:17,918 --> 00:22:19,640
I have a question that
I don't think came up.
383
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,322
What's that?
384
00:22:21,322 --> 00:22:22,490
What hip do you have it on?
385
00:22:22,490 --> 00:22:23,630
I have it bilaterally.
386
00:22:23,630 --> 00:22:25,480
My right ended up worse than my left.
387
00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:29,350
Yeah, it started in my right
and went to my left,
388
00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:31,600
so when I started compensating
for my left with my right,
389
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,310
my right wasn't fully healed,
390
00:22:33,310 --> 00:22:35,310
so I damaged my right more than my left.
391
00:22:36,297 --> 00:22:37,130
Yeah.
392
00:22:38,961 --> 00:22:40,340
I'm gonna take you
for your x-rays, okay?
393
00:22:40,340 --> 00:22:41,900
Okay.
394
00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:44,140
And you're here today
for your hips, right?
395
00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:44,973
Yeah.
396
00:22:44,973 --> 00:22:45,806
Okay, you're gonna be lying down
397
00:22:45,806 --> 00:22:46,890
on the table on your back.
398
00:22:46,890 --> 00:22:47,920
Eww, it's cold in here.
399
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,040
Do they have to A/C it so much?
400
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,000
Yeah, for the film.
401
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,800
For the film it has to be cold, too.
402
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,223
That's why it's so cold in these rooms.
403
00:22:59,370 --> 00:23:01,330
You know, I've been wondering
why the hell this room
404
00:23:01,330 --> 00:23:02,889
was so cold my entire life.
405
00:23:02,889 --> 00:23:06,306
(light electronic music)
406
00:23:11,810 --> 00:23:13,500
Coming in here when I was five years old
407
00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:15,290
and just being cold,
like all the sudden it would
408
00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:16,530
just be freezing.
409
00:23:16,530 --> 00:23:19,433
I just thought why is it so cold.
410
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,659
Like this machine in 1978,
411
00:23:26,659 --> 00:23:29,742
(imitating whirring)
412
00:23:30,887 --> 00:23:33,554
It was like a monster, you know?
413
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,660
Back then it was like
the hole in the window
414
00:23:37,660 --> 00:23:39,320
was like a little thin little slat
415
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,140
they would look through
like it was a gun hole.
416
00:23:41,140 --> 00:23:42,525
And they would speak on a microphone,
417
00:23:42,525 --> 00:23:43,390
(imitating static)
418
00:23:43,390 --> 00:23:44,420
okay now,
419
00:23:44,420 --> 00:23:45,870
we're gonna take the picture.
420
00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:51,270
You know, Perthes Disease,
421
00:23:51,270 --> 00:23:53,660
the big question is
should he or shouldn't he
422
00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:54,560
have an operation.
423
00:23:56,350 --> 00:23:58,400
So there's your right hip.
424
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,820
Normally, that should be
a sphere within a sphere,
425
00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:04,563
a ball in a ball, you know,
and that is a mushroom.
426
00:24:05,481 --> 00:24:08,220
It was very confusing
in treating Perthes Disease
427
00:24:08,220 --> 00:24:10,130
because there's so many
different options
428
00:24:10,130 --> 00:24:12,240
on just attempting to treat it
429
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,670
and there's no solid method
of how to do things.
430
00:24:15,670 --> 00:24:18,160
And there's still no cure,
and no one knows what's right
431
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:18,993
and what's wrong.
432
00:24:18,993 --> 00:24:20,640
It's not always a direct-
433
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,020
We've inherited a
medical model of disability
434
00:24:24,020 --> 00:24:26,920
that assumes that when there is a body
435
00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,810
that doesn't fit a
stereotypical abled body,
436
00:24:30,810 --> 00:24:34,760
that it is something sad or tragic,
437
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,780
and something that needs to be cured.
438
00:24:37,780 --> 00:24:40,580
And so when you see that
in Bill Shannon's life,
439
00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:43,050
when people say well,
if you have this hip problem,
440
00:24:43,050 --> 00:24:45,380
why don't you just get hip replacements?
441
00:24:45,380 --> 00:24:47,011
And you're doing pretty well,
442
00:24:47,011 --> 00:24:49,000
but it's gonna go someday
443
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,670
and you're gonna need
a total hip replacement
444
00:24:50,670 --> 00:24:52,940
when that hits someday.
445
00:24:52,940 --> 00:24:56,330
The pain that I have is a,
is a constant adjustment.
446
00:24:56,330 --> 00:24:59,273
It's like always adjusting
for different gradations of it.
447
00:25:00,710 --> 00:25:04,260
Perthes Disease causes
quite a bit of damage.
448
00:25:04,260 --> 00:25:06,960
That dead bone, you know,
it starts to flatten out,
449
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,970
and causes a lot of pain
and friction in that hip area,
450
00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:11,870
and so it causes kids to limp,
451
00:25:11,870 --> 00:25:14,520
or you have pain after
walking for a while
452
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,063
or any physical activity.
453
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,660
I tell my parents that sometimes it
454
00:25:20,660 --> 00:25:22,910
was like something was stabbing my leg
455
00:25:22,910 --> 00:25:24,270
'cause it got so painful
456
00:25:24,270 --> 00:25:26,660
that I felt like somebody
was cutting my leg off.
457
00:25:26,660 --> 00:25:28,410
The pain it's really bad.
458
00:25:28,410 --> 00:25:32,140
It's like you, kinda feel this
grinding every time you
459
00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:34,170
take a step.
460
00:25:34,170 --> 00:25:36,591
In the spring I started
461
00:25:36,591 --> 00:25:38,523
having just a teeny tiny bit of pain.
462
00:25:40,220 --> 00:25:43,153
And in the summer
I started limping a lot.
463
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,720
'Cause you never know
like whenever you want
464
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,360
to do something fun,
you can't, if you barely walk,
465
00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:51,320
you really wanna do it.
466
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:52,530
Somebody will have to take you
467
00:25:52,530 --> 00:25:54,370
or you will have to go in
your wheelchair and do it,
468
00:25:54,370 --> 00:25:55,383
and that sucks.
469
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,290
Do you have any thigh pain?
470
00:25:58,290 --> 00:26:00,460
Yeah, it radiates down to my knee.
471
00:26:00,460 --> 00:26:02,580
That's, that's part of it
that people don't understand,
472
00:26:02,580 --> 00:26:04,619
like yeah, okay, my hip hurts,
473
00:26:04,619 --> 00:26:07,860
but does it hurt enough
for me to go get surgery
474
00:26:07,860 --> 00:26:08,830
to replace it.
475
00:26:08,830 --> 00:26:12,417
And then how long's
that surgery last for?
476
00:26:14,780 --> 00:26:16,870
You can, you know, get a hip replacement
477
00:26:16,870 --> 00:26:19,310
and in 10 years you're
getting another one.
478
00:26:19,310 --> 00:26:21,724
And in another 10 years
you're getting another one.
479
00:26:21,724 --> 00:26:24,150
And after so many of them,
you can't get another one.
480
00:26:24,150 --> 00:26:26,150
That's it, you know,
you reach the end of the line.
481
00:26:26,150 --> 00:26:28,920
Now you have to fuse your hip,
which is basically
482
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,443
put it in one position and freeze it.
483
00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:36,193
And just like I'm not
into that option at all.
484
00:26:38,124 --> 00:26:41,093
I wanna be, you know,
responsible for my own fate.
485
00:26:45,701 --> 00:26:47,420
(light electronic music)
486
00:26:47,420 --> 00:26:50,930
And so I tried to use canes
and they were just useless,
487
00:26:50,930 --> 00:26:53,380
I mean, because, when my hip
really was hurting,
488
00:26:53,380 --> 00:26:55,270
they kinda really didn't do enough.
489
00:26:55,270 --> 00:26:57,140
And then when I was
trying to be preventative
490
00:26:57,140 --> 00:26:59,570
and kind of not use them fully
but use them some,
491
00:26:59,570 --> 00:27:01,337
they kind of were in the way 'cause you,
492
00:27:01,337 --> 00:27:04,830
you can't really have your
hands free when using canes,
493
00:27:04,830 --> 00:27:07,547
so I started using
a single point crutch.
494
00:27:08,590 --> 00:27:11,188
And then he started
developing better tips
495
00:27:11,188 --> 00:27:14,003
for them, and then one day
I saw the rocker bottom.
496
00:27:16,070 --> 00:27:19,240
Those crutches were like
no other crutches
497
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,450
that you see, really.
498
00:27:21,450 --> 00:27:23,720
And they were legitimate crutches,
499
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,223
but they were just U-shaped.
500
00:27:26,482 --> 00:27:29,482
(light dance music)
501
00:27:32,397 --> 00:27:34,360
With the rocker bottom
you had the range.
502
00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:37,170
You reach forward and you have
that range around the curve,
503
00:27:37,170 --> 00:27:41,150
so you get a longer, smoother push.
504
00:27:41,150 --> 00:27:43,500
That really made a difference
with skateboarding.
505
00:27:45,070 --> 00:27:47,870
A doctor, you know,
with no experience skateboarding
506
00:27:47,870 --> 00:27:50,300
would probably just look at that
and go this motherfucker
507
00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:55,300
is so stupid, not realizing that
with a hip like that,
508
00:27:55,780 --> 00:27:58,320
you take one push on a board
and you just roll
509
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,220
for like half a block,
so you're actually saving your hip.
510
00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:06,840
When we see Bill Shannon
using a skateboard
511
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:11,270
as a mobility aid we forget
that the mobility aids
512
00:28:11,270 --> 00:28:14,120
that we're more familiar
with, like wheelchairs,
513
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,070
came out of somebody solving a problem.
514
00:28:19,220 --> 00:28:21,193
It's just creative necessity.
515
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,180
I was looking at my childhood
516
00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:27,786
and how I was in certain
situations with my peers where,
517
00:28:27,786 --> 00:28:29,300
you had to come up with a solution now.
518
00:28:29,300 --> 00:28:30,791
That's creative necessity.
519
00:28:30,791 --> 00:28:33,920
It's like the necessary
instant reaction gut.
520
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:35,930
You know, and that's a,
that's playground mentality.
521
00:28:35,930 --> 00:28:38,040
That's like on the street
and you have to come up
522
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,973
with a solution in the moment.
523
00:28:39,973 --> 00:28:43,473
(upbeat electronic music)
524
00:29:05,510 --> 00:29:07,670
He would use them to hit the ball,
525
00:29:07,670 --> 00:29:09,633
so it was like an extra appendage.
526
00:29:11,210 --> 00:29:13,480
He could really gain
a lot of ground just
527
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,230
by swinging when we were sprinting,
528
00:29:16,230 --> 00:29:17,940
and I think that might even have been
529
00:29:17,940 --> 00:29:19,593
where the glide kinda came from.
530
00:29:58,349 --> 00:30:00,156
(indistinct chatter)
531
00:30:00,156 --> 00:30:01,006
♪ With the camera lens ♪
532
00:30:01,006 --> 00:30:03,197
♪ Spittin' the freestyle
with my friends ♪
533
00:30:03,197 --> 00:30:05,226
♪ Yeah, I'm makin' ♪
534
00:30:05,226 --> 00:30:08,309
(upbeat dance music)
535
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,510
They roll up like construction paper.
536
00:30:13,268 --> 00:30:15,592
Step Fenz, baby, Step Fenz, baby.
537
00:30:15,592 --> 00:30:16,425
Yeah!
538
00:30:17,935 --> 00:30:21,018
(upbeat dance music)
539
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,130
My crew, the Step Fenz, here,
540
00:30:24,130 --> 00:30:26,990
we counted 15 different clubs
a night in New York City
541
00:30:26,990 --> 00:30:30,930
to dances, just underground shit,
after hours in Chinatown,
542
00:30:30,930 --> 00:30:33,415
but it was like just dance, dance,
543
00:30:33,415 --> 00:30:35,433
and we would go dance all fucking night.
544
00:30:37,140 --> 00:30:39,947
There were no established
competitions to go to.
545
00:30:39,947 --> 00:30:42,683
There were these circles
and people would battle.
546
00:30:46,140 --> 00:30:49,520
Their style was clashing
with styles, egos clashing
547
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,190
with egos, you know,
going at each other through dance,
548
00:30:52,190 --> 00:30:53,540
you know, as an expression.
549
00:30:55,020 --> 00:30:57,410
Anybody that we had known,
like we were gonna
550
00:30:57,410 --> 00:30:58,690
throw some rounds.
551
00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:00,517
In that, there was a
conversation, you know,
552
00:31:00,517 --> 00:31:01,960
but what if part of the conversation
553
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,740
was like back the fuck up, you know.
554
00:31:04,740 --> 00:31:05,940
No sympathy in a cypher.
555
00:31:06,856 --> 00:31:09,939
(upbeat dance music)
556
00:31:13,430 --> 00:31:14,460
Crutch knew where to go.
557
00:31:14,460 --> 00:31:16,420
Where the music was,
Crutch would show up
558
00:31:16,420 --> 00:31:17,821
just like we would.
559
00:31:17,821 --> 00:31:20,904
(upbeat dance music)
560
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:24,940
I came to New York
561
00:31:24,940 --> 00:31:26,480
and I had a little of this and a little
562
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,493
of that, you know, but I didn't
have any footwork for real.
563
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,963
(upbeat dance music)
564
00:31:38,010 --> 00:31:41,530
He was still working
on the movement side of it.
565
00:31:41,530 --> 00:31:44,570
You know, he wasn't as
far along by any stretch.
566
00:31:44,570 --> 00:31:47,953
He was doing a whole lot of
falling before he was flying.
567
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,660
The way he was able
to navigate himself around
568
00:31:53,660 --> 00:31:56,923
on them crutches, that shit
don't take overnight, man.
569
00:31:59,060 --> 00:32:00,210
I started going out to clubs
570
00:32:00,210 --> 00:32:01,880
and other people were
dancing at the cub.
571
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,010
And I just naturally just started
doing little moves,
572
00:32:04,010 --> 00:32:05,530
like fuck it.
573
00:32:05,530 --> 00:32:08,070
You know, and then I started
going to hip hop spots
574
00:32:08,070 --> 00:32:10,083
and like doing whatever
the fuck I could do
575
00:32:10,083 --> 00:32:11,933
what I can pull off with my crutches.
576
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:14,393
We would dance.
577
00:32:14,393 --> 00:32:15,226
He would come in.
578
00:32:15,226 --> 00:32:17,410
He would do a move
and if he didn't bust his ass,
579
00:32:17,410 --> 00:32:18,790
I'd be like yeah, that shit was dope.
580
00:32:18,790 --> 00:32:21,490
And if he didn't, he always got up
and tried it again.
581
00:32:22,420 --> 00:32:25,010
But there's no way Crutch got a pass.
582
00:32:25,010 --> 00:32:26,630
There's no way it was,
it was easier for him
583
00:32:26,630 --> 00:32:30,493
to get recognition or props
just because he was on crutches.
584
00:33:16,900 --> 00:33:18,430
But when you first introduce
something different,
585
00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:21,340
everybody's isn't gonna just
immediately start hugging you,
586
00:33:21,340 --> 00:33:22,280
like wow, that's great.
587
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:24,337
They're gonna look at you like
588
00:33:24,337 --> 00:33:25,370
what the fuck are you doing, you know.
589
00:33:25,370 --> 00:33:26,203
Go home.
590
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,261
Don't come in here with that bullshit.
591
00:33:29,261 --> 00:33:32,344
(upbeat dance music)
592
00:33:36,940 --> 00:33:39,140
Until I got good enough,
until I got better.
593
00:33:41,482 --> 00:33:45,992
♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪
594
00:33:45,992 --> 00:33:48,589
♪ Servin' a rhyme,
workin' on time, yes sir ♪
595
00:33:48,589 --> 00:33:50,593
♪ One of a kind ♪
596
00:33:50,593 --> 00:33:51,509
♪ Free-Form fetish ♪
597
00:33:51,509 --> 00:33:53,048
♪ Medicine in for your headaches ♪
598
00:33:53,048 --> 00:33:55,587
♪ We bomb fellas,
better sin for the medics ♪
599
00:33:55,587 --> 00:33:58,089
(crowd cheering)
600
00:33:58,089 --> 00:33:59,327
♪ Stay on mellow ass ♪
601
00:33:59,327 --> 00:34:00,645
♪ Why you don't walk it ♪
602
00:34:00,645 --> 00:34:01,650
♪ Nights sparklin' ♪
603
00:34:01,650 --> 00:34:04,085
♪ Charlie here is my man ♪
604
00:34:04,085 --> 00:34:06,335
When he's in it, woo-hoo.
605
00:34:07,620 --> 00:34:10,190
Let it go 'cause he's like
ah, yeah, bring it
606
00:34:10,190 --> 00:34:11,307
'cause you think I don't got it?
607
00:34:11,307 --> 00:34:12,140
Ah.
608
00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:13,839
♪ Ripped them off and wax shit
gets to solve this ♪
609
00:34:13,839 --> 00:34:14,982
♪ Gift revolves around ♪
610
00:34:14,982 --> 00:34:17,253
♪ Earth space station
that'll rock you, pa ♪
611
00:34:17,253 --> 00:34:18,864
♪ Have you runnin' for your ground ♪
612
00:34:18,864 --> 00:34:19,984
♪ A little baklava ♪
613
00:34:19,984 --> 00:34:20,979
♪ Let me talk to y'all ♪
614
00:34:20,979 --> 00:34:22,178
♪ About some off the wall ♪
615
00:34:22,178 --> 00:34:23,634
♪ Rapper wannabe in front of me ♪
616
00:34:23,634 --> 00:34:25,577
♪ That got the balls to not know ♪
617
00:34:25,577 --> 00:34:29,830
You know, how he would slide that,
before he brought it up
618
00:34:29,830 --> 00:34:31,960
and held it up for a second, like...
619
00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:37,090
I've seen Shaolin monks with the sticks
620
00:34:37,090 --> 00:34:38,420
and I gotta tell you, they,
621
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:40,288
it's the same
622
00:34:40,288 --> 00:34:42,630
span of time he's on that
stick and he's turning
623
00:34:42,630 --> 00:34:45,090
and putting moves in
concession to make it
624
00:34:45,090 --> 00:34:47,691
to a combo to a beat.
625
00:34:47,691 --> 00:34:49,902
♪ One of a kind ♪
626
00:34:49,902 --> 00:34:52,310
♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪
627
00:34:52,310 --> 00:34:54,609
♪ One of a kind,
heard it in my first step ♪
628
00:34:54,609 --> 00:34:56,849
♪ One of a kind ♪
629
00:34:56,849 --> 00:34:59,485
♪ One of a kind, verve of the mind ♪
630
00:34:59,485 --> 00:35:01,885
♪ One of a kind,
heard in my first step ♪
631
00:35:01,885 --> 00:35:04,760
♪ Servin' rhymes and
workin' on time, yes sir ♪
632
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,884
This is Crutch Master, man,
you know what I mean?
633
00:35:07,884 --> 00:35:10,523
(crowd cheering)
634
00:35:10,523 --> 00:35:13,440
(percussive music)
635
00:35:16,503 --> 00:35:20,130
I thought I'd seen it all
until I seen UFOs,
636
00:35:20,130 --> 00:35:22,960
turtles and body rolls on crutches.
637
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,210
That shit right there is real.
638
00:35:26,210 --> 00:35:29,460
I like his style and I like
the way he's aggressive.
639
00:35:29,460 --> 00:35:33,284
I like how he goes out there
and hits his freezes on point.
640
00:35:33,284 --> 00:35:36,023
(crowd cheering)
641
00:35:36,023 --> 00:35:39,790
This man right here is an
inspiration to all dancers.
642
00:35:43,395 --> 00:35:45,764
If you all ain't seen this cat get down,
643
00:35:45,764 --> 00:35:47,114
you all ain't seen nothing.
644
00:35:49,752 --> 00:35:53,169
(light electronic music)
645
00:35:57,182 --> 00:35:59,170
You know, a lot of people
like obsess about oh,
646
00:35:59,170 --> 00:36:01,390
I'm too skinny, I'm too fat,
all that stuff
647
00:36:01,390 --> 00:36:03,640
about not having the
right body type to dance
648
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:04,553
is all bullshit.
649
00:36:06,970 --> 00:36:08,420
I'm dancing, it's in your head.
650
00:36:08,420 --> 00:36:11,313
No matter how healthy you are,
your body is limited.
651
00:36:12,380 --> 00:36:13,540
Once you get that through your head
652
00:36:13,540 --> 00:36:15,590
that your body is limited, that dancing
653
00:36:15,590 --> 00:36:17,910
is in your mind and not in your body,
654
00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:20,183
then you're pretty much
free as a dancer.
655
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,520
So if you're driven to dance,
if your soul is of a dancer,
656
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,690
and you have a bad leg
and you're on crutches,
657
00:36:28,690 --> 00:36:30,390
you're gonna dance no matter what.
658
00:36:33,182 --> 00:36:36,265
(upbeat piano music)
659
00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,090
It's 6:42 right now and chances
660
00:36:39,090 --> 00:36:41,300
are you're never seen
anything like this before.
661
00:36:41,300 --> 00:36:44,200
The show is called
The Art of Weightlessness.
662
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,020
It's sponsored by The Dance Umbrella,
663
00:36:46,020 --> 00:36:48,270
and Bill Shannon defies gravity
664
00:36:48,270 --> 00:36:51,970
with the help of his crutches
in a unique dance performance.
665
00:36:51,970 --> 00:36:53,560
Bill, thanks for coming.
666
00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,520
Thanks for being here so early.
667
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:56,880
I'd never seen anything like this.
668
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,520
I was looking at the videotape yesterday
669
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,460
and I was amazed because
when you start dancing
670
00:37:01,460 --> 00:37:02,550
around on these crutches,
671
00:37:02,550 --> 00:37:04,870
it is just like you have no weight.
672
00:37:04,870 --> 00:37:06,570
It's like you're light as
a feather moving about.
673
00:37:06,570 --> 00:37:09,440
And it's sort of a
funky dance routine, too.
674
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,440
I heard one critic say
that your hip is bad,
675
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:14,090
but your hop is spectacular.
676
00:37:14,090 --> 00:37:16,273
Yeah, that's a, that's a little,
677
00:37:16,273 --> 00:37:19,126
that was a little cute
little title, yeah.
678
00:37:19,126 --> 00:37:22,209
(upbeat dance music)
679
00:37:30,570 --> 00:37:32,910
Bill had an idea of putting a couple
680
00:37:32,910 --> 00:37:37,910
of his old pieces together and
create an hour-long piece.
681
00:37:38,350 --> 00:37:40,000
The Art of Weightlessness, man.
682
00:37:40,932 --> 00:37:43,930
(upbeat dance music)
683
00:37:43,930 --> 00:37:46,300
Bill was on another level at the time.
684
00:37:46,300 --> 00:37:47,960
There were only two pioneering companies
685
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,040
that was doing hip hop dance
686
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,190
on the concert stage
and he was one of 'em.
687
00:37:53,642 --> 00:37:54,810
I was completely ignorant
688
00:37:54,810 --> 00:37:57,310
at that point to like
what performance art was.
689
00:37:57,310 --> 00:38:00,632
You know, if you thought theater,
I though the-at-er.
690
00:38:00,632 --> 00:38:02,110
And so I didn't think
about theater as being a place
691
00:38:02,110 --> 00:38:04,970
that we could like illustrate
anything hip hop.
692
00:38:04,970 --> 00:38:07,400
How can you bring something
that exists in a circle
693
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,870
in a club into the square,
into the proscenium.
694
00:38:10,870 --> 00:38:14,037
(light ambient music)
695
00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:24,583
Crutch's whole like approach wasn't just
696
00:38:24,583 --> 00:38:27,970
that he was bringing
genuine hip hop into it,
697
00:38:27,970 --> 00:38:30,700
but he was also bringing in
like this abstract art
698
00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:32,373
into the space at the same time.
699
00:38:33,950 --> 00:38:36,360
Bill had a raincoat,
you know, he came out.
700
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:39,378
I had this rain sound effects,
you know, on.
701
00:38:39,378 --> 00:38:41,202
It's trippy, man.
702
00:38:41,202 --> 00:38:44,190
I mean the show is just like trippy,
I'm telling you.
703
00:38:44,190 --> 00:38:45,820
I'm sitting there during the show
704
00:38:45,820 --> 00:38:47,410
and I was tripping looking at it,
705
00:38:47,410 --> 00:38:49,767
like don't forget your cues,
you know what I mean?
706
00:38:49,767 --> 00:38:52,684
(percussive music)
707
00:38:59,570 --> 00:39:02,940
The politics, the current
state of affairs,
708
00:39:02,940 --> 00:39:05,360
his background, all that stuff is
709
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,913
put into everything
that Bill Shannon does.
710
00:39:08,788 --> 00:39:11,205
(vocalizing)
711
00:39:16,977 --> 00:39:20,060
(upbeat dance music)
712
00:39:41,620 --> 00:39:44,741
♪ Take it easy ♪
713
00:39:44,741 --> 00:39:48,183
♪ Don't worry about it ♪
714
00:39:48,183 --> 00:39:52,023
♪ I got this, I got this ♪
715
00:39:52,023 --> 00:39:57,023
♪ Let me work it, let me work it out ♪
716
00:39:57,026 --> 00:40:02,026
♪ Take it easy ♪
717
00:40:02,842 --> 00:40:11,684
♪ Take it easy ♪
718
00:40:13,882 --> 00:40:18,794
♪ Don't let me bother you ♪
719
00:40:18,794 --> 00:40:22,978
♪ I got this, I got this ♪
720
00:40:22,978 --> 00:40:27,698
♪ Let me work it out,
let me work it out ♪
721
00:40:27,698 --> 00:40:30,281
♪ Take it easy ♪
722
00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:34,180
So much was happening with his career.
723
00:40:34,180 --> 00:40:36,647
It just got to be like
one thing after another.
724
00:40:36,647 --> 00:40:40,150
(upbeat jazz music)
725
00:40:40,150 --> 00:40:43,210
Hip hop is out of all things,
it's really important
726
00:40:43,210 --> 00:40:45,520
to maintain your individuality.
727
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,560
My name is Jeff Grosso
and I'm your host.
728
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,643
This is fucking Love Letters.
Welcome back.
729
00:40:53,590 --> 00:40:56,670
The Guggenheim, I met Crazy Legs,
730
00:40:56,670 --> 00:40:58,763
I'm going to Kuwait, I'm going to Japan.
731
00:41:00,589 --> 00:41:01,756
Whooo.
732
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,204
We went to France.
733
00:41:05,204 --> 00:41:06,940
Look at this shit.
734
00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:08,158
England.
735
00:41:08,158 --> 00:41:09,870
(humming)
736
00:41:09,870 --> 00:41:11,349
Scotland.
737
00:41:11,349 --> 00:41:12,182
Freedom!
738
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:14,396
♪ Only y'all know what happened ♪
739
00:41:14,396 --> 00:41:15,495
♪ With some passion ♪
740
00:41:15,495 --> 00:41:17,159
♪ Rappers battlin' all rappers ♪
741
00:41:17,159 --> 00:41:18,556
♪ Carry it all backwards ♪
742
00:41:18,556 --> 00:41:19,775
♪ Laugh and say that's it ♪
743
00:41:19,775 --> 00:41:20,608
♪ It's battlecon ♪
744
00:41:20,608 --> 00:41:21,736
♪ Future blackness ♪
745
00:41:21,736 --> 00:41:24,736
(upbeat jazz music)
746
00:41:34,610 --> 00:41:37,030
There were some good
reviews and people really
747
00:41:37,030 --> 00:41:38,810
like the work and,
you know, all this stuff,
748
00:41:38,810 --> 00:41:41,780
but at the same time
the dance world, they were looking
749
00:41:41,780 --> 00:41:43,703
at it like ahh, isn't that cute,
750
00:41:43,703 --> 00:41:46,563
he does the break-dance on the crutches.
751
00:41:48,088 --> 00:41:49,510
I've seen Crutch get angry.
752
00:41:49,510 --> 00:41:52,540
They keep asking him about
his crutches and, you know,
753
00:41:52,540 --> 00:41:55,740
not about the, the artwork,
the music, or the dancers.
754
00:41:55,740 --> 00:41:59,980
It was a lot about
his disability, you know.
755
00:41:59,980 --> 00:42:01,417
It's kind of fucked up.
756
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,450
No matter how high you go
on skills on crutches,
757
00:42:06,450 --> 00:42:08,760
there's still the baggage
758
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:10,900
of a crutch representing failure
759
00:42:10,900 --> 00:42:13,533
that can trump your achievements.
760
00:42:20,770 --> 00:42:21,620
Ready?
761
00:42:21,620 --> 00:42:22,940
Yeah.
762
00:42:22,940 --> 00:42:26,070
So tonight we're gonna see
763
00:42:26,930 --> 00:42:31,930
the two pieces that I
choreographed for "Varekai",
764
00:42:32,170 --> 00:42:33,870
Cirque Du Soleil's "Varekai" show.
765
00:42:35,267 --> 00:42:39,059
(light orchestral music)
766
00:42:39,059 --> 00:42:41,476
(vocalizing)
767
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:47,820
Just knowing that Bill had anything
768
00:42:47,820 --> 00:42:50,460
to do with Cirque Du Soleil
was just a huge honor
769
00:42:50,460 --> 00:42:54,189
that one of us made it,
one of us did it.
770
00:42:54,189 --> 00:42:57,606
(grand orchestral music)
771
00:42:58,601 --> 00:43:01,060
So we were really proud,
but I don't think it was like
772
00:43:01,060 --> 00:43:02,447
anything that really shocked us so hard.
773
00:43:02,447 --> 00:43:05,020
It was like, it was
almost like of course.
774
00:43:05,020 --> 00:43:06,763
You're supposed to be doing that.
775
00:43:07,900 --> 00:43:10,400
The contacted me after they saw my glide
776
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:12,710
and they wanted me to
actually be a performer
777
00:43:12,710 --> 00:43:16,560
in the show, like a,
a main character, basically.
778
00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:18,260
But then I found out
like what their artists
779
00:43:18,260 --> 00:43:19,210
have to go through.
780
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:26,130
I watched these dudes one night
781
00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:29,103
and this guy was busting his ass.
782
00:43:32,020 --> 00:43:33,900
I was worried about it damaging my hips
783
00:43:33,900 --> 00:43:35,790
or damaging the nerves
in my arms from doing
784
00:43:35,790 --> 00:43:37,680
that much every day, same exact thing.
785
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:39,130
That just does wear and tear.
786
00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:43,600
I said I'll train somebody to do
what I do and become a part
787
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:45,650
of the creative team
and do choreography.
788
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,460
Yeah, yeah, hell yeah.
789
00:43:51,050 --> 00:43:52,530
Nice.
790
00:43:52,530 --> 00:43:54,640
He had to teach these gentlemen
791
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,460
to dance on crutches.
792
00:43:56,460 --> 00:44:00,523
Vladimir Ignatenkov,
three time world champion tumbler.
793
00:44:01,830 --> 00:44:02,663
Do a flair.
794
00:44:02,663 --> 00:44:04,630
Flair your legs out, both.
795
00:44:04,630 --> 00:44:05,640
Yeah.
796
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,524
And also he had to
train several aerialists.
797
00:44:09,524 --> 00:44:11,453
Keep going, keep your flow on.
798
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:15,130
I had these guys threading
and parroting and tick tocking,
799
00:44:15,130 --> 00:44:18,713
and all these different flavors
of like boogaloo style.
800
00:44:20,150 --> 00:44:23,090
Then they had their own
acrobatic moves on top of that,
801
00:44:23,090 --> 00:44:25,045
so it just looked really, really sick.
802
00:44:25,045 --> 00:44:26,462
Whooo, beautiful.
803
00:44:29,682 --> 00:44:33,293
(camera shutter clicking)
804
00:44:33,293 --> 00:44:35,340
The director wanted to put like
805
00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:37,730
an upside down
wheelchair act in the show,
806
00:44:37,730 --> 00:44:39,180
where there's like
clowns in a wheelchair
807
00:44:39,180 --> 00:44:41,640
that flips upside down
and clowns fall out.
808
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:45,100
And I was like you're not fucking
putting that in the show,
809
00:44:45,100 --> 00:44:48,170
like I felt insulted literally
because he was trying
810
00:44:48,170 --> 00:44:51,570
to make into like
a disability theme where
811
00:44:51,570 --> 00:44:54,780
my work was gonna be
a part of the spectrum
812
00:44:54,780 --> 00:44:57,440
of representation of disability.
813
00:44:57,440 --> 00:44:59,420
And I was very uncomfortable with that.
814
00:44:59,420 --> 00:45:02,563
I didn't want to be a part
of the disabled Cirque show.
815
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:06,973
I wanted to, my character
to be the one that flies.
816
00:45:07,826 --> 00:45:12,826
(light electronic music)
(audience applauding)
817
00:45:47,492 --> 00:45:50,909
(light orchestral music)
818
00:45:52,833 --> 00:45:53,920
When you want to teach people,
819
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:55,910
they have to understand
what it is you're doing,
820
00:45:55,910 --> 00:45:58,290
and the communication
has to be the same.
821
00:45:58,290 --> 00:46:00,713
Otherwise everything gets
lost in translation.
822
00:46:02,020 --> 00:46:04,460
So when you develop a technique,
823
00:46:04,460 --> 00:46:08,340
you begin to codify a language for,
824
00:46:08,340 --> 00:46:10,590
for a particular vocabulary.
825
00:46:10,590 --> 00:46:14,480
You name it, you call it
what it is, and Bill Shannon
826
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:16,853
is doing that in the Shannon Technique.
827
00:46:16,853 --> 00:46:18,651
(upbeat dance music)
828
00:46:18,651 --> 00:46:22,484
(singing in foreign language)
829
00:46:25,230 --> 00:46:28,930
By him creating a specific
vocabulary and naming it,
830
00:46:28,930 --> 00:46:31,560
it creates an awareness
that those movements
831
00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,800
have been absolutely articulated,
like it's a real choice
832
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,020
of his body to go to
a very specific place
833
00:46:38,020 --> 00:46:39,680
and he can hit it every time.
834
00:46:46,092 --> 00:46:47,740
I was in the studio with him.
835
00:46:47,740 --> 00:46:49,860
We had six weeks
of one-to-one mentoring,
836
00:46:49,860 --> 00:46:53,063
and I expected to be able
to do things like that.
837
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:55,493
And he just cracked up,
838
00:46:55,493 --> 00:46:58,220
he's like you've been
trying this for 15 minutes.
839
00:46:58,220 --> 00:47:00,573
I've been doing that for 15 years.
840
00:47:01,770 --> 00:47:03,730
Yes, it was dance, it was movement,
841
00:47:03,730 --> 00:47:05,680
but it was this thing that absolutely
842
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:08,230
exploded the preconceptions
that I even had
843
00:47:08,230 --> 00:47:09,263
of what dance was.
844
00:47:10,610 --> 00:47:12,640
Those are the respected art forms
845
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,260
or genres in dance are the ones
that have technique.
846
00:47:16,260 --> 00:47:18,070
One that puts itself in
847
00:47:18,070 --> 00:47:20,130
that frame deserves respect.
848
00:47:20,130 --> 00:47:22,980
And that is learned
and that requires discipline.
849
00:47:22,980 --> 00:47:25,940
But it's also there's a little bit
like a little fuck you to
850
00:47:25,940 --> 00:47:27,970
that system at the same time.
851
00:47:27,970 --> 00:47:31,053
(upbeat dance music)
852
00:47:33,519 --> 00:47:36,686
(audience applauding)
853
00:47:38,227 --> 00:47:39,487
Yeah, yeah.
854
00:47:39,487 --> 00:47:40,745
(crowd cheering)
855
00:47:40,745 --> 00:47:42,570
Yeah, let me hear it, New York.
856
00:47:42,570 --> 00:47:43,608
(crowd cheering)
857
00:47:43,608 --> 00:47:44,691
Raise the roof up!
858
00:47:44,691 --> 00:47:46,252
Raise the roof up, come on,
859
00:47:46,252 --> 00:47:49,585
all right, all right,
let's get this started.
860
00:47:50,425 --> 00:47:51,258
Yeah.
861
00:47:51,258 --> 00:47:52,216
Sketchy, Sketchy.
862
00:47:52,216 --> 00:47:54,200
That's his Sketchy,
he definitely stepped it up
863
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:56,378
after coming from Cirque.
864
00:47:56,378 --> 00:47:59,559
One, two, two, two.
865
00:47:59,559 --> 00:48:03,186
It was a sketchy attempt at
bringing hip hop to theater.
866
00:48:03,186 --> 00:48:05,450
Oooh, nice, D.
867
00:48:05,450 --> 00:48:07,550
I wasn't necessarily that
the moves were sketchy,
868
00:48:07,550 --> 00:48:09,900
but having hip hop in the
theater at that point
869
00:48:09,900 --> 00:48:11,570
was a sketchy idea to people,
870
00:48:11,570 --> 00:48:14,561
so it was like a little bit
of sarcasm behind it
871
00:48:14,561 --> 00:48:15,693
if you know Crutch.
872
00:48:21,220 --> 00:48:22,300
He finally had a little bit
873
00:48:22,300 --> 00:48:24,250
of money behind it and so we were able
874
00:48:24,250 --> 00:48:26,863
to give a little bit more
to like costumes.
875
00:48:28,810 --> 00:48:30,460
He was incorporating so many things
876
00:48:30,460 --> 00:48:32,650
that aren't even typical
in hip hop, you know,
877
00:48:32,650 --> 00:48:34,790
like slow motion capture.
878
00:48:38,229 --> 00:48:39,364
Hype him up, right?
879
00:48:39,364 --> 00:48:41,244
We want to see it again, right?
880
00:48:41,244 --> 00:48:42,980
Come on, are you with me?
881
00:48:42,980 --> 00:48:44,310
Sketchy attempts trying moves
882
00:48:44,310 --> 00:48:47,100
that you don't necessarily know
that you that you can land.
883
00:48:47,100 --> 00:48:49,968
You're never gonna see that
in a contemporary show.
884
00:48:49,968 --> 00:48:54,968
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
885
00:48:55,480 --> 00:48:57,400
eight, nine, whoaaa!
886
00:48:57,400 --> 00:48:59,400
(crowd cheering)
887
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,750
You could feel people, like the energy,
888
00:49:01,750 --> 00:49:04,293
like oooh please, you know,
like you can make it.
889
00:49:05,170 --> 00:49:08,130
(crowd cheering)
890
00:49:08,130 --> 00:49:09,750
The crowds absolutely loved it.
891
00:49:09,750 --> 00:49:13,100
Hand hops, elbow hops, whoa!
892
00:49:13,100 --> 00:49:15,500
There's so many people
in New York that came out
893
00:49:15,500 --> 00:49:17,770
to see us that we
grew up in the clubs with.
894
00:49:17,770 --> 00:49:20,200
And I think it was their first
take at ever seeing us
895
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:21,310
in theater.
896
00:49:21,310 --> 00:49:23,100
It was like we just won
a contest somewhere,
897
00:49:23,100 --> 00:49:24,950
like a battle, and like everybody
898
00:49:24,950 --> 00:49:27,690
was just so fucking thrilled
to see, see it happen.
899
00:49:27,690 --> 00:49:30,641
Like I, I wanted to clap,
but I'm like yeah, we did it.
900
00:49:30,641 --> 00:49:33,808
(audience applauding)
901
00:49:52,510 --> 00:49:54,960
Were to add another
character to his repertoire,
902
00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:55,860
did you read that?
903
00:50:01,900 --> 00:50:04,773
Oh my God, she started out with the ax.
904
00:50:09,058 --> 00:50:09,970
What are you gonna do?
905
00:50:09,970 --> 00:50:11,110
Is a real person
with pretenses of being...
906
00:50:11,110 --> 00:50:12,400
oh my God.
907
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:14,023
Pretenses of being what?
908
00:50:14,023 --> 00:50:15,150
A contemptual artists.
909
00:50:15,150 --> 00:50:16,030
Conceptual.
910
00:50:16,030 --> 00:50:17,230
Conceptual, I'm sorry.
911
00:50:18,470 --> 00:50:19,320
That's very nice.
912
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:20,493
I'm upside down.
913
00:50:21,550 --> 00:50:23,520
Well, you either are or you aren't.
914
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:24,509
Right?
915
00:50:24,509 --> 00:50:26,520
If you don't have the potential to be.
916
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:27,471
You can't have a pre,
917
00:50:27,471 --> 00:50:28,360
you don't have a, you don't have
a pretense about it.
918
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:29,920
You either are or you're not, you know,
919
00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:31,770
so what she's saying is I'm not, but.
920
00:50:34,130 --> 00:50:35,630
It's just like I don't know,
921
00:50:35,630 --> 00:50:40,110
I want to send Crazy Legs
to review a ballet show.
922
00:50:40,110 --> 00:50:41,192
Okay?
923
00:50:41,192 --> 00:50:42,025
(laughing)
924
00:50:42,025 --> 00:50:42,858
That's what I want to do.
925
00:50:42,858 --> 00:50:44,613
And he'll write for The New York Times.
926
00:50:45,820 --> 00:50:48,060
They're used to seeing
one thing one way,
927
00:50:48,060 --> 00:50:51,480
like theater to them is supposed
to be the old fashioned way
928
00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:54,590
or what they see as, as hip hop,
929
00:50:54,590 --> 00:50:56,340
that's the way it's supposed to be.
930
00:50:57,660 --> 00:50:59,880
Any dance critic that
comes to my work does not
931
00:50:59,880 --> 00:51:01,600
know what I did.
932
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:03,760
Like ballet is well documented.
933
00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:05,643
Modern dance is well documented.
934
00:51:07,751 --> 00:51:09,310
Like I'm out here pushing the boundaries
935
00:51:09,310 --> 00:51:12,060
of a form I've invented in ways
that are completely
936
00:51:12,060 --> 00:51:14,873
like invisible to someone
who's just looking at me.
937
00:51:19,005 --> 00:51:22,761
Uhhh, it's a feeling of being
profoundly misunderstood.
938
00:51:22,761 --> 00:51:24,564
(laughing)
939
00:51:24,564 --> 00:51:27,314
(dramatic music)
940
00:51:36,176 --> 00:51:38,659
Which is, this is how you
learn your balance.
941
00:51:38,659 --> 00:51:40,392
Which is this tight line
942
00:51:45,249 --> 00:51:50,249
That's how you, bend your knees,
keep low, point,
943
00:51:50,757 --> 00:51:53,282
be like, I'm going!
944
00:52:01,989 --> 00:52:02,822
Whoa.
945
00:52:04,251 --> 00:52:07,668
(light electronic music)
946
00:52:25,161 --> 00:52:27,828
(kids cheering)
947
00:52:50,817 --> 00:52:53,159
Use your muscles, Earl.
948
00:52:53,159 --> 00:52:54,722
That was Bill.
949
00:52:54,722 --> 00:52:56,733
(laughing)
950
00:52:56,733 --> 00:52:57,816
Come on, buddy.
951
00:53:03,193 --> 00:53:06,050
While I was here,
like I was retouching some part
952
00:53:06,050 --> 00:53:08,990
of my childhood and revisiting
that part of my life,
953
00:53:08,990 --> 00:53:13,600
and I don't know, my dad during the time
954
00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:15,960
that I had my disability was going
955
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:19,970
through a lot of emotional healing
from his own childhood.
956
00:53:19,970 --> 00:53:23,090
And so I think a lot of the brunt
957
00:53:23,090 --> 00:53:24,330
of that was taken out on me.
958
00:53:24,330 --> 00:53:26,100
I was the oldest.
959
00:53:26,100 --> 00:53:27,900
And that's really hard
because I have to think
960
00:53:27,900 --> 00:53:30,730
like my own relationship to my,
961
00:53:30,730 --> 00:53:32,960
to my own kids is so different.
962
00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:35,913
Like I never, I never raised
a hand on my kids.
963
00:53:37,020 --> 00:53:41,273
And my dad didn't know
any different, you know.
964
00:53:43,470 --> 00:53:44,303
So,
965
00:53:48,490 --> 00:53:50,513
I don't know, it's just hard to imagine.
966
00:53:59,556 --> 00:54:02,639
(upbeat dance music)
967
00:54:10,150 --> 00:54:11,900
Bill told me he had met somebody.
968
00:54:12,980 --> 00:54:16,470
He was pretty smitten,
you know, kinda like really kid
969
00:54:16,470 --> 00:54:18,220
in the candy store kind of smitten.
970
00:54:20,870 --> 00:54:23,383
Bill was, you know, cute.
971
00:54:24,590 --> 00:54:26,183
He was very different from me.
972
00:54:27,350 --> 00:54:31,200
We met in New York
and he likes to tell the story
973
00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:33,950
of us being from the
opposite sides of the tracks,
974
00:54:33,950 --> 00:54:36,340
'cause I was in
Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn,
975
00:54:36,340 --> 00:54:39,190
which was, you know, brownstones.
976
00:54:39,190 --> 00:54:41,650
And at that time he was in Red Hook,
977
00:54:41,650 --> 00:54:44,337
which was down and dirty.
978
00:54:44,337 --> 00:54:46,520
(laughing)
979
00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:49,760
They were both like theses salmon,
just swimming upstream
980
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:50,690
as hard as they could.
981
00:54:50,690 --> 00:54:52,953
I mean you could just,
you could just read it
982
00:54:52,953 --> 00:54:54,743
like from a mile away, this is it.
983
00:55:00,727 --> 00:55:03,212
Mmmm, boogy, boogy, boogy, yeah.
984
00:55:03,212 --> 00:55:04,580
Uh-oh, is a lip coming out?
985
00:55:04,580 --> 00:55:05,760
Look at the lip.
986
00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:06,593
He's so cute.
987
00:55:06,593 --> 00:55:07,648
Wait, where's the lip?
988
00:55:07,648 --> 00:55:08,723
There it is.
989
00:55:08,723 --> 00:55:10,340
Give 'em the lip, give 'em the lip.
990
00:55:10,340 --> 00:55:11,173
Ohhh.
991
00:55:14,430 --> 00:55:17,323
After Sketchy, everybody goes
in their own path.
992
00:55:23,448 --> 00:55:24,281
Daddy.
993
00:55:27,949 --> 00:55:29,100
Oh, watch out.
994
00:55:29,100 --> 00:55:29,933
Watch out.
995
00:55:31,670 --> 00:55:33,080
Crutch did the last thing
996
00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:34,784
you would expect from Crutch.
997
00:55:34,784 --> 00:55:36,403
You know, he's like
I'm moving to Pittsburgh.
998
00:55:38,310 --> 00:55:41,970
Like he's growing his own
food and vegetables, and has a car
999
00:55:41,970 --> 00:55:44,360
that runs off like
fucking potatoes or something.
1000
00:55:44,360 --> 00:55:45,940
That's, that's Crutch, you know.
1001
00:55:47,502 --> 00:55:50,720
But he goes back to
a more refined Crutch
1002
00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:51,963
into solo work.
1003
00:55:54,830 --> 00:55:57,240
Back into his like organic interactions
1004
00:55:57,240 --> 00:55:58,307
with people or their reactions,
1005
00:55:58,307 --> 00:56:00,818
to Bill, you know, doing his thing,
1006
00:56:00,818 --> 00:56:02,068
going through the street.
1007
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:07,060
It's fucking raining, man.
1008
00:56:07,060 --> 00:56:08,410
Come on, we gotta get started here!
1009
00:56:08,410 --> 00:56:09,900
What's going on?
1010
00:56:09,900 --> 00:56:11,624
What's taking so long!
1011
00:56:11,624 --> 00:56:14,124
(banjo music)
1012
00:56:14,989 --> 00:56:15,863
Hear yourself.
1013
00:56:21,945 --> 00:56:23,018
Oh!
1014
00:56:23,018 --> 00:56:24,080
So I met Bill at
School of the Art Institute
1015
00:56:24,080 --> 00:56:26,630
of Chicago in around 1993.
1016
00:56:26,630 --> 00:56:29,640
And I actually remember him,
you kinda, can't not,
1017
00:56:29,640 --> 00:56:31,333
remember the way he looked.
1018
00:56:31,333 --> 00:56:32,880
(barking)
1019
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,311
I was like damn, this kid wants
attention like really bad.
1020
00:56:36,311 --> 00:56:38,561
(shouting)
1021
00:56:47,310 --> 00:56:49,040
You know, I think being
a public spectacle
1022
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:52,320
as a child, going to
demonstrations in public
1023
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:55,270
throughout my whole childhood,
and then being
1024
00:56:55,270 --> 00:56:58,300
in the street skateboarding
and break-dancing
1025
00:56:58,300 --> 00:57:01,000
just all fed into like I'm
just a performing artist
1026
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:03,516
in the street, this feels natural to me.
1027
00:57:03,516 --> 00:57:06,016
(banjo music)
1028
00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:23,638
In Chicago we shot on some
really nasty, bad cameras, man,
1029
00:57:23,638 --> 00:57:24,743
and it was all noise.
1030
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:29,137
And just like hidden camera guy in the,
1031
00:57:29,137 --> 00:57:32,240
in the corner, whatever, like off,
1032
00:57:32,240 --> 00:57:35,813
offsite where you can't see
any spying on innocent people.
1033
00:57:45,740 --> 00:57:48,480
You know, he's getting
tangled up on the street,
1034
00:57:48,480 --> 00:57:50,273
getting caught in doors, you know.
1035
00:57:50,273 --> 00:57:52,883
He's just falling down
and he's got crutches.
1036
00:57:55,380 --> 00:57:59,263
So then, you know,
somebody'll go to help him.
1037
00:58:02,980 --> 00:58:06,583
And then he'll just make them
fail in helping him,
1038
00:58:08,180 --> 00:58:12,447
which is kind of a sad place to be,
you know what I mean?
1039
00:58:23,890 --> 00:58:28,020
Once the reemergence of my
disability came back in my 20s,
1040
00:58:28,020 --> 00:58:33,020
I was like dealing with
the same expressions
1041
00:58:33,040 --> 00:58:34,800
in people's faces again.
1042
00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:38,080
And it was like a really old memory,
a very old memory to
1043
00:58:38,080 --> 00:58:40,752
have people treat me the way they did.
1044
00:58:40,752 --> 00:58:43,600
(light electronic music)
1045
00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:47,240
One of the most difficult things
about the transition
1046
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:50,530
from the status of
non-disabled to disabled
1047
00:58:50,530 --> 00:58:54,230
is figuring out how to
manage the awkwardness
1048
00:58:54,230 --> 00:58:59,193
of encounters between themselves
and non-disabled people.
1049
00:59:05,288 --> 00:59:06,650
It was like a turning point
when I realized
1050
00:59:06,650 --> 00:59:09,390
that I have this relationship
to the public doing tricks
1051
00:59:09,390 --> 00:59:12,550
on crutches, and that it's not all
1052
00:59:12,550 --> 00:59:15,110
like look how cool I am on crutches.
1053
00:59:15,110 --> 00:59:16,810
There's all this other stuff happening.
1054
00:59:16,810 --> 00:59:19,723
And that I have not even
begun to deal with it.
1055
00:59:21,168 --> 00:59:23,123
And that was the beginning
of that journey.
1056
00:59:26,865 --> 00:59:29,615
(static hissing)
1057
01:00:10,430 --> 01:00:11,693
It's provocative.
1058
01:00:12,880 --> 01:00:16,000
You're taking advantage of
people's good nature.
1059
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:19,223
Like these are good people that care.
1060
01:00:20,820 --> 01:00:23,790
But I was often in the position
of helping him
1061
01:00:23,790 --> 01:00:27,020
when he needed help,
so I know what it's like
1062
01:00:27,020 --> 01:00:30,770
to be the person who's
reaching down to help somebody up
1063
01:00:30,770 --> 01:00:32,810
who may or may not need it.
1064
01:00:32,810 --> 01:00:35,613
So I identify with both sides.
1065
01:00:50,030 --> 01:00:51,320
What happened in that performance
1066
01:00:51,320 --> 01:00:55,210
that's so interesting was that
my skateboard was there,
1067
01:00:55,210 --> 01:00:59,560
but the sidewalk
had a slight incline to it,
1068
01:00:59,560 --> 01:01:01,520
and so the skateboard just rolled out
1069
01:01:01,520 --> 01:01:02,773
and went into the street.
1070
01:01:05,100 --> 01:01:10,100
A cab crossed three lanes to
run over the board on purpose.
1071
01:01:10,910 --> 01:01:13,470
Now mind you,
I had no money at that time.
1072
01:01:13,470 --> 01:01:16,770
I was on full scholarship
at the Art Institute of Chicago.
1073
01:01:16,770 --> 01:01:18,620
I had no real job.
1074
01:01:18,620 --> 01:01:21,670
My family doesn't have money,
plus I no longer
1075
01:01:21,670 --> 01:01:23,740
had a way to get back
to the train station
1076
01:01:23,740 --> 01:01:26,570
and back to my house,
which, like, tons of distance.
1077
01:01:26,570 --> 01:01:28,288
I mean it was a long ass way.
1078
01:01:28,288 --> 01:01:30,480
I had to walk all the way to the train.
1079
01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:31,410
And I was just miserable.
1080
01:01:31,410 --> 01:01:33,400
And I started crashing to the ground,
1081
01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:35,610
and people were coming and helping me.
1082
01:01:35,610 --> 01:01:37,487
Instead of being like no,
I'm not gonna let you help me,
1083
01:01:37,487 --> 01:01:38,903
I just started hugging them.
1084
01:01:40,152 --> 01:01:43,053
And I would be hugging like
three or four people at once,
1085
01:01:43,053 --> 01:01:45,370
and they would all be lifting me up.
1086
01:01:45,370 --> 01:01:49,940
They'd lift me up and
stand me up, and instead
1087
01:01:49,940 --> 01:01:52,490
of rejecting them I was
just kind of like okay,
1088
01:01:52,490 --> 01:01:54,100
I'm just accepting this.
1089
01:01:55,330 --> 01:01:58,287
I was just really upset
about my situation,
1090
01:01:59,870 --> 01:02:02,020
but also just everything
that has happened.
1091
01:02:03,383 --> 01:02:06,800
(light electronic music)
1092
01:02:11,370 --> 01:02:14,423
It was like I was just
surrendering when I realized
1093
01:02:16,790 --> 01:02:18,020
I don't really want to mess with people.
1094
01:02:18,020 --> 01:02:22,103
I just want to express these
feelings and these ideas.
1095
01:02:25,540 --> 01:02:28,010
You know, I imagine that
people might be a little upset
1096
01:02:28,010 --> 01:02:29,170
by that.
1097
01:02:29,170 --> 01:02:32,030
Some people are, like how
could you do that to people,
1098
01:02:32,030 --> 01:02:34,120
like isn't that mean?
1099
01:02:34,120 --> 01:02:35,920
Come on, there's at least
a couple people in here
1100
01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:37,363
that think it's really mean.
1101
01:02:38,930 --> 01:02:40,252
I want to know who they are.
1102
01:02:40,252 --> 01:02:42,520
I think you're awful.
1103
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:43,753
Okay.
1104
01:02:43,753 --> 01:02:44,710
(laughing)
1105
01:02:44,710 --> 01:02:46,123
This guy behind you, here.
1106
01:02:48,010 --> 01:02:49,940
I think it's kind of manipulative.
1107
01:02:49,940 --> 01:02:52,060
You think it's what?
Kind of manipulative.
1108
01:02:52,060 --> 01:02:53,190
Manipulative.
1109
01:02:53,190 --> 01:02:55,420
Ahh, okay.
1110
01:02:55,420 --> 01:02:59,423
Um, well, I kind of want to
talk about that a little bit.
1111
01:03:03,129 --> 01:03:04,920
You know, like "Regarding the Fall"
was a question
1112
01:03:04,920 --> 01:03:08,260
and some of the questions
were asked in a wrong way.
1113
01:03:08,260 --> 01:03:11,230
And that there are failures
to it that happened
1114
01:03:11,230 --> 01:03:13,170
in order for me to dig further into it,
1115
01:03:13,170 --> 01:03:15,590
I had to go down paths, every dead end.
1116
01:03:15,590 --> 01:03:17,860
And out of that mistake came the concept
1117
01:03:17,860 --> 01:03:18,950
of the neutral palette,
1118
01:03:18,950 --> 01:03:22,460
which is that you never
see me like just all,
1119
01:03:22,460 --> 01:03:24,083
all out and out fall.
1120
01:03:25,930 --> 01:03:30,350
Bill realized that he was
in some ways being manipulative
1121
01:03:30,350 --> 01:03:34,783
of people because he was
putting them into a crisis moment,
1122
01:03:35,790 --> 01:03:40,790
so he decided that a better way
to continue to investigate,
1123
01:03:41,170 --> 01:03:43,880
because he was very
interested in how people
1124
01:03:43,880 --> 01:03:48,360
were responding to him,
was not to present himself
1125
01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:50,260
as something flashy
1126
01:03:50,260 --> 01:03:53,773
that would very obviously
draw attention.
1127
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:01,297
I mean this shit is just
beyond like reasonable,
1128
01:04:03,820 --> 01:04:06,140
it's almost like so strange,
1129
01:04:06,140 --> 01:04:07,040
one, for him to do it,
1130
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:08,790
two, for me to accept him doing it.
1131
01:04:10,086 --> 01:04:11,320
You know, it's just uh,
1132
01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:13,270
I'm sitting there going oh my God,
1133
01:04:13,270 --> 01:04:16,120
he actually fucking
gave me a drink of water.
1134
01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:18,250
At that point I had surrendered myself
1135
01:04:18,250 --> 01:04:20,910
to whatever other people
thought I needed,
1136
01:04:20,910 --> 01:04:23,250
and this was like probably
the height of that,
1137
01:04:23,250 --> 01:04:25,020
somebody actually feeding me.
1138
01:04:25,020 --> 01:04:29,033
Like that is just, that really
gets to the core of help.
1139
01:04:30,250 --> 01:04:31,910
You know, you will have
people who will, you know,
1140
01:04:31,910 --> 01:04:36,150
try to feed you in your real life
and you'll be offended,
1141
01:04:36,150 --> 01:04:37,927
but in your performance you embrace it
1142
01:04:37,927 --> 01:04:39,493
and you try to understand it.
1143
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:43,590
It's like I am out there
interacting with phenomena
1144
01:04:43,590 --> 01:04:45,513
that extend throughout my whole life.
1145
01:04:46,410 --> 01:04:48,620
And the people that are
representing those phenomena
1146
01:04:48,620 --> 01:04:51,970
are individuals,
but I don't look at them
1147
01:04:51,970 --> 01:04:56,800
as good or bad people
based on how they act.
1148
01:04:56,800 --> 01:05:01,800
I look at them as individuals
that manifest phenomena
1149
01:05:05,410 --> 01:05:07,910
that occur to me whether
I'm performing or not.
1150
01:05:10,880 --> 01:05:13,080
The phenomenology of disability
1151
01:05:13,080 --> 01:05:16,370
that Shannon explores comes out
1152
01:05:16,370 --> 01:05:19,880
of an experience of repeated
patterns of interaction.
1153
01:05:19,880 --> 01:05:22,150
He sees the same things and experiences
1154
01:05:22,150 --> 01:05:25,040
the same things over,
and over and over again.
1155
01:05:25,040 --> 01:05:28,480
That's burdensome, but what it also does
1156
01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:33,480
for someone who as thoughtful
as Shannon is it pushes him
1157
01:05:34,010 --> 01:05:36,268
to want to name those things.
1158
01:05:36,268 --> 01:05:38,270
(upbeat jazz music)
1159
01:05:38,270 --> 01:05:40,770
Imagine if I get up, I get dressed,
I go outside,
1160
01:05:40,770 --> 01:05:43,200
I throw on my tunes,
jump on the board and start
1161
01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:45,240
to like bop down the street.
1162
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:46,200
And as I go down the street,
1163
01:05:46,200 --> 01:05:49,170
pushing on my crutches,
everyone turns to stare.
1164
01:05:49,170 --> 01:05:50,670
A lot of people stare directly at me,
1165
01:05:50,670 --> 01:05:53,705
but even more people turn after I pass.
1166
01:05:53,705 --> 01:05:56,663
So I continue on down the block
and a cab pulls up,
1167
01:05:56,663 --> 01:05:57,496
(car horn honking)
1168
01:05:57,496 --> 01:05:58,997
"Hey, hoo, what do you call that?"
1169
01:05:58,997 --> 01:06:01,980
And before I can even answer,
the car's gone.
1170
01:06:01,980 --> 01:06:02,960
I get to the bus stop.
1171
01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:03,793
I sit down.
1172
01:06:03,793 --> 01:06:05,050
A perfect stranger comes along
1173
01:06:05,050 --> 01:06:07,850
and looks at me and says, "Sorry."
1174
01:06:07,850 --> 01:06:09,410
And then another person comes
1175
01:06:09,410 --> 01:06:11,090
and sits down on the bench,
and then the guy looks
1176
01:06:11,090 --> 01:06:12,443
at me and goes,
"Hey, what happened to you?"
1177
01:06:12,443 --> 01:06:14,637
And I'm like, what happened to you?
1178
01:06:14,637 --> 01:06:16,460
And he's like,
"No, I mean the crutches."
1179
01:06:16,460 --> 01:06:18,440
And I said, everybody has crutches;
1180
01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:21,440
some of them you can see,
some of them are invisible.
1181
01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:23,550
He goes, "Come on, man,
what happened to your leg?
1182
01:06:23,550 --> 01:06:24,800
I bet it was your ankle.
1183
01:06:24,800 --> 01:06:26,530
I broke my ankle once."
1184
01:06:26,530 --> 01:06:28,893
And he continues to tell me
his whole story.
1185
01:06:30,450 --> 01:06:33,240
Then the bus pulls up,
the bus driver opens the door
1186
01:06:33,240 --> 01:06:35,470
and says,
"Hey, come on, buddy, I got ya.
1187
01:06:35,470 --> 01:06:36,707
You can do it."
1188
01:06:38,780 --> 01:06:41,040
I get off the bus and there's a store.
1189
01:06:41,040 --> 01:06:42,520
I'm looking a the store and I realize
1190
01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:44,450
that the thing I need to get,
there's two places
1191
01:06:44,450 --> 01:06:46,270
that sell it and one of them's
maybe having a sale.
1192
01:06:46,270 --> 01:06:47,250
And I can't remember which one.
1193
01:06:47,250 --> 01:06:48,560
And as I'm standing there I notice
1194
01:06:48,560 --> 01:06:50,780
there's a woman holding
the door open for me,
1195
01:06:50,780 --> 01:06:52,800
waiting for me to go into the store,
1196
01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:54,470
but I'm still trying to decide.
1197
01:06:54,470 --> 01:06:57,240
And she's holding it longer,
and she's looking at me.
1198
01:06:57,240 --> 01:06:59,820
And her face changes,
are you coming to the door?
1199
01:06:59,820 --> 01:07:03,620
And I get this little bit
of a backlash eye roll,
1200
01:07:03,620 --> 01:07:05,000
but I go into the store anyway.
1201
01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:06,910
And I find the item I want,
and I go to the register.
1202
01:07:06,910 --> 01:07:09,730
The cashier says,
"Hey, man, did you break your ankle?
1203
01:07:09,730 --> 01:07:11,700
I broke my ankle once."
1204
01:07:11,700 --> 01:07:13,000
And that's just one day.
1205
01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:14,010
It's not even a whole day.
1206
01:07:14,010 --> 01:07:15,530
It's just one errand.
1207
01:07:15,530 --> 01:07:19,010
And these things all are cumulative,
day after day, week
1208
01:07:19,010 --> 01:07:23,253
after week, month after month,
year after year after year.
1209
01:07:27,724 --> 01:07:30,150
(light piano music)
1210
01:07:30,150 --> 01:07:33,550
Disability always demands a story.
1211
01:07:33,550 --> 01:07:36,170
Non-disabled people are never required
1212
01:07:36,170 --> 01:07:39,280
to give an account of themselves
in the same way.
1213
01:07:39,280 --> 01:07:40,752
What happened?
1214
01:07:40,752 --> 01:07:43,694
To my hip?
1215
01:07:43,694 --> 01:07:45,506
I was born with a disease.
1216
01:07:45,506 --> 01:07:47,639
It's a really long story,
but my hip is not round.
1217
01:07:47,639 --> 01:07:49,000
Really?
Yeah.
1218
01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:52,260
Most of us simply learn to manage this.
1219
01:07:52,260 --> 01:07:54,260
We have a standard answer.
1220
01:07:54,260 --> 01:07:56,993
We get it out of the way and we move on.
1221
01:07:58,100 --> 01:08:02,030
So that he's turned this
into a performance piece,
1222
01:08:02,030 --> 01:08:06,950
into an art form where he
evokes this question,
1223
01:08:06,950 --> 01:08:10,453
this interrogation is
absolutely brilliant.
1224
01:08:13,240 --> 01:08:15,980
It's a language, and it's a tool,
1225
01:08:15,980 --> 01:08:18,970
and it's a way of seeing,
but it's not a sort
1226
01:08:18,970 --> 01:08:21,440
of guidebook to
"do's and don'ts" of dealing
1227
01:08:21,440 --> 01:08:23,190
with disabled people who need help.
1228
01:08:25,220 --> 01:08:30,220
What I actually encourage is
to abandon assumptions.
1229
01:08:33,136 --> 01:08:36,686
(light electronic music)
1230
01:08:36,686 --> 01:08:38,410
Get down to The Studio
at the Opera House
1231
01:08:38,410 --> 01:08:40,380
because there's an amazing performer
1232
01:08:40,380 --> 01:08:42,230
from Brooklyn coming out
called Bill Shannon.
1233
01:08:42,230 --> 01:08:44,120
And the night is called Spatial Theory.
1234
01:08:44,120 --> 01:08:45,870
It's had rave reviews.
1235
01:08:45,870 --> 01:08:48,100
You know that I was
doing these performances
1236
01:08:48,100 --> 01:08:50,460
where I was having these
interactions with people based
1237
01:08:50,460 --> 01:08:54,970
on their ideas of who I was,
people were responding to it,
1238
01:08:54,970 --> 01:08:56,447
you know, interested in it.
1239
01:08:56,447 --> 01:08:57,875
(audience applauding)
1240
01:08:57,875 --> 01:08:59,594
Yeah, yeah.
1241
01:08:59,594 --> 01:09:02,760
And it became necessity to
communicate it to audiences.
1242
01:09:02,760 --> 01:09:05,760
So welcome to this evening's
presentation of Spatial Theory.
1243
01:09:06,681 --> 01:09:09,098
(vocalizing)
1244
01:09:16,370 --> 01:09:18,090
(audience applauding)
1245
01:09:18,090 --> 01:09:20,970
Okay, now I'm gonna
sit down and talk a little,
1246
01:09:20,970 --> 01:09:23,400
go over some video of
some street performance work,
1247
01:09:23,400 --> 01:09:26,930
where I perform simple
utilitarian tasks in public
1248
01:09:26,930 --> 01:09:31,047
and sort of begin to look
at people look at me.
1249
01:09:31,047 --> 01:09:34,047
(upbeat jazz music)
1250
01:09:35,210 --> 01:09:36,043
So I said you know what I'm gonna do,
1251
01:09:36,043 --> 01:09:38,053
I'm just gonna pick up a bottle.
1252
01:09:39,580 --> 01:09:40,630
I'm just gonna pick up
this bottle in public.
1253
01:09:40,630 --> 01:09:44,010
It's a utilitarian task,
a very simple task.
1254
01:09:44,010 --> 01:09:45,270
And you're gonna see, this is me.
1255
01:09:45,270 --> 01:09:46,103
I'm the hero.
1256
01:09:46,103 --> 01:09:47,277
This is the villain, right.
1257
01:09:48,387 --> 01:09:52,080
And that's a random babushka
from a Russian marketplace,
1258
01:09:52,080 --> 01:09:54,100
so here's the reach for the bottle,
1259
01:09:54,100 --> 01:09:55,900
which could be like the initiation
1260
01:09:55,900 --> 01:09:58,000
of what I call projective narrative.
1261
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:00,260
So her story about me
picking up the bottle
1262
01:10:00,260 --> 01:10:02,610
is like way deeper than my own story
1263
01:10:02,610 --> 01:10:03,630
of me picking up the bottle,
1264
01:10:03,630 --> 01:10:06,732
which is basically a high mid,
low mid split reach.
1265
01:10:06,732 --> 01:10:07,620
(audience laughing)
1266
01:10:07,620 --> 01:10:11,340
She's looking at it like will
the man pick up the bottle?
1267
01:10:11,340 --> 01:10:16,340
I cannot go on to my
destination until I know
1268
01:10:16,600 --> 01:10:19,223
if the man will pick up the bottle.
1269
01:10:20,090 --> 01:10:22,870
Now, if you watch the purse area here,
1270
01:10:22,870 --> 01:10:26,384
you're going to see
this height of the conflict
1271
01:10:26,384 --> 01:10:28,320
reach a cataclysmic point.
1272
01:10:28,320 --> 01:10:30,547
Watch the purse, get it, get it, get it.
1273
01:10:30,547 --> 01:10:31,761
Ohhh.
1274
01:10:31,761 --> 01:10:34,890
(audience laughing)
1275
01:10:34,890 --> 01:10:39,180
A psychosomatic reaction to the height
1276
01:10:39,180 --> 01:10:41,249
of the arc of her narrative.
1277
01:10:41,249 --> 01:10:42,550
(audience laughing)
1278
01:10:42,550 --> 01:10:45,290
And what I've noticed in,
this next little moment
1279
01:10:45,290 --> 01:10:48,360
here is what I call
fate of distraction at the top
1280
01:10:48,360 --> 01:10:51,171
of the stairs,
fate of distraction right here.
1281
01:10:51,171 --> 01:10:52,590
Whoa.
1282
01:10:52,590 --> 01:10:57,590
Okay, I don't, I mean when it
happened I was like terrified,
1283
01:10:57,990 --> 01:11:00,193
like oh no,
she's going down on the stairs.
1284
01:11:01,680 --> 01:11:03,410
You can see my good samaritan impulse,
1285
01:11:03,410 --> 01:11:05,780
I mean I'm ready to
like dive down after her,
1286
01:11:05,780 --> 01:11:08,290
so I'm not like out here
just like accusing people
1287
01:11:08,290 --> 01:11:10,490
of like being stupid for
trying to help other people
1288
01:11:10,490 --> 01:11:12,400
in need because I do it myself.
1289
01:11:12,400 --> 01:11:14,640
And then there's final reckoning,
you'll see it here,
1290
01:11:14,640 --> 01:11:16,373
this look of like, right here.
1291
01:11:18,530 --> 01:11:21,186
She's like you know,
I almost died looking at you.
1292
01:11:21,186 --> 01:11:22,922
(audience laughing)
1293
01:11:22,922 --> 01:11:25,620
(audience applauding)
1294
01:11:25,620 --> 01:11:27,960
I think Bill understands
people's reaction
1295
01:11:27,960 --> 01:11:31,410
to disability more than most people do,
1296
01:11:31,410 --> 01:11:34,370
and he knows he's being misunderstood.
1297
01:11:34,370 --> 01:11:39,370
And he can reach in
and like bloop, here it is,
1298
01:11:39,890 --> 01:11:41,080
you see that.
1299
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:43,830
So this next relationship
I call peripheral fluctuation.
1300
01:11:43,830 --> 01:11:45,540
So peripheral fluctuation
is the kind of thing
1301
01:11:45,540 --> 01:11:47,023
where your periphery
is like right here, right,
1302
01:11:47,023 --> 01:11:49,030
you can see my field of vision.
1303
01:11:49,030 --> 01:11:51,830
Then you have like
peripheral over here, right,
1304
01:11:51,830 --> 01:11:54,493
so then as soon as my
periphery starts to move
1305
01:11:54,493 --> 01:11:56,070
towards a full field of vision,
1306
01:11:56,070 --> 01:11:57,570
it's like peripheral function.
1307
01:11:58,950 --> 01:12:00,428
No, I wasn't looking.
1308
01:12:00,428 --> 01:12:02,393
(audience laughing)
1309
01:12:02,393 --> 01:12:03,510
All of those things, were things
1310
01:12:03,510 --> 01:12:06,130
that I could recognize
in my life in different ways,
1311
01:12:06,130 --> 01:12:08,410
and oh yeah, I do that or I know that.
1312
01:12:08,410 --> 01:12:11,280
And and yeah, that's not,
1313
01:12:11,280 --> 01:12:13,240
that's not understood by everybody.
1314
01:12:13,240 --> 01:12:15,120
This next relationship
I call "Gesture of Help."
1315
01:12:15,120 --> 01:12:18,020
A gesture of help is
very different than real help.
1316
01:12:18,020 --> 01:12:20,090
Real help, you know,
like put me over your shoulder
1317
01:12:20,090 --> 01:12:21,160
and carry me up the stairs.
1318
01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:25,520
A gesture of help is like
I'm gonna help her help me
1319
01:12:26,420 --> 01:12:27,290
up the stairs.
1320
01:12:27,290 --> 01:12:28,310
(audience laughing)
1321
01:12:28,310 --> 01:12:31,020
Now normally for me,
I go like up the stairs,
1322
01:12:31,020 --> 01:12:32,451
but she's going sideways.
1323
01:12:32,451 --> 01:12:34,140
(audience laughing)
1324
01:12:34,140 --> 01:12:35,790
I'm like where are you taking me?
1325
01:12:36,720 --> 01:12:38,503
I'm going to another dimension.
1326
01:12:41,620 --> 01:12:44,880
People who haven't
experienced these interactions,
1327
01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:46,800
people who move through
the world with sort
1328
01:12:46,800 --> 01:12:49,640
of ordinary bodies
don't necessarily understand
1329
01:12:49,640 --> 01:12:53,560
what Bill is talking about,
but it's that intervention
1330
01:12:53,560 --> 01:12:58,072
with the video technology,
that's when people get it.
1331
01:12:58,072 --> 01:13:01,239
(audience applauding)
1332
01:13:13,098 --> 01:13:16,480
(light electronic music)
1333
01:13:16,480 --> 01:13:18,650
People say, they'll write about me,
Bill Shannon,
1334
01:13:18,650 --> 01:13:20,010
you know, he's this great dancer, right,
1335
01:13:20,010 --> 01:13:22,690
it's too bad that,
you know, he tricks people
1336
01:13:22,690 --> 01:13:24,440
into helping him on the street.
1337
01:13:24,440 --> 01:13:26,770
You know, or he does things
where he falls to the ground
1338
01:13:26,770 --> 01:13:28,723
so that, so that people help him.
1339
01:13:30,060 --> 01:13:33,509
So it has this sort of notion that,
that I'm getting people
1340
01:13:33,509 --> 01:13:36,560
to do these things as if they
don't do them already,
1341
01:13:36,560 --> 01:13:39,460
whether, well, no matter
what I'm doing, they're doing it.
1342
01:13:41,410 --> 01:13:44,410
(upbeat jazz music)
1343
01:13:51,803 --> 01:13:53,280
What's it for?
1344
01:13:53,280 --> 01:13:54,329
it's a trio of video projects,
1345
01:13:54,329 --> 01:13:58,450
called "Window, Bench and Traffic."
1346
01:13:58,450 --> 01:14:02,990
And those projects are my
sort of way of addressing
1347
01:14:02,990 --> 01:14:07,690
a basic problem about
dancing in the street,
1348
01:14:07,690 --> 01:14:09,480
which is my dancing in the street
1349
01:14:09,480 --> 01:14:10,860
is never seen by audiences,
1350
01:14:10,860 --> 01:14:13,411
it's only seen by people
who happen to be there.
1351
01:14:13,411 --> 01:14:16,828
(light electronic music)
1352
01:14:18,790 --> 01:14:21,210
He could've just kinda gone
down some easy route
1353
01:14:21,210 --> 01:14:23,860
of making some really
entertaining dance shows.
1354
01:14:23,860 --> 01:14:26,520
People would love the sort of flippancy
1355
01:14:26,520 --> 01:14:30,150
and the superficial level
of the virtuosity that he has.
1356
01:14:30,150 --> 01:14:30,983
And he didn't.
1357
01:14:32,897 --> 01:14:35,020
The mad scientist in him
is brewing something,
1358
01:14:35,020 --> 01:14:36,290
he's just, you know, he's brainstorming
1359
01:14:36,290 --> 01:14:39,149
for his next big form of expression.
1360
01:14:39,149 --> 01:14:42,066
(percussive music)
1361
01:14:57,200 --> 01:15:00,690
Moving into a series like
"Window, Bench, Traffic"
1362
01:15:00,690 --> 01:15:05,360
solves one problem that Bill had when he
1363
01:15:05,360 --> 01:15:09,750
was doing his click and point
edited video talks.
1364
01:15:09,750 --> 01:15:13,740
And that is that people could
see him picking and choosing,
1365
01:15:13,740 --> 01:15:15,150
which, in fact, he was.
1366
01:15:15,150 --> 01:15:18,340
He might have captured
four hours of film
1367
01:15:18,340 --> 01:15:21,020
and found the three seconds
that really illustrated
1368
01:15:21,020 --> 01:15:22,040
his point.
1369
01:15:22,040 --> 01:15:24,350
And people might say well, there's a,
1370
01:15:24,350 --> 01:15:26,430
there's a manipulation
that's happening there
1371
01:15:26,430 --> 01:15:27,460
because you're freezing,
1372
01:15:27,460 --> 01:15:31,720
you're stopping does it
really unfold that way?
1373
01:15:31,720 --> 01:15:33,333
Well, let's find out.
1374
01:15:34,540 --> 01:15:35,530
There's a fabric.
1375
01:15:35,530 --> 01:15:36,740
There's a social fabric.
1376
01:15:36,740 --> 01:15:40,010
There's a a landscape
of gazes, and approaches
1377
01:15:40,010 --> 01:15:44,410
and subtleties around how
humans look at each other,
1378
01:15:44,410 --> 01:15:46,680
and pass each other,
and the body language
1379
01:15:46,680 --> 01:15:48,070
and the patterns that take place.
1380
01:15:48,070 --> 01:15:51,530
And I really wanted to prove
that the spectacle is there,
1381
01:15:51,530 --> 01:15:52,940
I don't have to use anything.
1382
01:15:52,940 --> 01:15:54,670
It happens no matter what I do,
1383
01:15:54,670 --> 01:15:57,653
whether it's my real life
or I'm in a performance.
1384
01:16:03,758 --> 01:16:06,530
(upbeat dance music)
1385
01:16:06,530 --> 01:16:11,270
Window was people would be
viewing the performance
1386
01:16:11,270 --> 01:16:14,060
through a window in a
building on a square,
1387
01:16:14,060 --> 01:16:16,010
and then the audience in the window
1388
01:16:16,010 --> 01:16:19,140
would see the performance,
not only directly,
1389
01:16:19,140 --> 01:16:20,210
but also through the camera
1390
01:16:20,210 --> 01:16:22,810
so they could see up close
how people were reacting.
1391
01:16:24,230 --> 01:16:26,790
It's an extension
of his own investigations
1392
01:16:26,790 --> 01:16:30,240
into how people treat
those who are disabled,
1393
01:16:30,240 --> 01:16:32,870
and we often don't know, you know,
1394
01:16:32,870 --> 01:16:34,573
until we see it on screen.
1395
01:16:36,540 --> 01:16:39,290
Bill realizes there are
two different audiences,
1396
01:16:39,290 --> 01:16:42,400
the people who have been
watching see a guy
1397
01:16:42,400 --> 01:16:45,490
who's clearly capable, whereas people
1398
01:16:45,490 --> 01:16:47,780
who have been walking by, what they have
1399
01:16:47,780 --> 01:16:50,770
is crutches equals fragile.
1400
01:16:50,770 --> 01:16:52,510
Everyone who sees that thinks they know
1401
01:16:52,510 --> 01:16:55,160
what they're seeing,
but they're interpreting it
1402
01:16:55,160 --> 01:16:56,750
so differently that it's
1403
01:16:56,750 --> 01:16:58,600
like they're two different realities.
1404
01:17:00,470 --> 01:17:03,930
Bench was before the time
of the GoPro, you know,
1405
01:17:03,930 --> 01:17:06,060
he attached cameras all around him to
1406
01:17:06,060 --> 01:17:08,373
give a 360 degree view.
1407
01:17:10,519 --> 01:17:13,623
I remember doing a 360
in a suitcase thing.
1408
01:17:14,570 --> 01:17:17,363
The hidden cameras were a way
to get an honest reaction.
1409
01:17:18,846 --> 01:17:20,679
You all right?
1410
01:17:22,834 --> 01:17:24,001
You all right?
1411
01:17:27,120 --> 01:17:30,460
Everyone would see all of
these reactions behind him,
1412
01:17:30,460 --> 01:17:32,123
his wake, basically.
1413
01:17:33,550 --> 01:17:36,040
People literally stop on their tracks.
1414
01:17:37,219 --> 01:17:40,190
That happens all the time.
1415
01:17:51,366 --> 01:17:54,449
(upbeat dance music)
1416
01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:06,850
Stage it in the middle of the back.
1417
01:18:09,220 --> 01:18:11,710
Traffic, we put that on wheels
1418
01:18:11,710 --> 01:18:14,263
and it becomes a lot more elaborate.
1419
01:18:25,820 --> 01:18:27,220
The audience boards a bus.
1420
01:18:30,620 --> 01:18:33,230
There's a DJ on the bus.
1421
01:18:33,230 --> 01:18:36,600
The DJ would pipe music
that Bill could hear
1422
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:39,229
and that the audience
in the bus could hear, too.
1423
01:18:39,229 --> 01:18:42,312
(upbeat dance music)
1424
01:18:56,705 --> 01:18:58,330
He took his audience into the street.
1425
01:18:58,330 --> 01:19:00,163
He took his audience on a goddamn ride.
1426
01:19:00,163 --> 01:19:02,830
(all laughing)
1427
01:19:02,830 --> 01:19:05,460
And I was on the bus like dude,
this is fucking genius.
1428
01:19:05,460 --> 01:19:06,886
It was so cool.
1429
01:19:06,886 --> 01:19:07,719
It was so exciting, like you really felt
1430
01:19:07,719 --> 01:19:08,859
like you were with him.
1431
01:19:08,859 --> 01:19:10,109
Whooo, whooo!
1432
01:19:14,806 --> 01:19:17,520
(all laughing)
1433
01:19:17,520 --> 01:19:19,790
It's interesting enough
to be called art,
1434
01:19:19,790 --> 01:19:21,680
but it's got this, you know, spectacle
1435
01:19:21,680 --> 01:19:24,510
of showmanship kind of quality
and you're not looking
1436
01:19:24,510 --> 01:19:25,750
at the Empire State Building,
1437
01:19:25,750 --> 01:19:28,023
you're looking at
somebody who's living art.
1438
01:19:33,371 --> 01:19:34,204
Hi.
1439
01:19:35,620 --> 01:19:36,920
It's hot out today, right?
1440
01:19:42,540 --> 01:19:43,660
Yeah?
1441
01:19:45,860 --> 01:19:46,730
How is what?
1442
01:19:49,001 --> 01:19:51,551
With these? I try, I flap them,
I try to get air.
1443
01:19:53,455 --> 01:19:56,193
Like that, like they catch air
and then I can kind of fly.
1444
01:19:59,470 --> 01:20:00,303
I need a what?
1445
01:20:01,136 --> 01:20:02,130
I do need a parachute.
1446
01:20:02,130 --> 01:20:03,130
Thank you.
1447
01:20:03,890 --> 01:20:04,900
You, too.
1448
01:20:09,023 --> 01:20:12,106
(upbeat dance music)
1449
01:20:14,090 --> 01:20:16,460
Traffic is so spontaneous
1450
01:20:16,460 --> 01:20:21,120
that we get to see not only
those disability phenomena,
1451
01:20:48,245 --> 01:20:49,691
Bye.
1452
01:20:59,670 --> 01:21:02,753
(upbeat dance music)
1453
01:21:09,755 --> 01:21:12,210
Ah, that's failure.
1454
01:21:12,210 --> 01:21:15,520
But even when I, even when I fail
I try to keep it smooth.
1455
01:21:15,520 --> 01:21:17,300
You all right?
Yeah, I'm cool.
1456
01:21:17,300 --> 01:21:19,740
I, I look good, don't I?
1457
01:21:19,740 --> 01:21:20,800
I look good, right?
1458
01:21:20,800 --> 01:21:21,633
On the ground.
1459
01:21:22,890 --> 01:21:25,591
Yeah, I'm, I don't really need help,
but if you want
1460
01:21:25,591 --> 01:21:27,697
to help me, you can.
1461
01:21:27,697 --> 01:21:28,590
Okay, you wanna help me,
all right, cool.
1462
01:21:28,590 --> 01:21:29,700
Here we go, Shannon.
1463
01:21:29,700 --> 01:21:32,123
I don't need this help though.
1464
01:21:32,123 --> 01:21:33,590
No, listen, I don't need the help,
1465
01:21:33,590 --> 01:21:34,423
but I really appreciate it.
1466
01:21:35,530 --> 01:21:36,800
All right, brother.
1467
01:21:36,800 --> 01:21:38,197
Thank you, brother.
1468
01:21:40,558 --> 01:21:41,391
Huh?
1469
01:21:44,323 --> 01:21:47,060
It's my hip isn't round on both sides.
1470
01:21:50,640 --> 01:21:51,640
Well, it's both, actually.
1471
01:21:51,640 --> 01:21:54,280
I'm playing and I have hips
that aren't round.
1472
01:21:54,280 --> 01:21:55,308
Yeah.
1473
01:21:55,308 --> 01:21:56,141
So it's, it's in between.
1474
01:21:56,141 --> 01:21:57,110
You know, it's like wearing glasses.
1475
01:21:57,110 --> 01:21:59,750
When you take them off,
you're not blind, you know.
1476
01:21:59,750 --> 01:22:01,580
Like, I can walk, but not very far.
1477
01:22:01,580 --> 01:22:02,610
I respect that, man.
1478
01:22:02,610 --> 01:22:03,443
Oh, thank you, man.
1479
01:22:03,443 --> 01:22:04,580
I've got tons of respect for you,
1480
01:22:04,580 --> 01:22:07,153
just your whole vibe
is just amazing, man.
1481
01:22:09,125 --> 01:22:09,958
What's that?
1482
01:22:10,820 --> 01:22:11,653
A donation?
1483
01:22:11,653 --> 01:22:12,820
Yeah, sure.
1484
01:22:12,820 --> 01:22:13,926
I love donations.
1485
01:22:13,926 --> 01:22:15,326
(all laughing)
1486
01:22:15,326 --> 01:22:16,830
Oh, man.
1487
01:22:16,830 --> 01:22:17,850
Wow.
1488
01:22:17,850 --> 01:22:18,752
Thank you.
1489
01:22:18,752 --> 01:22:19,585
Thank you, sir.
1490
01:22:19,585 --> 01:22:20,950
Wow, that's,
that's a blessing right there.
1491
01:22:20,950 --> 01:22:22,154
Yes.
1492
01:22:22,154 --> 01:22:24,737
(all cheering)
1493
01:22:26,989 --> 01:22:30,322
That's the street, baby, right there.
1494
01:22:40,820 --> 01:22:43,430
You watch people
and their reaction to him
1495
01:22:43,430 --> 01:22:45,410
as a person being on crutches,
1496
01:22:45,410 --> 01:22:48,283
they automatically assume
that he needs help.
1497
01:22:49,410 --> 01:22:52,843
When in fact,
he's helping them help him.
1498
01:22:54,590 --> 01:22:56,640
And he's been able to
take that and turn it
1499
01:22:56,640 --> 01:23:01,041
into something magic.
1500
01:23:01,041 --> 01:23:02,196
There he is.
1501
01:23:02,196 --> 01:23:03,363
Wave everyone.
1502
01:23:08,725 --> 01:23:11,808
(upbeat dance music)
1503
01:23:22,567 --> 01:23:25,230
And there is a section
in Traffic where he
1504
01:23:25,230 --> 01:23:29,383
is on a staircase and he is
clearly acting as a performer.
1505
01:23:30,580 --> 01:23:35,260
He is dancing, he is twirling,
he is performing
1506
01:23:35,260 --> 01:23:39,173
in a way that lets us know
he has exceptional abilities.
1507
01:23:41,440 --> 01:23:45,973
And then into the frame
walk these two men.
1508
01:24:06,437 --> 01:24:09,187
(laughing)
1509
01:24:14,750 --> 01:24:19,100
And they step into offer him this help,
but what they
1510
01:24:19,100 --> 01:24:22,363
do is completely disrupt
a moment of pure performance.
1511
01:24:32,740 --> 01:24:36,453
That's the power of the habits
of interpretation we have.
1512
01:24:37,480 --> 01:24:41,360
It's so abundantly clear
that these guys have no idea
1513
01:24:41,360 --> 01:24:42,980
and they're acting on assumptions
1514
01:24:42,980 --> 01:24:45,173
that don't fit the situation.
1515
01:24:46,910 --> 01:24:48,350
There it is.
1516
01:24:48,350 --> 01:24:49,960
And the audience gets it,
1517
01:24:49,960 --> 01:24:51,960
whether they have any background or not.
1518
01:24:53,056 --> 01:24:56,223
(audience applauding)
1519
01:25:21,493 --> 01:25:24,243
(indistinct chatter)
1520
01:25:45,598 --> 01:25:49,150
And now listen,
this is really, really important.
1521
01:25:49,150 --> 01:25:49,983
Be yourself.
1522
01:25:52,170 --> 01:25:55,313
Be yourself, don't try, don't fake,
don't fake the funk.
1523
01:25:56,320 --> 01:25:58,000
Be you.
1524
01:25:58,000 --> 01:25:59,060
That's how this happened.
1525
01:25:59,060 --> 01:26:00,710
You think everybody
was like when I first did
1526
01:26:00,710 --> 01:26:02,160
my moves on crutches, you know how bad
1527
01:26:02,160 --> 01:26:04,040
I looked trying to dance
on crutches the first time
1528
01:26:04,040 --> 01:26:05,320
I tried to dance on crutches?
1529
01:26:05,320 --> 01:26:06,512
You wanna see it?
1530
01:26:06,512 --> 01:26:07,345
Yes, yes.
1531
01:26:07,345 --> 01:26:08,290
You wanna see what it
looked like in the beginning?
1532
01:26:08,290 --> 01:26:10,393
This is what it looked like
in the beginning.
1533
01:26:14,958 --> 01:26:17,125
(humming)
1534
01:26:20,179 --> 01:26:22,030
Then I started to do one of these.
1535
01:26:22,030 --> 01:26:24,760
I started to go woop,
boom, da, woop, boom.
1536
01:26:24,760 --> 01:26:26,450
Then I was down here.
1537
01:26:26,450 --> 01:26:28,983
The next thing you know
I was doing this.
1538
01:26:28,983 --> 01:26:31,087
(grunting)
1539
01:26:31,087 --> 01:26:36,087
(all cheering)
(upbeat orchestral music)
1540
01:27:34,957 --> 01:27:36,920
And so this camp is very special.
1541
01:27:36,920 --> 01:27:37,940
It's special to me.
1542
01:27:37,940 --> 01:27:40,310
This is the first time I've ever met
any kids with Perthes,
1543
01:27:40,310 --> 01:27:42,650
so it's really an honor
and a pleasure to be here.
1544
01:27:42,650 --> 01:27:46,020
And I really am touched
to be invited here,
1545
01:27:46,020 --> 01:27:48,360
and I wanted to thank you all
very much and let you know
1546
01:27:48,360 --> 01:27:51,120
I support you and the
parents here in the struggles
1547
01:27:51,120 --> 01:27:52,810
that you go through,
and the tough choices you have
1548
01:27:52,810 --> 01:27:55,310
to make every day.
1549
01:27:55,310 --> 01:27:58,070
You know, you live with this and,
and you struggle,
1550
01:27:58,070 --> 01:28:00,400
and you know, I, I feel you.
1551
01:28:00,400 --> 01:28:01,480
I feel your pain.
1552
01:28:01,480 --> 01:28:02,313
I know I had,
1553
01:28:02,313 --> 01:28:03,980
my parents had to deal with it,
1554
01:28:03,980 --> 01:28:06,690
and so I just feel really
blessed to be here
1555
01:28:06,690 --> 01:28:08,540
and thank you so much, all of you.
1556
01:28:08,540 --> 01:28:11,707
(audience applauding)
1557
01:28:22,843 --> 01:28:25,760
(light jazz music)
1558
01:28:39,660 --> 01:28:43,323
There's a necessity to
capture moments in time,
1559
01:28:45,160 --> 01:28:47,650
an importance to recognize somebody
1560
01:28:47,650 --> 01:28:49,373
that created his own art form.
1561
01:28:52,090 --> 01:28:55,370
That didn't attempt to be anyone else,
1562
01:28:55,370 --> 01:28:58,240
didn't attempt to dance
like anyone else,
1563
01:28:58,240 --> 01:29:02,130
somebody that absolutely
personified the potential
1564
01:29:02,130 --> 01:29:03,623
of his own physicality.
1565
01:29:07,870 --> 01:29:10,200
I think he represents hip hop,
1566
01:29:10,200 --> 01:29:13,970
and he represents skateboarding,
and he puts 'em together
1567
01:29:13,970 --> 01:29:16,423
in a way that is a one of a kind.
1568
01:29:33,080 --> 01:29:34,080
Look at that shit.
1569
01:29:36,680 --> 01:29:40,550
Our general response is about
people who use crutches
1570
01:29:40,550 --> 01:29:44,520
is the story that to use crutches
is to be miserable,
1571
01:29:44,520 --> 01:29:47,500
to use crutches is to be awkward,
to use crutches
1572
01:29:47,500 --> 01:29:49,660
is to be pitiable.
1573
01:29:49,660 --> 01:29:53,410
And his performances
re-script, re-narrate,
1574
01:29:53,410 --> 01:29:57,218
re-tell every single one
of those stories.
1575
01:29:57,218 --> 01:30:02,218
(crowd cheering)
(light jazz music)
1576
01:30:24,697 --> 01:30:28,410
He's an agent provocateur
that's really the essence
1577
01:30:28,410 --> 01:30:30,100
of his character to some extent.
1578
01:30:30,100 --> 01:30:32,513
It's like oh, you think so?
1579
01:30:33,880 --> 01:30:35,835
I'll show you, you know.
1580
01:30:35,835 --> 01:30:39,502
(speaking foreign language)
1581
01:30:41,647 --> 01:30:43,940
(crowd cheering)
1582
01:30:43,940 --> 01:30:48,540
He's brought so much to the world
because he has shared
1583
01:30:48,540 --> 01:30:51,150
and taught, let's learn to
question the assumptions
1584
01:30:51,150 --> 01:30:54,393
that we bring and let people
teach us about who they are.
1585
01:31:00,120 --> 01:31:02,960
What he's doing, I don't think
people have caught up
1586
01:31:02,960 --> 01:31:04,147
to that yet, man.
1587
01:31:04,147 --> 01:31:05,920
And when they finally catch on,
1588
01:31:05,920 --> 01:31:08,260
he's like on to something else.
1589
01:31:08,260 --> 01:31:11,247
And I think that's,
the way great artists should be.
1590
01:31:11,247 --> 01:31:14,164
(light jazz music)
1591
01:31:24,517 --> 01:31:27,684
(audience applauding)
1592
01:31:37,820 --> 01:31:39,800
There's the dangerous word
of inspiration,
1593
01:31:39,800 --> 01:31:42,330
and there's a dangerous world
of inspiration porn
1594
01:31:42,330 --> 01:31:44,247
that we talk about now particularly of
1595
01:31:44,247 --> 01:31:46,400
disabled people looking
at disabled people
1596
01:31:46,400 --> 01:31:48,167
and going, "That's so inspiring."
1597
01:31:50,580 --> 01:31:54,023
I'm not here to inspire you
just by my very being,
1598
01:31:57,000 --> 01:32:01,948
but I'm okay for you to be
inspired by me if you change.
1599
01:32:01,948 --> 01:32:04,865
(light jazz music)
1600
01:32:21,727 --> 01:32:24,727
(upbeat jazz music)
1601
01:32:59,708 --> 01:33:03,125
(light electronic music)
1602
01:34:48,935 --> 01:34:52,352
(light electronic music)
1603
01:36:10,109 --> 01:36:13,526
(light electronic music)
115401
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