Crutch (2020) Movie Script
- [WOMAN]Okay.
- [MAN]Allright,okay.
So,there'sthingaboutwhile
Iwillneverbeconsidered,
inthedanceworld,
assimplyadancer,
Iwillalwaysbelooked
atasananomaly.
I cannot be compared. I can't be
sort of set next to any of these other
whatevergreatdancers
thatmightbeoutthere,
that,youknow,aresortof
thehallmarksofdance.
Youknow,the...
I'm saying that. I'm saying
that because that's how I...
Imeanthat'showIexperienced,
youknow,the... the,um...
thedanceworld,youknow,
'causetheysupposedlyhave
thisbigfocusondance
andthebodyandallthat,
buttherealityisthat,
youknow,they'reinterested
intheperfectbody.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[REPORTER]He'sknownas
theCrutchmaster
andhe'ssurprisedaudiences
allacrosstheworld.
[REPORTER 2] This is something I
guarantee you have never seen before.
ThisisBillShannon,
whoistheCrutchmaster,
andhisbuddiesbackhere,
whoaretheStepFenz,
directfromNewYorkCity...
[REPORTER 3] The show is
called The Art Of Weightlessness.
It'ssponsoredby
TheDanceUmbrella,
andBillShannondefies
gravitywiththehelp
ofhiscrutches.
[REPORTER4]Getdownto
TheStudioattheOperaHouse
becausethere's
anamazingperformer
fromBrooklyncomingout,
calledBillShannon.
Thenight'scalled
SpatialTheory.
[REPORTER5]I'veneverseen
anythinglikethis.
Iwaslookingat
thevideotapeyesterday
andIwasamazed.
[VOICESCHATTERING]
[REPORTER6]
Hisartsometimescapitalizes
oninteractionswithothers.
[VOICESCHATTERING]
[REPORTER5]It'ssortof
afunkydanceroutinetoo.
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [VOICESCHATTERING]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[WOMANSPEAKINGINDISTINCTLY
OVERPA]
[BILL]Areweready?
What'sgoingon?
IfeellikeI'mtreadingwater.
Arewegoing?
Thisway?Okay.
- [BABYCRYING]
- Let'sgogetarental.
- Iwannasitintheback.
- Okay.
[GPSVOICE]Keeprighttoward
I-275NorthatTampa.
[BILL] It's kind of blindsided me
like, "Oh yeah, Perthes Camp, cool."
They're like, "Okay, you're gonna
meet a bunch of kids with Perthes."
AndI'mlike,
"Oh,waitasecond."
[ALLCHATTERING]
[MAN]It'sgonnaberight
onbeat,okay?
Three,two,one,jump!
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[GPSVOICE]Turnlefttostay
atCampFloridaRoad,
thenyourdestination
willbeontheright.
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[KIDSCHEERING]
[BILL]It'sreallyemotional
formebecause
I'mgonnahavethismoment
oflikeseeingkids
livingtheirlifeatthatage
in the way that I lived my life
at that age, which is really...
tough,youknow.
I'malreadygonnacry
justthinkingaboutit.
It's something that's really a
hard time in my life, you know.
[LIGHTACOUSTICGUITARMUSIC]
[RANDY]WhenBillwasborn,
RandaandIwere bothactivists.
Ihadcomeofagebasically
onthedoorstep
oftheCivilRightsMovement
inNashville.
AndIwasin thepeacemovement,
a whole variety and spectrum of
organizations, in the Women's Movement.
[BILL]Myparentswerelike
allabouthumanitarianism,
andlikehelping
thesteelworkers,
andhelpingtheunemployed,
andending,youknow,Apartheid.
[BEN] I grew up with the smell
of permanent markers on banners,
goingdoortodoor,
deliveringleaflets.
Thebigpicturewaswecan
dobetterashumanbeings.
Andwecan... wecantreat
eachotherbetter
andwecanhaveabetterworld.
[RANDA]Asatoddler,Bill,
helovedspeed.
He loved things like Big
Wheels going down steep hills,
andclimbingtreesand
jumpingoutofthem.
[BRIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
Sometimesafterhehadbeen
runningaroundalot,
hewouldlimp.
SoItookhimtoadoctor
andhecamein
andtoldmehehas
Legg-PerthesDisease.
AndIsaidI'venever
heardofthat.
I'manurse,youknow,
butIneverheardofit.
It'sadevelopingdeformation
oftheheadofthefemur,
whichisnormally
likearounded,
verysmooth,cartilage-covered
ballthatfitsintoasocket
verysmoothlyandrotates.
Andinhiscase,
theheadofthefemur
hadnocirculationandit
becomesnecrotic,basically,
sortofrotten,
andbecomesmisshapen.
AllthedoctorsinPittsburgh
wantedtooperate.
[RANDA]Wetalkedabout
subjectingafour-year-old
tomultiplesurgeries.
I'mananesthetist,Iwork
inamajormedicalcenter
andIknowwhat
theaftermathcanbe
ifyoudon'thave agoodresult,
majorpain,
majorriskofinfection.
There'sthedangerof
anykindofmishap,
abloodclot,youknow,
thingshappentopeople
allthetimeinsurgery.
It'skindascary,youknow?
Andthat'swhenIstarted
researchingmetallurgy
oftheseimplants.
Andallthesethingsthey've
beenputtinginpeople'ships,
youknow,deteriorateand
theimplantkillsthebone.
Iwaslikethis... thisisnot
goingtohappen,
youknow,notfor
anactivekid,t'snot.
Rantalkedto somanydoctors
untilshefinallyfound
adoctorthatsaid,youknow,
there'sanalternative,
whichisthebrace.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[RANDA]Itfeltreallysad
nottoseehim,youknow,
crashingdownthealley
onhisBigWheel
anddoingthings
likethatanymore
'causeithadbeensuch
asenseofjoyforhim.
Theywerelikethis... thiskind
ofacageinaway,youknow
Itwaslike,literallylike
livinginacage.
[RANDA]Iwenttoputhim
inelementaryschool
andtheysaidoh,he'llbe
inaspecialeducationclass.
Ihadtogoto
theschoolboardtoinsist
thatBillbein
amainstreamclassroom.
[RANDY]Billhadtolearn
todealwiththeworld
asitwastreatinghim
becausehewasafreak
intheeyesofalotofkids.
[BEN] There was a kid who called
him "four-legged chicken" a bunch,
andsoIchasedhimdown,
andwrestledhimand
heldhim'tilBillgotthere.
[BILL]WithPerthes,youknow,
becauseyouhave
thatsortofdexterityofyour
legsandtheykindofwork,
andtheylookokay.
It'slikesomehowharder
forpeopletodealwith.
Even with my disability, you
know, kids calling me faker
in... in the playground, you know,
when I'm wearing a chunk of steel,
andcrutches andrunningaround,
andthey'relikestill
thinkI'mfaking.
It'salienatingwhen
youhaveadisability
thatnooneelseunderstands,
andthatnooneelse
hastosolveproblemsfor.
Billwasaprovocateurwhen
hewasamonthold,youknow.
Hewasaneverapersonwhowas
gonnajustridealong.
So he would sneak around
without the brace and the crutches.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
Inmymedicalexpertise
asathirdgrader,
Ithought[CHUCKLES]
thebraceshouldcomeoff.
[BILL] I began to play and to try
and participate as much as I could,
eventhough
Iwasdefinitelylimited,
like,youknow,
kingofthehill,Imean,
everytimeIwouldclimb
upthathill,man,
I'dgetpushedthefuckback
downandIhatedit.
Iwouldgetsomad,Iwouldcry.
[RANDA]ImeanIwouldget
callsfromtheneighbors,
they would say, "Your
little boy is jumping off walls
withhiscrutches,youknow.
Andhe'sclimbingatree."
[EARL]Thethingiswhen
you'reakidwithPerthes,
likeyoucanalwaysbe
offcrutches,
likeyoucanalwaysstandup
andwalkaroundifyouwant.
Youcanevenrun ifyouwant
andthat'skindoffrustrating
asakid,like,
IknowIcandothesethings,
butyou'regonnapaytheprice
'causeyou'regonnafeelpain
later,extremepain.
Duringyourteenageyears,
yourbonesharden
andatthatpoint,
intermsofPerthes,
whateverdamagehasbeendone
toyourhipisdone.
Butifyoudon'tfeel anypain,
youdon'tneedto usecrutches.
[BEN]Iremembercoming
homefromschool
andhewasstanding
nexttothecouch,
and he was like "No crutches!"
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]Irememberwalking
outofthehospital
sortoffeelingweird,
likelighter.
Ireallyfeltverystrange
withmyarms
withoutwalkingwithcrutches.
[EARL]Whenyougrowup
alwaysbeing,youknow,
thatkidonthecrutches
orthatkidwith
something'swrongwithhim,
whenyou getthatmoment
where you're just a regular
kid, it's like thank you, like,
Ijustwanna justdoeverything,
likeittrulyisanexplosion.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL] It took me a good year
to really get back into walking.
Andthentherewasbreakdancing
righttherewaitingforme.
Whenstraightfromlikelearning
howtowalkto,uh,
learninghowtomoonwalk.
[LAUGHING]
[RANDA]Iremembertheyhad
atalentshow.
He'safreshman inhighschool.
Billwouldgetoutthere
andhewaspopping
andmoonwalking,
andallofthegirls
intheaudiencewent,
"Ahhhhhh!"
[BEN]Itwasmagical,the...
themovementwasmagical.
Andmybrotherwaslitup.
[BOY] It's a beautiful day
to go skating
Won't you shred,
won't you rip
Won't you skate
your balls off
[UPBEATROCKMUSIC]
[RANDA]Theystillweredoing
breakdancing
andthentheywentinto
theskateboardingthing.
[BILL]Andwejust
attackedthestreets.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
Marijuana!
[BILL]Oh,shit.
Itchangedmylifeinoneday.
Cheap beer!
Iknewitwaslike
nogoingback.
- Women!
- [BOYLAUGHING] -[BOY2]Bill!
- [BOY3]Bill!
- [BOY4]Bill!
- LookwhatIdidtomyboard.
- [BOY]Oh,no.
Thatwasjustwhenstreet
skatingwascomingabout,
likewallriding,
andrailsliding,
butitwasn'tlike
therailsyet.
Itwaslikemoreon
thelongcurbs
thatwouldbeoutside
thegasstations
andwe'djustslide
thewholecurb.
Marijuana!
[CHUCK]Billwasthekindof
skateboarderwho,youknow,
lookedlikehewould
probablysprainanankle
orbreakanankle doingatrick,
andjustfigureitwasthecost
oflearningtodothattrick.
Youngpeoplearetryingto
fighttheestablishment
ofanordinancethatwould
prohibitskateboards
inPittsburgh's
businessdistricts.
Theseskaterssaytheirboard
istheirtransportation.
BecauseIworkinOaklandand,
youknow,Ilivehere
inPointBreeze,
soIhavetoskatethrough
Oaklandjusttogettowork.
Andiftheybanthat,
thenI'don'twannagetafine
goingtowork.
Youshouldgetthefootageof
Billgettingarrested.
Hegotarrestedfor
skateboarding.
- [ALLSHOUTING]
- [ROCKMUSIC]
[SCREAMING]
- Get off my fucking hair!
- [COP] Put your hands behind your back.
- [BOY]Whyareyoudoingthis?
- Justgetoffmywrist,man.
Whatthefuck?
[GRUNTING]Fuck!
Whatthefuckisthis,man?
I'mjustaskateboarder.
I'mjustaskateboarder.
I'mskatingdownthestreet.
[INDISTINCTSHOUTING]
[DASEZ]Andthecops
threwhiminjail.
Anditwasallinthenews.
Andhewenttojailsaying,
"Skateboarding
isnotacrime!"
[BEN]
Skateboardingisnotacrime!
"Skateboardingisnot..."
Thatwasliketheslogan.
Andbutactually,
technicallyitwas.
[UPBEATMUSIC]
Ifollowedthemtojail,
thentheycameoutand
wecheeredliketheywere
politicalprisoners
beingreleased.
- [BEN]Whathappened,Bill?
- [BILL]Idon'tknow.
- [CAMERASHUTTERCLICKING]
- [BEN]Afterthat
theyhadhispicture
inSassyMagazine.
[BRIAN]Hebecameabig
rockstartoallthegirls,
Like,"Man,Bill,
youlookcute."
[LAUGHING]
[WAVESCRASHING]
[LIGHTGUITARMUSIC]
[RANDA]Bill'ssituationwith
hisillness,youknow,
thathadbeensuchafocus
forourfamily
thatwhenthatwasgone,
thenRandyandIhadto
lookatourrelationship.
That'sthewaylifegoes,
perfectstormseveryonce
inawhilewhereeverything
justgoesto... fragments.
[BOY]Oh,wow,look.[LAUGHS]
It'stotallydestroyed.
[RANDA]IthinkBillfelt
responsible
formeandRandy
gettingdivorced.
[LAUGHING]
[BILL]Meandmybrother,
like,wewereverydependent
oneachotherandwewere
splitduringthedivorce.
Mybrotherwentto
livewithmymom,
butIstillhadto
livewithmydad.
Andthatwasreallytough.
[RANDA]RandyandBillhad
adynamicthatwasreally...
theyhadhorriblefights.
Mybrotherreallystarted
togetthebrunt
ofmydad'shardass
reactionstobeingdefied.
Billoftensawhisart
asaswordandashield.
[RANDA]ForBill,hisarthas
beenverycathartic
andhasbeenshapedby
whateverhappened
tobehappeningwithhim
atthatparticularperiod
inhislife,
andhisreactionstoit.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Supportthetroops.
Bringthemhome.
IcallthePentagon'swar.
Thisismybody.
Mybody.
ArtwasjusttheplaceIwent,
theplaceIwent
whenIwantedtobe
onalevelplayinggroundwith
theotherkidsinclass,
theplaceIwenttogetaway
frommyfamilyissues.
[VOCALIZING]
[RANDA]Everybodyhasthat
experienceofsuffering.
[ELECTRONICVOICE]
Three-leggedchicken.
Three-leggedchicken.
Three-leggedchicken.
[RANDA] But I think sharing the
experience and understanding it
asotherpeopleexperienceit
isanotherstep intheprocess.
[ELECTRONICVOICE]
Three-leggedchicken.
[BEN]Hey,wereyousleeping?
Nosleeping,nosleepingtoday,
bud!
- [BILL] Uh-uh.
- [BEN] It's National Un-Holiday.
Wake up
[ROCKMUSIC]
[BILL]Irememberthere's
onescenethat,youknow,
everybodygoesand
doesanaciddrop.
Anaciddropislike anoldmove
where you just like ride off a
drop and you just drop down.
I was just scared of it, like, I
didn't have flexibility in my right leg.
EverytimeIwouldfallor
mybacklegwouldget...
would get pulled out, it was
like horrible, excruciating pain.
[BEN]Whenwewereskating,
wewouldjustgo,go,go.
Andhecouldn'tkeepup.
Andsoitwouldbe
aquestionofokay,
dowestopskatingordowe
leavemybrotherbehind?
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [BEN]
Are you all right, man? Are you okay?
- [BILL]Yeah,I'mfine.
- [BEN]You'llbeallright?
[BILL]Yeah,I'llbefine.
[DRAMATICGUITARMUSIC]
[BILL]Iknewthatmytime
like,withoutanyproblems
withmyhipswas... already,
man,thosedayswerenumbered,
justamatteroftime.
IknewthatwhenIwas16and
Iwasskateboarding,
likethisshit isn'tgonnalast.
There'snofuckingway.
IbetterenjoyitwhileIcan.
And then it happened and I
started having really, really bad pain.
And there would be times when he
would just be like in tears from the pain.
AndI'dfeellikeIwasseeing
thepainchangehim
inhispersonality.
[RANDA]Itwasreally,really,
reallyheartbreaking
totellhimthathehad
togobackoncrutches.
AndforBill,
abottomlesspitofsorrow.
Hecried.
Weallcried.
[DRAMATICMUSIC]
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[MAN]Allright,20.
[BILLCHUCKLES]Go20.
Anotherthingyoudois
whenyougodowntothefloor
andcomebackup,
soyouhavedifferentrangesof,
levelsofyourmovement.
Youknow,you'restanding
heredoingthis.
Youopenup,youstartto
stepitaround,
two,one,two,spin.
Likethat,get,keepgoing
withyourfeeling,
whateveryourflowis,butthen
go,trytogototheground.
Gotothegroundanddoit
again,andcomebackup.
Justdoanotherturn.
Yeah,soyougolowerdown.
Yeah,beau... good,
thencomebackup.
Good.
Comehere,givemefive,man.
Yougotskills.
- [GRUNTS]
- [LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
Here you go, like that. Pop
your chest out and roll it around.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[BILL]Andkeep'emmoving.
Keepyourneckalive.
Good,yeah.
[BOY]Ihaveaquestionthat
Idon'tthinkcameup.
- [BILL]What'sthat?
- Whathipdoyouhaveiton?
[BILL] I have it bilaterally. My
right ended up worse than my left.
- Yeah.
- Don'ttouchme.
[BILL]Soitstartedinmyright
andwenttomyleft,
sowhenIstartedcompensating
formyleftwithmyright,
myrightwasn'tfullyhealed,
soIdamagedmyright
morethanmyleft.
Yeah.
[WOMAN]I'mgonnatakeyou
foryourx-rays,okay?
[BILL]Okay.
[WOMAN]Andyou'reheretoday
foryourhips,right?
- Yeah.
- Okay, you're gonna be lying down on the table on your back.
Ooh,it'scoldinhere.
DotheyhavetoA/Citsomuch?
- [WOMAN] Yeah, for the film.
- For the film it has to be cold, too?
That'swhyit'ssocold
intheserooms.
[TENSEELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL] You know, I've been
wondering why the hell this room
wassocoldmyentirelife.
[TENSEMUSIC]
CominginherewhenIwas
fiveyearsold
and just being cold, like all of a
sudden it would just be freezing.
Ijustthought,
"Whyisitso[MUMBLES]cold?"
- [STATICCRACKLES]
- [DISTORTEDLAUGHTER]
[BILL]Likethismachine
in1978...
[IMITATINGWHIRRING]
Itjustwaslikeamonster,
youknow?
Backthenitwaslike
theholeinthewindow
waslikealittle
thinlittleslat
theywouldlookthrough
likeitwasagunhole.
Andtheywouldspeakon
amicrophone.
[IMITATINGSTATIC]"Okaynow,
we'regonnatakethepicture."
Youknow,PerthesDisease,
thebigquestionis
should... should he or
shouldn't he have an operation?
[DOCTOR]
Sothere'syourrighthip.
Normally,thatshouldbe
aspherewithinasphere,
aballinaball,youknow,
andthatisamushroom.
[EARL]Itgetsveryconfusing
intreatingPerthesDisease
becausethere'ssomany
differentoptions
onjustattemptingtotreatit
andthere'snosolidmethodof
howtodothings.
And there's still no cure, and no one
knows what's right and what's wrong.
See,it'snotalwaysadirect...
[SUSAN]We'veinherited
amedicalmodelofdisability
thatassumesthatwhen
thereisabody
thatdoesn'tfit
astereotypicalabledbody,
thatitissomething
sadortragic,
andsomethingthat
needstobecured.
Andsowhenyouseethat
inBillShannon'slife,
whenpeoplesaywell,
ifyouhavethishipproblem,
whydon'tyoujustget
hipreplacements?
[DOCTOR]
Andyou'redoingprettywell,
uh,butit'sgonnagosomeday
andyou'regonnaneed
atotalhipreplacement
whenthathitssomeday.
[BILL]ThepainthatIhaveis
a... isaconstantadjustment.
It'slikealwaysadjustingfor
differentgradationsofit.
[EARL]PerthesDiseasecauses
quiteabitofdamage.
Thatdeadbone,youknow,
itstartstoflattenout,
andcausesalotofpainand
frictioninthathiparea,
andsoitcauseskidstolimp,
oryouhavepainafter
walkingforawhile
oranyphysicalactivity.
Itellmyparents thatsometimes
itwaslikesomethingwas
stabbingmyleg
'causeitgotsopainful
thatIfeltlikesomebodywas
cuttingmylegoff.
Thepain,it'sreallybad.
It's like you, kinda feel this grinding
every time you, um, take a step.
In the spring, I started having
just a teeny, tiny bit of pain.
Andinthesummer,
Istartedlimpingalot.
'Causeyouneverknowlike,
wheneveryouwanttodo
somethingfun,youcan't,
ifyoubarelywalk,
youreallywannadoit.
Somebody will have to take you or you will
have to go in your wheelchair and do it,
andthatsucks.
[NURSE]
Doyouhaveanythighpain?
Yeah,itradiates
downtomyknee.
[BILL] That's... that's part of it
that people don't understand,
likeyeah,okay,myhiphurts,
but does it hurt enough for me
to go get surgery to replace it?
Andthenhowlongdoes
thatsurgerylastfor?
[EERIEMUSIC]
Youcan,youknow,
getahipreplacement
andin10years
you'regettinganotherone.
Andinanother10years
you'regettinganotherone.
Andaftersomanyofthem,
youcan'tgetanotherone.
That'sit,youknow,
youreachtheendoftheline.
Nowyouhavetofuseyourhip,
whichisbasically
putitinoneposition
andfreezeit.
Andjust,like,I'mnotinto
thatoptionatall.
Iwannabe,youknow,
responsibleformyownfate.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL] And so I tried to use
canes and they were just useless,
Imean,because,whenmyhip
reallywashurting,
theykinda
didn'treallydoenough.
AndthenwhenIwastrying
tobepreventative
andkindofnotusethemfully
butusethemsome,
theykindofwere
intheway'causeyou...
youcan'treallyhaveyour
handsfreewhenusingcanes,
soIstartedusing
asinglepointcrutch.
[MAN] And then he started
developing better tips for them,
thenonedayIsaw
therockerbottom.
[JEFF]Thosecrutcheswere
likenoothercrutches
thatyousee,really.
Andtheywere
legitimatecrutches,
buttheywerejustU-shaped.
[LIGHTDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]Withtherockerbottom
youhadtherange.
You know, you reach forward and
you have that range around the curve,
soyougetalonger,
smootherpush.
Thatreallymadeadifference
withskateboarding.
Adoctor,youknow,with
noexperienceskateboarding
would probably just look at that and
go, "This motherfucker is so stupid,"
notrealizingthat
withahiplikethat,
youtakeonepushonaboard
andyoujustroll
forlikehalfablock,soyou're
actuallysavingyourhip.
[SUSAN] When we see Bill
Shannon using a skateboard
asamobilityaidweforget
thatthemobilityaids
thatwe'remorefamiliarwith,
likewheelchairs,
cameoutofsomebody
solvingaproblem.
[BILL]
It'sjustcreativenecessity.
Iwaslookingatmychildhood
and how I was in certain
situations with my peers where
youhadtocomeupwith
asolutionnow.
That'screativenecessity.
It'slikethenecessary,
instantreactiongut.
Youknow,andthat'sa...
that'splaygroundmentality.
That'slikeonthestreetand
youhavetocomeup
withasolutioninthemoment.
[UPBEATELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BEN]Hewouldusethem
tohittheball,
soitwaslike
anextraappendage.
Hecouldreallygain
alotofground
justbyswinging
whenweweresprinting,
andIthinkthatmight
evenhavebeen
wheretheglidekindacamefrom.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[PEOPLECHATTERING]
With the camera lens
Spittin' the freestyle
with my friends
Yeah, I'm makin'
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Theyrolluplike
constructionpaperhere.
[BOTHCHEERING]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[CYCLONE]Mycrew,
theStepFenz,herewecome,
15differentclubsanight
inNewYorkCity
for dancers, just underground
shit, after hours in Chinatown,
butitwaslikejustdance,
dancefuel,
andwewouldgodanceall
fuckingnight.
Therewerenoestablished
competitionstogoto.
Therewerethesecirclesand
peoplewouldbattle.
[WILDCHILD]Theirstylewas
clashingwithstyles,
egos clashing with egos, you know,
going at each other through dance,
youknow,asanexpression.
[CYCLONE] Anybody that we didn't know,
like we were gonna throw some rounds.
Inthat,therewas
aconversation,youknow,
butwhatifpartof
theconversation
waslikebackthefuckup,
youknow.
Nosympathyinacypher.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Crutchknewwheretogo.
Wherethemusicwas,
Crutchwouldshowup
justlikewewould.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]IcametoNewYork
andIhadalittleofthis
andalittleofthat,
youknow,butIdidn't
haveanyfootworkforreal.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Hewasstillworkingon
themovementsideofit.
Youknow,hewasn'tasfar
alongbyanystretch.
Hewasdoingawholelotof
fallingbeforehewasflying.
[RAPHAEL]Thewayhe'sableto
navigatehimselfaround
onthemcrutches,thatshit
don'ttakeovernight,man.
[BILL]
Istartedgoingouttoclubs
andotherpeoplewere
dancingatthecub.
AndIjustnaturallyjust
starteddoinglittlemoves,
likefuckit.
Youknow,andthenIstarted
goingtohiphopspots
andlikedoingwhatever
thefuckIcoulddo,
whatIcanpulloff
withmycrutches.
[CYCLONE]Wewoulddance.
Hewouldcomein.
Hewoulddoamoveandif
hedidn'tbusthisass,
I'dbelike"Yo,
thatshitwasdope."
And if he did, he always
got up and tried it again.
Butthere'snoway
Crutchgotapass.
There'snowayit...
itwaseasierforhim
to get recognition or props
just because he was on crutches.
[CROWDOOH-ING]
Style,style!
Oh,Ididn't... Ididn't...
see,Ididn'tknowthat.
[BILL]Butwhenyoufirst
introducesomethingdifferent,
everybody's isn't gonna just
immediately start hugging you,
likewow,that'sgreat.
They'regonnalookatyoulike,
"Whatthefuckareyoudoing?"
Youknow."Gohome.
Don'tcomeinherewith
thatbullshit."
[FUNKYDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]UntilIgotgood
enough,untilIgotbetter...
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Servin' a rhyme,
workin' on time, yes sir
- One of a kind
- Free-Form fetish
Medicine for
your headaches
We bomb fellas,
better sin for the medics
[CROWDCHEERING]
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Whenhe'sinit,woo-hoo.
Let it go 'cause he's like ah, yeah, bring
it, 'cause you think I don't got it? Ah.
Ripped them off and wax shit
gets to solve this
Gift revolves around
Earth space station
that'll rock you, pa
Have you runnin' for
your ground
A little baklava
Let me talk to ya'll
about some off the wall
Rapper wannabe in
front of me
That got the balls
to not know
Youknow,howhewouldslide
that,beforehebroughtitup
andhelditupforasecond,
like...
I'veseenShaolinmonks
withthesticks
andIgottatellyou,they...
it's the same span of time he's
on that stick and he's turning
and putting moves in concession
to make into a combo to a beat.
One of a kind
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
One of a kind
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Servin' rhymes and workin'
on time, yes sir
ThisisCrutchmaster,man,
youknowwhatImean?
[CROWDCHEERING]
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
IthoughtI'dseenitall
untilIseenUFOs,
turtlesand
bodyrollsoncrutches.
Thatshitrightthereisreal.
[FROSTY FREEZE] I like his style
and I like the way he's aggressive.
Ilikehowhegoesoutthereand
hitshisfreezesonpoint.
[CROWDCHEERING]
Ify'allain'tseen
thiscatgetdown,
y'allain'tseennothing.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Youknow,alotof
peoplelikeobsessabout,
"Oh,I'mtooskinny,
I'mtoofat,"allthatstuff
aboutnothaving
therightbodytypetodance
isallbullshit.
Dancing,it'sinyourhead.
Nomatterhowhealthyyouare,
yourbodyislimited.
Onceyougetthat
throughyourhead
that your body is limited, that dancing
is in your mind and not in your body,
thenyou'reprettymuch
freeasadancer.
Soifyou'redriventodance,
ifyoursoulisofadancer,
andyouhaveabadleg
andyou'reoncrutches,
you'regonnadance
nomatterwhat.
- [STATICCRACKLES]
- [UPBEATPIANOMUSIC]
It's 6:42 right now and chances are you're
never seen anything like this before.
Theshowiscalled
TheArtofWeightlessness.
It'ssponsoredby
TheDanceUmbrella,
andBillShannondefiesgravity
withthehelpofhiscrutches
inauniquedanceperformance.
Bill,thanksforcoming.
Thanksforbeingheresoearly.
I'dneverseen
anythinglikethis.
Iwaslookingat
thevideotapeyesterday
and I was amazed because when you
start dancing around on these crutches,
itisjustlike
youhavenoweight.
It'slikeyou'relightas
afeathermovingabout.
Andit'ssortofafunky
danceroutine,too.
Iheardonecriticsaythat
yourhipisbad,
butyourhopisspectacular.
Yeah,that'sa... yeah,
that'salittle...
thatwasalittlecute
littletitle,yeah.
- [UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
- [CROWDCHEERING]
[WILDCHILD]Billhadanidea
ofputtingacouple
ofhisoldpiecestogetherand
createanhour-longpiece.
- The Art of Weightlessness, man.
- [CHUCKLES]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]Billwason
anotherlevelatthetime.
Therewereonlytwo
pioneeringcompanies
that was doing hip hop dance on the
concert stage and he was one of 'em.
[CYCLONE]
Iwascompletelyignorant
atthatpointtolikewhat
performanceartwas.
Youknow,ifyouthought
theater,Ithoughthe-at-er.
AndsoIdidn'tthinkabout
theaterasbeingaplace
thatwecouldlikeillustrate
anythinghiphop.
Howcanyoubringsomething
thatexistsinacircle
inaclubintothesquare,
intotheproscenium.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
Crutch'swholelike
approachwasn'tjust
thathewasbringinggenuine
hiphopintoit,
buthewasalsobringingin
likethisabstractart
intothespace atthesametime.
[RICHIE]Billhadaraincoat,
youknow,hecameout.
Ihadthisrainsoundeffects,
youknow,on.
[LAUGHING]It'strippy,man.
Imeantheshowisjustlike
trippy,I'mtellingyou.
I'msittingthere
duringtheshow
andIwastripping
lookingatit,
likedon'tforgetyourcues,
youknowwhatImean?
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]Thepolitics,
thecurrentstateofaffairs,
hisbackground, allthatstuff
isputintoeverythingthat
BillShannondoes.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[FUNKYDANCEMUSIC]
Take it easy
Don't worry 'bout it
I got this, I got this
Let me work it,
let me work it out
Take it easy
Take it easy
Take it easy
Don't let me bother you
I got this, I got this
Let me work it out,
let me work it out
Take it easy
Itjustgottobelike
onethingafteranother.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[MAN]Hiphopisoutofall
things,it'sveryimportant
tomaintain yourindividuality.
MynameisJeffGrosso
andI'myourhost.
ThisisfuckingLoveLetters.
Welcomeback.
[BILL]TheGuggenheim,
ImetCrazyLegs,
I'mgoingtoKuwait,
I'mgoingtoJapan.
Whooo!
[CYCLONE]WewenttoFrance.
[MAN]Lookatthisshit.
- [CYCLONE]England.
- [MANHUMMING]
[WILDCHILDANDCYCLONE]
Scotland.
Freedom!
Only ya'll know
what happened
With some passion
Rappers battlin'
all rappers
Carryin' all backwards
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BILL]Thereweresome
goodreviews
and people really liked the
work and, you know, all this stuff,
butatthesametime,
thedanceworld,
theywerelookingatitlike
aw,isn'tthatcute,
youknow,hedoesthebreakdance
onthecrutches.
[MAN]
I'veseenCrutchgetangry.
Theykeepaskinghimabout
hiscrutchesand,youknow,
notaboutthe... theartwork,
themusic,orthedancers.
Itwasalotabout
hisdisability,youknow.
It'skindoffuckedup.
[BILL]Nomatterhowhigh
yougoonskillsoncrutches,
there'sstillthebaggage
ofacrutch representingfailure
thatcantrump
yourachievements.
- Ready?
- [MAN]Yeah.
Uh,sotonight,
we'regonnasee,um,
the two pieces that
I choreographed for Varekai,
CirqueDuSoleil's Varekaishow.
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [LIGHTORCHESTRALMUSIC]
[WILDCHILD]Justknowing
thatBillhadanything
todowithCirqueDuSoleil
wasjustahugehonor
thatoneofusmadeit,
oneofusdidit.
[GRANDORCHESTRALMUSIC]
Sowewerereallyproud,
butIdon'tthinkitwaslike
anythingthatreally
shockedussohard.
It was like, it was almost
like, "Oh, of course."
You'resupposedto
bedoingthat.
[BILL]Thecontactedmeafter
theysawmyglide
andtheywantedmeto
actuallybeaperformer
intheshow,likea...
amaincharacter,basically.
But then I found out like what
their artists have to go through.
[RAPHAEL]Iwatched
thesedudesonenight
andthisguywas
bustinghisass.
[BILL]Iwasworriedaboutit
damagingmyhips
ordamagingthenerves
inmyarmsfromdoing
thatmucheveryday,
sameexactthing.
Thatjustdoeswearandtear.
But I said I'll train somebody to
do what I do and become a part
ofthecreativeteam
anddochoreography.
[BILL]Yeah,yeah,
hellyeah,bro.
Nice.
[WILDCHILD] He had to teach these
gentlemen how to dance on crutches.
VladimirIgnatenkov,three-time
worldchampiontumbler.
Doaflair.
Flairyourlegsout,both.Yeah.
[WILDCHILD]Andalsohehadto
trainseveralaerialists.
[BILL]
Keepgoing,keepyourflowon.
Ihadtheseguysthreading
andtick-tocking
and all these different flavors
of like [INDISTINCT] styles.
Then they had their own
acrobatic moves on top of that,
soitjustlookedreally,
reallysick.
Whooo,beautiful.
[CAMERASHUTTERCLICKING]
[BILL]Thedirector
wantedtoputlike
anupsidedownwheelchair
actintheshow,
wherethere'slikeclowns
inawheelchair
thatflipsupsidedown
andtheclownsfallout.
And I was like, "You're not
fucking putting that in the show,"
likeIfeltinsultedliterally
becausehewastrying
tomakeintolike
adisabilitytheme
wheremyworkwasgonnabe
apartofthespectrum
ofrepresentation ofdisability.
AndIwasvery
uncomfortablewiththat.
Ididn'twanttobeapartof
thedisabledCirqueshow.
Iwantedto... mycharactertobe
theonethatflies.
- [LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTORCHESTRALMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]
Whenyouwanttoteachpeople,
theyhavetounderstand
whatitisyou'redoing,
andthecommunication
hastobethesame.
Otherwiseeverythinggets
lostintranslation.
Sowhenyoudevelop atechnique,
youbegintocodify
alanguagefor...
foraparticularvocabulary.
Younameit,youcallit
whatitis,andBillShannon
isdoingthatwith
theShannonTechnique.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[CLAIRE] By him creating a
specific vocabulary and naming it,
itcreatesanawareness
thatthosemovements
have been absolutely
articulated, like it's a real choice
ofhisbodytogoto
averyspecificplace
andhecanhititeverytime.
Iwasinthestudiowithhim.
Wehadsixweeks
ofonetoonementoring,
andIexpectedtobeableto
dothingslikethat.
And he just cracked up, he's like
you've been trying this for 15 minutes.
I'vebeendoingthat
for15years.
Yes,itwasdance,
itwasmovement,
butitwasthisthing
thatabsolutely
explodedthepreconceptions
thatIevenhad
ofwhatdancewas.
Thosearetherespected
artforms
or genres in dance, are
the ones that have technique.
Whenitputsitselfin
thatframe
andsays,
thatitdeservesrespect,
anditislearnedand
itrequiresdiscipline,
butit'salso... feelsalittle
bitlikealittlefuckyou
tothatsystematthesametime.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [BRIGHTMUSIC]
[MAN]Woo!Yeah,yeah.
[CROWDCHEERING]
Yeah,letmehearit,NewYork.
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- Raisetheroofup!
Raisetheroofup,comeon,
let'sgo!
All right, all right, let's get
this started on the right note.
- [MAN] Yeah.
- [WILDCHILD] Sketchy, Sketchy, Sketchy.
Hedefinitelysteppeditup
aftercomingfromCirque.
[MAN]
One,two,two,two.
[CYCLONE] It was a sketchy
attempt at bringing hip hop to theater.
[MAN]Oooh,nice,D.
[CYCLONE] It wasn't necessarily
that the moves were sketchy,
buthavinghiphop
intheateratthatpoint
wasasketchyideatopeople,
soitwaslikealittlebitof
sarcasmbehindit
which... ifyouknowCrutch.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
He finally had a little bit of money
behind it and so we were able
togivealittlebitmore
tolikecostumes.
Hewasincorporating
somanythings
thataren'teventypical
inhiphop,youknow,
likeslowmotioncapture.
Hypehimup,right?
Wewanttoseeitagain,right?
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- Comeon,areyouwithme?
[CYCLONE]
Sketchyattempts,tryingmoves
thatyoudon'tnecessarily
knowthatyoucanland.
You'renevergonnaseethat
inacontemporaryshow.
[CROWD]One,two,three,four,
five,six,seven,
- eight,nine,whoaaa!
- [CROWDCHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Youcouldfeel
people,liketheenergy,
likeooohplease,youknow,
like,youcanmakeit.
[CROWDCHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Thecrowds
absolutelylovedit.
[BILL]
Handhops,elbowhops,whoa.
[CYCLONE] There's so many
people in New York that came out
toseeusthatwegrewup
intheclubswith.
And I think it was their first
take at ever seeing us in theater.
Itwaslikewejustwon
acontestsomewhere,
likeabattle,
andlikeeverybody
wasjustsofuckingthrilled
tosee... seeithappen.
LikeI... Iwantedtoclap,
butI'mlikeyeah,wedidit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[MAN]"...weretoaddanother
charactertohisrepertoire."
- Didyoureadthat?
- [WOMAN]Yeah.
[MAN]OhmyGod,
shestartedoutwiththeax.
- [TENSEMUSIC]
- [INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
- What are you gonna do?
- [MAN] "real person with pretenses of being..."
- OhmyGod.
- [BOY]Pretensesofbeingwhat?
- [MAN]Acontemptualartist.
- [BILL]Conceptual.
[MAN]Conceptual,I'msorry.
- [BOY]That'snotverynice.
- [MAN]I'mupsidedown.
[BILL]Well,youeitherare
oryouaren't.
- [BOY] Right?
- [BILL] You can't have a pre...
- [BOYSPEAKINGINDISTINCTLY]
- [BILL]Youdon'thavea...
youdon'thaveapretense
aboutit.
Youeitherareoryou'renot,
youknow,
sowhatshe'ssayingisI'mnot,
but...[GROANS]
It'sjustlike,Idon'tknow,
IwanttosendCrazyLegs
toreviewaballetshow.
- Okay?
- [LAUGHING]
That's what I want to do. And
he'll write for The New York Times.
[WILDCHILD]They'reusedto
seeingonethingoneway,
like theater to them is supposed
to be the old fashioned way
orwhattheyseeas...
ashiphop,
that'stheway
it'ssupposedtobe.
[BILL] Any dance critic that comes
to my work does not know what I did.
Like, balletiswell-documented.
Moderndance iswell-documented.
LikeI'moutherepushing
theboundaries
ofaformI'veinventedin
waysthatarecompletely
likeinvisibletosomeone
who'sjustlookingatme.
Uhhh,it'safeelingofbeing
profoundlymisunderstood.
[LAUGHING]
[DRAMATICMUSIC]
- [CRUTCHESTAPPING]
- [NDISTINTCHATTERING]
[BILL]Whichis,thisishow
youlearnyourbalance.
[ALLCHATTERING]
That'showyou... bendyour
knees,keeplow,point,
belike,I'mgoing!
[ALLCHATTERING]
Whoa.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[KIDSCHEERING]
[EARLLAUGHING]
Comeon,buddy.
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[BILL]WhileIwashere,
likeIwasretouching
some part of my childhood and
revisiting that part of my life, and...
Idon'tknow,
mydadduringthetime
thatIhadmydisability
was going through a lot of emotional
healing from his own childhood.
AndsoIthinkalot
ofthebrunt
ofthatwastakenoutonme.
Iwastheoldest.
Andthat'sreallyhard
becauseIhavetothink
likemyownrelationshipmy...
tomyownkidsissodifferent.
LikeInever... Ineverraised
ahandonykids.
Andmydaddidn'tknow
anydifferent,youknow.
So...
Idon'tknow,it'sjust
hardtoimagine.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Billtoldmehehad
metsomebody.
Hewasprettysmitten, youknow,
kindalikereallykidin
thecandystorekindofsmitten.
Billwas,youknow,hewascute.
Um,hewasverydifferent
fromme.
WemetinNewYorkand
helikestotellthestory
ofusbeingintheopposite
sidesofthetracks,
'causeIwasin
CarrollGardensinBrooklyn,
whichwas,youknow,
brownstones.
Andatthattime
hewasinRedHook,
whichwasdownanddirty.
[LAUGHING]
[MAN]Theywerebothlike
thesesalmon,
justswimmingupstream
ashardastheycould.
Imeanyoucouldjust,
youcouldjustreadit
likefromamileaway,
thisisit.
Mmmm,boogy,boogy,boo,yeah.
Uh-oh,isthelipcomingout?
Lookatthelip.
He'ssocute.
Wait,where'sthelip?
Thereitis.
Give'emthelip,
give'emthelip.
Ohhh.
[CYCLONE] After Sketchy,
everybody goes in their own path.
[LEAHLAUGHS]
Daddy.
Oh,watchout.
Watchout,yo.
[CYCLONE] Crutch did the last
thing you would expect from Crutch.
Youknow,he'slike,
"I'mmovingtoPittsburgh."
Likehe'sgrowinghisownfood
andvegetablesand...
hasacarthatrunsofflike
fuckingpotatoesorsomething.
That's... that'sCrutch,
youknow.
Buthegoesbackto
amorerefinedCrutch
intosolowork.
Backintohislikeorganic
interactionswithpeople
ortheirreactionstoBill,
youknow,doinghisthing,
goingthroughthestreet.
[BILL]
It'sfuckingraining,man.
Come on, we gotta get
started here! What's going on?
What'stakingsolong!
[BANJOMUSIC]
Hearyourself.
Oh!
[MAN] So I met Bill at School of the
Art Institute of Chicago in around 1993.
AndIactuallyrememberhim,
youkindacan'tnot
rememberthewayhelooked.
[BARKING]
I was like damn, this kid
wants attention like really bad.
[SHOUTING]
[BILL]Youknow,Ithinkbeing
apublicspectacle
asachild,goingto
demonstrationsinpublic
throughoutmywholechildhood,
andthenbeing
inthestreetskateboarding
andbreakdancing
itjustallfedintolike
I'mjustaperformingartist
inthestreet,
thisfeelsnaturaltome.
[BANJOMUSIC]
[AMBIENTMUSIC]
[MAN] In Chicago we shot on
some really nasty, bad cameras, man,
itwasallnoise.
Andjustlikehidden
cameraguyinthe...
inthecorner,whatever,
likeoff,
offsitewhereyoucan'tsee
himspyingoninnocentpeople.
Youknow,he'sgetting
tangleduponthestreet,
he'sgettingcaughtindoors,
youknow.
He'sjustfallingdownand
he'sgotcrutches.
Sothen,youknow,
somebody'llgotohelphim.
Andthenhe'lljustmakethem
failinhelpinghim,
whichiskindofasadplace
tobe,youknowwhatImean?
[BILL] Like once the reemergence
of my disability came back
inmy20s,
Iwaslikedealing
withthesameexpressions
inpeople'sfacesagain.
And it was like a really old
memory, it's like a very old memory
tohavepeopletreatme
thewaytheydid.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[ROSEMARIE]Oneofthemost
difficultthings
about the transition from the
status of non-disabled to disabled
isfiguringouthowto
managetheawkwardness
ofencountersbetweenthemselves
andnon-disabledpeople.
[BILL]Itwaslikeaturning
pointwhereIrealized
thatIhavethisrelationship
tothepublicdoingtricks
oncrutches,
andthatit'snotall
likelookhowcoolIam
oncrutches.
There'sallthis
otherstuffhappening.
AndthatIhadnoteven
beguntodealwithit.
Andthatwasthebeginning
ofthatjourney.
[STATICCRACKLING]
- [INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
- [TENSEMUSIC]
[BEN]It'sprovocative.
You'retakingadvantageof
people'sgoodnature.
Likethesearegoodpeople
thatcare.
ButIwasoftenin
thepositionofhelpinghim
whenheneededhelp,
soIknowwhatit'slike
to be the person who's reaching
down to help somebody up
whomayormaynotneedit.
SoIidentifywithbothsides.
[BILL]Whathappenedin
thatperformance
that'ssointerestingwasthat
myskateboardwasthere,
butthesidewalkhad
aslightinclinetoit,
andsotheskateboard
justrolledout
andwentintothestreet.
Acabcrossedthreelanesto
runovertheboardonpurpose.
Nowmindyou,Ihad
nomoneyatthattime.
Iwasonfullscholarshipat
theArtInstituteofChicago.
Ihadnorealjob.
Myfamilydoesn'thavemoney,
plusInolonger
hadawaytogetbackto
thetrainstation
andbacktomyhouse,
whichwasliketonsofdistance.
Imeanitwasalongassway.
Ihadtowalk
allthewaytothetrain.
And I was just miserable. And I
started crashing to the ground,
andpeoplewerecoming
andhelpingme.
Insteadofbeinglikeno,
I'mnotgonnaletyouhelpme,
Ijuststartedhuggingthem.
AndIwouldbehugginglike
threeorfourpeopleatonce,
andtheywouldallbe
liftingmeup.
They'dliftmeupand
standmeup,
andinsteadofrejectingthem
Iwasjustkindoflikeokay,
I'mjustacceptingthis.
Iwasjustreallyupset
aboutmysituation,
butalsojusteverything
thathashappened.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
Itwaslike
Iwasjustsurrendering.
IrealizedIdon'treally
wanttomesswithpeople.
Ijustwanttoexpressthese
feelingsandtheseideas.
You know, I imagine that people
might be a little upset by that.
Somepeopleare,like,how
couldyoudothattopeople,
likeisn'tthatmean?
Comeon,there'satleast
acouplepeopleinhere
thatthinkit'sreallymean.
Iwanttoknowwhotheyare.
Okay.[LAUGHING]
Thisguybehindyou,here.
Youthinkit'swhat?
Manipulative.
Ahh,okay.
Um,well,Ikindofwanttotalk
aboutthatalittlebit.
[AMBIENTMUSIC]
[BILL] You know, like
"Regarding the Fall" was a question
andsomeofthequestions
wereaskedinawrongway.
Andthattherearefailures
toitthathappened
inorderformetodig
furtherintoit,
Ihadtogodownpaths
thatweredeadend.
And out of that mistake came
the concept of a neutral palette,
whichisthatyounever
seemelikejustall,
alloutandoutfall.
[SUSAN] Bill realized that he was
in some ways being manipulative
ofpeoplebecausehewasputting
themintoacrisismoment,
so he decided that a better
way to continue to investigate,
becausehewasvery
interestedinhowpeople
wererespondingtohim,
wasnottopresenthimself
assomethingflashy
thatwouldveryobviously
drawattention.
[BILL] I mean this shit is
just beyond like, reasonable,
it'salmostlikesostrange,
numberone,forhimtodoit,
numbertwo,forme
toaccepthimdoingit.
Youknow,it'sjustuh,
I'msittingthere
goingohmyGod,
heactuallyfuckinggaveme
adrinkofwater.
AtthatpointIhad
surrenderedmyself
towhateverotherpeople
thoughtIneeded,
andthiswaslikeprobably
theheightofthat,
somebodyactuallyfeedingme.
Likethatisjust,thatreally
getstothecoreofhelp.
Youknow,youwillhavepeople
whowill,youknow,
try to feed you in your real
life and you'll be offended,
butinyourperformance
youembraceit
andyoutrytounderstandit.
It'slikeIamoutthere
interactingwithphenomena
thatextendthroughout
mywholelife.
Andthepeoplethatare
representingthosephenomena
areindividuals,
butIdon'tlookatthem
asgoodorbadpeoplebased
onhowtheyact.
Ilookatthem
asindividualsthat...
manifest... phenomena
thatoccurtomewhether
I'mperformingornot.
[SUSAN]Thephenomenology
ofdisability
thatShannonexplores comesout
ofanexperienceofrepeated
patternsofinteraction.
Heseesthesamethings
andexperiences
thesamethingsover
andoverandoveragain.
That'sburdensome,
butwhatitalsodoes
forsomeonewhoisasthoughtful
asShannonisitpusheshim
towanttonamethosethings.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BILL]Imagine,Igetup,
Igetdressed,Igooutside,
Ithrowonmytunes,
jumpontheboard
andstarttolike
bopdownthestreet.
And as I go down the street, pushing
on my crutches, everyone turns to stare.
Alotofpeoplestare
directlyatme,
butevenmorepeople
turnafterIpass.
SoIcontinueondown
theblockandacarpullsup.
- [CAR HORN HONKING] - [BILL]
"Hey, cool, what do you call that?"
AndbeforeIcanevenanswer,
thecar'sgone.
I get to the bus stop. I sit down.
A perfect stranger comes along
andlooksatmeandsays,
"Sorry."
Andthenanotherpersoncomes
andsitsdownonthebench,
andthentheguylooks
atmeandgoes,
"Hey,whathappenedtoyou?"
AndI'mlike,
whathappenedtoyou?
Andhe'slike,"No,
Imeanthecrutches."
AndIsaid,everybody
hascrutches;
someofthemyoucansee,
someofthemareinvisible.
Hegoes,"Comeon,man,
whathappenedtoyourleg?
Ibetitwasyourankle.
Ibrokemyankleonce."
Andhecontinuestotellme
hiswholestory.
Thenthebuspullsup,
thebusdriveropensthedoor
andsays,"Hey,comeon,
buddy,Igotya.
Youcandoit."
Igetoffthebusand
there'sastore.
I'mlookingatthestore
andIrealize
thatthethingIneedtoget,
there'stwoplaces
thatsellitandoneofthem's
maybehavingasale.
And I can't remember which
one. And as I'm standing there
Inoticethere'sawoman
holdingthedooropenforme,
waitingforme
togointothestore,
butI'mstill tryingtodecide.
Andshe'sholdingitlonger,
andshe'slookingatme.
Andherfacechanges,
areyoucomingtothedoor?
AndIgetthislittlebit
ofabacklasheyeroll,
butIgointo thestoreanyway.
AndIfindtheitemIwant,
andIgototheregister.
Thecashiersays,"Hey,man,
didyoubreakyourankle?
Ibrokemyankleonce."
And that's just one day. It's not
even a whole day. It's just one errand.
And these things all are
cumulative, day after day,
week after week, month after
month, year after year after year.
[LIGHTPIANOMUSIC]
[ROSEMARIE]Disability
alwaysdemandsastory.
Non-disabledpeople
areneverrequired
togiveanaccountof
themselvesinthesameway.
- Really?
- [BILL]Yeah.
[ROSEMARIE]Mostofussimply
learntomanagethis.
Wehaveastandardanswer.
Wegetitoutoftheway
andwemoveon.
Sothathe'sturnedthis
intoaperformancepiece,
intoanartformwhere
heevokesthisquestion,
thisinterrogationis
absolutelybrilliant.
[BILL]It'salanguage,
andit'satool,
andit'sawayofseeing,
butit'snotasort
ofguidebooktodo's
anddon'tsofdealing
withdisabledpeople
whoneedhelp.
WhatIactuallyencourageis
toabandonassumption.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[REPORTER]Getdownto
TheStudioattheOperaHouse
becausethere'san
amazingperformer
fromBrooklyncomingout
calledBillShannon.
Andthenightiscalled
SpatialTheory.
It'shadravereviews.
[BILL]YouknowthatIwas
doingtheseperformances
whereIwashavingthese
interactionswithpeoplebased
ontheirideasofwhoIwas,
peoplewererespondingtoit,
youknow,interestedinit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
Yeah,yeah.
[BILL] And it became necessity
to communicate it to audiences.
Sowelcometothisevening's
presentationofSpatialTheory.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[BILL]Okay,nowI'mgonna
sitdownandtalkalittle,
gooversomevideoofsome
streetperformancework,
whereIperformsimple
utilitariantasksinpublic
andsortofbegintolookat
peoplelookatme.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
So I said you know what I'm gonna
do, I'm just gonna pick up a bottle.
I'mjustgonnapick
upthisbottle
inpubic.It'sautilitarian
task,verysimpletask.
Andyou'regonnasee,
thisisme.
- I'm the hero. This is the villain, right?
- [AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
Andthat'sarandombabushka
fromaRussianmarketplace,
sohere'sthereach
forthebottle,
whichcouldbelike
theinitiation
ofwhatIcall
projectednarrative.
Soherstoryaboutme
pickingupthebottle
is like way deeper than my own
story of me picking up the bottle,
whichisbasicallyahighmid,
lowmidsplitreach.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
She'slookingatitlikewill
themanpickupthebottle?
Icannotgoontomy
destinationuntilIknow
ifthemanwillpick
upthebottle.
Now,ifyouwatch
thepurseareahere,
you'regoingtosee
thisheightoftheconflict
reachacataclysmicpoint.
Watchthepurse,getit,
getit,getit.
Ohhh.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
Apsychosomatic
reactiontotheheight
ofthearcofhernarrative.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
AndwhatI'venoticedin,
thisnextlittlemoment
hereiswhatIcallfateof
distractionatthetop
ofthestairs,fateof
distractionrighthere.
Whoa.
Okay,Idon't,Imeanwhenit
happenedIwasliketerrified,
likeohno,she'sgoing
downonthestairs.
Youcanseemygood
Samaritanimpulse,
ImeanI'mreadytolike
divedownafterher,
soI'mnotlikeoutherejust
likeaccusingpeople
oflikebeingstupidfor
tryingtohelpotherpeople
inneedbecause Idoitmyself.
Andthenthere'sfinal
reckoning,you'llseeithere,
thislookoflike,righthere.
She'slikeyouknow,
Ialmostdiedlookingatyou.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[BEN]IthinkBillunderstands
people'sreaction
todisabilitymorethan
mostpeopledo,
andheknows
he'sbeingmisunderstood.
And he can reach in and like
bloop, here it is, you see that.
[BILL] So this next relationship
I call peripheral fluctuation.
Soperipheralfluctuation
isthekindofthing
whereyourperipheryislike
righthere,right,
youcansee myfieldofvision.
Thenyouhavelikeperipheral
overhere,right,
sothenassoonasmy
peripherystartstomove
towardsafull fieldofvision,
it'slike
peripheralfluctuation.
"No,Iwasn'tlooking."
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
[CLAIRE]Allofthosethings
werethings
thatIcouldrecognizein
mylifeindifferentways,
andohyeah,
IdothatorIknowthat.
And... andyeah,that'snot,
that'snotunderstood
byeverybody.
Thisnextrelationship
IcallGestureofHelp.
Agestureofhelpisvery
differentthanrealhelp.
Realhelp,youknow,
likeputmeoveryourshoulder
andcarrymeupthestairs.
Agestureofhelpislike
I'mgonnahelpherhelpme
- upthestairs.
- [AUDIENCELAUGHING]
Nownormallyforme,
Igolikeupthestairs,
butshe'sgoingsideways.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
I'mlikewhereare
youtakingme?
I'mgoingtoanotherdimension.
[SUSAN] People who haven't
experienced these interactions,
peoplewhomovethrough
theworldwithsort
ofordinarybodiesdon't
necessarilyunderstand
whatBillistalkingabout,
butit'sthatintervention
withthevideotechnology,
that'swhenpeoplegetit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Peoplesay,they'll
writeaboutme,BillShannon,
youknow,
he'sthisgreatdancer,
andit'stoobadthat,
youknow,hetrickspeople
intohelpinghim onthestreet.
Youknow,orhedoesthings
wherehefallstotheground
sothat... sothat
peoplehelphim.
Soithasthissortofnotion
that... thatI'mgettingpeople
todothesethingsasifthey
don'tdothemalready,
whether,well,nomatterwhat
I'mdoing,they'redoingit.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BOY]What'sitfor?
Uh,it'satrio
ofvideoprojects,
called"Window,
BenchandTraffic."
Andthoseprojectsaremysort
ofwayofaddressing
abasicproblemabout
dancinginthestreet,
which is my dancing in the
street is never seen by audiences,
it'sonlyseenbypeoplewho
happentobethere.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[CLAIRE] He could've just
kinda gone down some easy route
ofmakingsomereally
entertainingdanceshows.
Peoplewouldlovethe
sortofflippancy
andthesuperficiallevelof
thevirtuositythathehas.
Andhedidn't.
[WILDCHILD] The mad scientist
in him is brewing something,
he'sjust,youknow,
he'sbrainstorming
forhisnextbigform
ofexpression.
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
Movingintoaserieslike
"WindowBenchTraffic"
solvesoneproblemthat
Billhadwhenhe
wasdoinghisclickandpoint
editedvideotalks.
Andthatisthatpeoplecould
seehimpickingandchoosing,
which,infact,hewas.
Hemighthavecaptured
fourhoursoffilm
and found the three seconds
that really illustrated his point.
Andpeoplemightsaywell,
there'sa...
there'samanipulation
that'shappeningthere
because you're freezing, you're
stopping, does it really unfold that way?
Well,let'sfindout.
[BILL]There'safabric.
There'sasocialfabric.
There'sa... alandscapeof
gazes,andapproaches
andsubtletiesaroundhow
humanslookateachother,
andpasseachother,
andthebodylanguage
andthepatterns
thattakeplace.
AndIreallywantedtoprove
thatthespectacleisthere,
Idon'thavetouseanything.
Ithappens nomatterwhatIdo,
whetherit'smyreallifeor
I'minaperformance.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[LEAH] " Window" was people
would be viewing the performance
throughawindowin
abuildingonasquare,
andthentheaudience
inthewindow
wouldseetheperformance,
notonlydirectly,
but also through the camera so they could
see up close how people were reacting.
It'sanextensionofhis
owninvestigations
intohowpeopletreatthose
whoaredisabled,
andweoftendon'tknow,
youknow,untilweseeit
onscreen.
[SUSAN] Bill realizes there
are two different audiences,
thepeoplewhohavebeen
watchingseeaguy
who'sclearlycapable,
whereaspeople
whohavebeenwalkingby,
whattheyhave
iscrutchesequalsfragile.
Everyonewhoseesthat
thinkstheyknow
whatthey'reseeing,
butthey'reinterpretingit
sodifferentlythatit's
likethey'retwo
differentrealities.
[LEAH] "Bench" was before
the time of the GoPro,
youknow,heattachedcameras
allaroundhimto
givea360degreeview.
[MAN]Irememberdoinga360
inasuitcasething.
Thehiddencameraswereaway
togetanhonestreaction.
Everyonewouldseeall
thesereactionsbehindhim,
hiswake,basically.
Peopleliterallystop
ontheirtracks.
Thathappensallthetime.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Getallthatandstageitin
themiddleoftheback.
[LEAH] "Traffic,"
we put that on wheels
anditbecomesalot
moreelaborate.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[LEAH]
Theaudienceboardsabus.
There'saDJonthebus.
TheDJwouldpipemusic
thatBillcouldhear
andthattheaudiencein
thebuscouldhear,too.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[PEOPLELAUGHING]
[PEOPLECHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Hetookhisaudience
intothestreet,dude.
Hetookhisaudience
onagoddamride.
[ALLLAUGHING]
AndIwasonthebuslike,
dude,thisisfuckinggenius.
It was so cool. It was so
exciting, like you really felt
likeyouwerewithhim.
Whooo,whooo!
[ALLLAUGHING]
[MAN]It'sinterestingenough
tobecalledart,
butit'sgotthis,
youknow,spectacle
ofshowmanshipkindofquality
andyou'renotlooking
attheEmpireStateBuilding,
you'relookingatsomebody
who'slivingart.
Hi.
It'shotouttoday,right?
Yeah?
Wha... howiswhat?
Withthese?Itry,Iflapthem,
Itrytogetair.
Igolikethat,liketheycatch
airandthenIcankindoffly.
Ineedawhat?
Idoneedaparachute.
Thankyou.
You,too.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[SUSAN]
"Traffic" is so spontaneous
thatwegettoseenotonly
thosedisabilityphenomena,
but we get to see relationships
develop on the spot.
Andthey'reinthewayanyway.
Bye.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Ah,that'sfailure.
ButevenwhenI,youknow,when
IfailItrytokeepitsmooth.
Yeah,I'mcool.
I... Ilookgood,don'tI?
Ilookgood,right?
Ontheground.
Huh?Yeah,um,Idon'treally
needhelp,butifyouwant
tohelpme,youcan.
Okay,youwannahelpme,
allright,cool.
[MAN]Herewego,Shannon.
[BILL]
Idon'tneedthishelpthough.
No,listen,Idon't
needthehelp,
butIreallyappreciateit.
Allright,brother.
Thankyou,brother.
Huh?
Uh,it'smyhipisn'tround
onbothsides.
Well, it's both, actually. I'm playing
and I have hips that aren't round.
- Yeah.
- Soit's,it'sinbetween.
Youknow,it'slike
wearingglasses.
Whenyoutakethemoff,
you'renotblind,youknow,
likeIcanwalkbut
notveryfar.
- Irespectthat,man.
- Oh,thankyou,man.
I'vegottonsof
respectforyou,
justyourwholevibeis
justamazing,man.
What'sthat?
Adonation?
Yeah,sure.
Ilovedonations.
- [ALLLAUGHING]
- Oh,man.
- Wow.
- [MAN]Thankyou.
Thank you, sir. Wow, that's...
that's a blessing right there.
Yes.
[ALLCHEERING]
That'sthestreet,baby,
rightthere.
[RAPHAEL]Youwatchpeople
andtheirreactiontohim
asapersonbeingoncrutches,
theyautomaticallyassume
thatheneedshelp.
Wheninfact,he's
helpingthemhelphim.
Andhe'sbeenableto
takethatandturnit
intosomething... magic.
[LEAH]Thereheis.
Waveeverybody.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[SUSAN] There is a section
of "Traffic" where
heisonastaircaseandheis
clearlyactingasaperformer.
Heisdancing,heistwirling,
heisperforming
in a way that lets us know
that he has exceptional abilities.
Andthenintotheframe
walkthesetwomen.
[ALLLAUGHING]
Andtheystepintoofferhim
thishelp,butwhatthey
doiscompletelydisrupt
amomentofpureperformance.
That'sthepowerofthehabits
ofinterpretationwehave.
It'ssoabundantlyclearthat
theseguyshavenoidea
andthey'reacting
onassumptions
thatdon'tfitthesituation.
Thereitis.
Andtheaudiencegetsit,
whethertheyhaveany
backgroundornot.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[ALLCHATTERING]
[BILL]Andnowlisten,thisis
really,reallyimportant.
Beyourself.
Beyourself,don'ttry,don't
fake,don'tfakethefunk.
Beyou.
That'showthishappened.
Youthinkeverybodywaslike
whenIfirstdid
mymovesoncrutches,
youknowhowbad
Ilookedtryingtodanceon
crutchesthefirsttime
Itriedtodanceoncrutches?
- Youwannaseeit?
- [BOY]Yes,yes.
[BILL]Youwannaseewhatit
lookedlikeinthebeginning?
Thisiswhatitlookedlike
inthebeginning.
[HUMMING]
ThenIstartedtodo
oneofthese.
Istartedtogowoop,boom,like
that,thenwoop,boom.
Thenallofasudden,
Iwaslike,downhere.
Thenextthingyouknow,
Iwasdoingthis.[GRUNTING]
- [ALLCHEERING]
- [UPBEATORCHESTRALMUSIC]
Sothiscampisveryspecial.
It'sspecialtome.
ThisisthefirsttimeI'veever
metanykidswithPerthes,
soit'sreallyanhonorand
apleasuretobehere.
AndIreallyamtouchedto
beinvitedhere,
andIwantedtothankyouall
verymuchandletyouknow
Isupportyouandtheparents
hereinthestruggles
thatyougothrough,and
thetoughchoicesyouhave
tomakeeveryday.
Youknow,youlivewiththis
and,andyoustruggle,
andyouknow,I... Ifeelyou.
Ifeelyourpain.
Iknow... Ihad...
myparentshadtodealwithit,
andsoIjustfeelreally
blessedtobehere
andthankyousomuch,
allofyou.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[CLAIRE]There'sanecessity
tocapturemomentsintime,
animportanceto
recognizesomebody
thatcreatedhisownartform.
Thatdidn'tattemptto
beanyoneelse,
didn'tattempttodance
likeanyoneelse,
somebodythatabsolutely
personifiedthepotential
ofhisownphysicality.
[BEN]
Ithinkherepresentshiphop,
and he represents skateboarding,
and he puts 'em together
inawaythatis
aoneofakind.
Lookatthatshit.
[SUSAN]Ourgeneralresponse
aboutpeoplewhousecrutches
isthestorythattouse
crutchesistobemiserable,
tousecrutchesistobe
awkward,tousecrutches
istobepitiable.
Andhisperformances
re-script,re-narrate,
re-telleverysingleone
ofthosestories.
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- [LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[RANDA] He's an agent
provocateur, that's really the essence
ofhischaracter tosomeextent.
It'slikeoh,youthinkso?
I'llshowyou,youknow.
[SPEAKINGFOREIGNLANGUAGE]
[CROWDCHEERING]
[SUSAN] He's brought so much
to the world because he has shared
andtaught,let'slearnto
questiontheassumptions
thatwebringandletpeople
teachusaboutwhotheyare.
[RAPHAEL] What he's doing, I
don't think people have caught up
tothatyet,man.
Andwhentheyfinally catchon,
he'slikeontosomethingelse.
AndIthinkthat'sthe... theway
greatartistsshouldbe.
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[CLAIRE]There'sthedangerous
worldofinspiration,
andthere'sadangerousworld
ofinspirationporn
thatwetalkaboutnowof
particularly
non-disabledpeoplelookingat
disabledpeople
andgoing,
"That'ssoinspiring."
I'mnotheretoinspireyou
justbymyverybeing,
butI'mokayforyoutobe
inspiredbymeifyouchange.
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
- [MAN]Allright,okay.
So,there'sthingaboutwhile
Iwillneverbeconsidered,
inthedanceworld,
assimplyadancer,
Iwillalwaysbelooked
atasananomaly.
I cannot be compared. I can't be
sort of set next to any of these other
whatevergreatdancers
thatmightbeoutthere,
that,youknow,aresortof
thehallmarksofdance.
Youknow,the...
I'm saying that. I'm saying
that because that's how I...
Imeanthat'showIexperienced,
youknow,the... the,um...
thedanceworld,youknow,
'causetheysupposedlyhave
thisbigfocusondance
andthebodyandallthat,
buttherealityisthat,
youknow,they'reinterested
intheperfectbody.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[REPORTER]He'sknownas
theCrutchmaster
andhe'ssurprisedaudiences
allacrosstheworld.
[REPORTER 2] This is something I
guarantee you have never seen before.
ThisisBillShannon,
whoistheCrutchmaster,
andhisbuddiesbackhere,
whoaretheStepFenz,
directfromNewYorkCity...
[REPORTER 3] The show is
called The Art Of Weightlessness.
It'ssponsoredby
TheDanceUmbrella,
andBillShannondefies
gravitywiththehelp
ofhiscrutches.
[REPORTER4]Getdownto
TheStudioattheOperaHouse
becausethere's
anamazingperformer
fromBrooklyncomingout,
calledBillShannon.
Thenight'scalled
SpatialTheory.
[REPORTER5]I'veneverseen
anythinglikethis.
Iwaslookingat
thevideotapeyesterday
andIwasamazed.
[VOICESCHATTERING]
[REPORTER6]
Hisartsometimescapitalizes
oninteractionswithothers.
[VOICESCHATTERING]
[REPORTER5]It'ssortof
afunkydanceroutinetoo.
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [VOICESCHATTERING]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[WOMANSPEAKINGINDISTINCTLY
OVERPA]
[BILL]Areweready?
What'sgoingon?
IfeellikeI'mtreadingwater.
Arewegoing?
Thisway?Okay.
- [BABYCRYING]
- Let'sgogetarental.
- Iwannasitintheback.
- Okay.
[GPSVOICE]Keeprighttoward
I-275NorthatTampa.
[BILL] It's kind of blindsided me
like, "Oh yeah, Perthes Camp, cool."
They're like, "Okay, you're gonna
meet a bunch of kids with Perthes."
AndI'mlike,
"Oh,waitasecond."
[ALLCHATTERING]
[MAN]It'sgonnaberight
onbeat,okay?
Three,two,one,jump!
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[GPSVOICE]Turnlefttostay
atCampFloridaRoad,
thenyourdestination
willbeontheright.
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[KIDSCHEERING]
[BILL]It'sreallyemotional
formebecause
I'mgonnahavethismoment
oflikeseeingkids
livingtheirlifeatthatage
in the way that I lived my life
at that age, which is really...
tough,youknow.
I'malreadygonnacry
justthinkingaboutit.
It's something that's really a
hard time in my life, you know.
[LIGHTACOUSTICGUITARMUSIC]
[RANDY]WhenBillwasborn,
RandaandIwere bothactivists.
Ihadcomeofagebasically
onthedoorstep
oftheCivilRightsMovement
inNashville.
AndIwasin thepeacemovement,
a whole variety and spectrum of
organizations, in the Women's Movement.
[BILL]Myparentswerelike
allabouthumanitarianism,
andlikehelping
thesteelworkers,
andhelpingtheunemployed,
andending,youknow,Apartheid.
[BEN] I grew up with the smell
of permanent markers on banners,
goingdoortodoor,
deliveringleaflets.
Thebigpicturewaswecan
dobetterashumanbeings.
Andwecan... wecantreat
eachotherbetter
andwecanhaveabetterworld.
[RANDA]Asatoddler,Bill,
helovedspeed.
He loved things like Big
Wheels going down steep hills,
andclimbingtreesand
jumpingoutofthem.
[BRIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
Sometimesafterhehadbeen
runningaroundalot,
hewouldlimp.
SoItookhimtoadoctor
andhecamein
andtoldmehehas
Legg-PerthesDisease.
AndIsaidI'venever
heardofthat.
I'manurse,youknow,
butIneverheardofit.
It'sadevelopingdeformation
oftheheadofthefemur,
whichisnormally
likearounded,
verysmooth,cartilage-covered
ballthatfitsintoasocket
verysmoothlyandrotates.
Andinhiscase,
theheadofthefemur
hadnocirculationandit
becomesnecrotic,basically,
sortofrotten,
andbecomesmisshapen.
AllthedoctorsinPittsburgh
wantedtooperate.
[RANDA]Wetalkedabout
subjectingafour-year-old
tomultiplesurgeries.
I'mananesthetist,Iwork
inamajormedicalcenter
andIknowwhat
theaftermathcanbe
ifyoudon'thave agoodresult,
majorpain,
majorriskofinfection.
There'sthedangerof
anykindofmishap,
abloodclot,youknow,
thingshappentopeople
allthetimeinsurgery.
It'skindascary,youknow?
Andthat'swhenIstarted
researchingmetallurgy
oftheseimplants.
Andallthesethingsthey've
beenputtinginpeople'ships,
youknow,deteriorateand
theimplantkillsthebone.
Iwaslikethis... thisisnot
goingtohappen,
youknow,notfor
anactivekid,t'snot.
Rantalkedto somanydoctors
untilshefinallyfound
adoctorthatsaid,youknow,
there'sanalternative,
whichisthebrace.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
[RANDA]Itfeltreallysad
nottoseehim,youknow,
crashingdownthealley
onhisBigWheel
anddoingthings
likethatanymore
'causeithadbeensuch
asenseofjoyforhim.
Theywerelikethis... thiskind
ofacageinaway,youknow
Itwaslike,literallylike
livinginacage.
[RANDA]Iwenttoputhim
inelementaryschool
andtheysaidoh,he'llbe
inaspecialeducationclass.
Ihadtogoto
theschoolboardtoinsist
thatBillbein
amainstreamclassroom.
[RANDY]Billhadtolearn
todealwiththeworld
asitwastreatinghim
becausehewasafreak
intheeyesofalotofkids.
[BEN] There was a kid who called
him "four-legged chicken" a bunch,
andsoIchasedhimdown,
andwrestledhimand
heldhim'tilBillgotthere.
[BILL]WithPerthes,youknow,
becauseyouhave
thatsortofdexterityofyour
legsandtheykindofwork,
andtheylookokay.
It'slikesomehowharder
forpeopletodealwith.
Even with my disability, you
know, kids calling me faker
in... in the playground, you know,
when I'm wearing a chunk of steel,
andcrutches andrunningaround,
andthey'relikestill
thinkI'mfaking.
It'salienatingwhen
youhaveadisability
thatnooneelseunderstands,
andthatnooneelse
hastosolveproblemsfor.
Billwasaprovocateurwhen
hewasamonthold,youknow.
Hewasaneverapersonwhowas
gonnajustridealong.
So he would sneak around
without the brace and the crutches.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
Inmymedicalexpertise
asathirdgrader,
Ithought[CHUCKLES]
thebraceshouldcomeoff.
[BILL] I began to play and to try
and participate as much as I could,
eventhough
Iwasdefinitelylimited,
like,youknow,
kingofthehill,Imean,
everytimeIwouldclimb
upthathill,man,
I'dgetpushedthefuckback
downandIhatedit.
Iwouldgetsomad,Iwouldcry.
[RANDA]ImeanIwouldget
callsfromtheneighbors,
they would say, "Your
little boy is jumping off walls
withhiscrutches,youknow.
Andhe'sclimbingatree."
[EARL]Thethingiswhen
you'reakidwithPerthes,
likeyoucanalwaysbe
offcrutches,
likeyoucanalwaysstandup
andwalkaroundifyouwant.
Youcanevenrun ifyouwant
andthat'skindoffrustrating
asakid,like,
IknowIcandothesethings,
butyou'regonnapaytheprice
'causeyou'regonnafeelpain
later,extremepain.
Duringyourteenageyears,
yourbonesharden
andatthatpoint,
intermsofPerthes,
whateverdamagehasbeendone
toyourhipisdone.
Butifyoudon'tfeel anypain,
youdon'tneedto usecrutches.
[BEN]Iremembercoming
homefromschool
andhewasstanding
nexttothecouch,
and he was like "No crutches!"
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]Irememberwalking
outofthehospital
sortoffeelingweird,
likelighter.
Ireallyfeltverystrange
withmyarms
withoutwalkingwithcrutches.
[EARL]Whenyougrowup
alwaysbeing,youknow,
thatkidonthecrutches
orthatkidwith
something'swrongwithhim,
whenyou getthatmoment
where you're just a regular
kid, it's like thank you, like,
Ijustwanna justdoeverything,
likeittrulyisanexplosion.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL] It took me a good year
to really get back into walking.
Andthentherewasbreakdancing
righttherewaitingforme.
Whenstraightfromlikelearning
howtowalkto,uh,
learninghowtomoonwalk.
[LAUGHING]
[RANDA]Iremembertheyhad
atalentshow.
He'safreshman inhighschool.
Billwouldgetoutthere
andhewaspopping
andmoonwalking,
andallofthegirls
intheaudiencewent,
"Ahhhhhh!"
[BEN]Itwasmagical,the...
themovementwasmagical.
Andmybrotherwaslitup.
[BOY] It's a beautiful day
to go skating
Won't you shred,
won't you rip
Won't you skate
your balls off
[UPBEATROCKMUSIC]
[RANDA]Theystillweredoing
breakdancing
andthentheywentinto
theskateboardingthing.
[BILL]Andwejust
attackedthestreets.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
Marijuana!
[BILL]Oh,shit.
Itchangedmylifeinoneday.
Cheap beer!
Iknewitwaslike
nogoingback.
- Women!
- [BOYLAUGHING] -[BOY2]Bill!
- [BOY3]Bill!
- [BOY4]Bill!
- LookwhatIdidtomyboard.
- [BOY]Oh,no.
Thatwasjustwhenstreet
skatingwascomingabout,
likewallriding,
andrailsliding,
butitwasn'tlike
therailsyet.
Itwaslikemoreon
thelongcurbs
thatwouldbeoutside
thegasstations
andwe'djustslide
thewholecurb.
Marijuana!
[CHUCK]Billwasthekindof
skateboarderwho,youknow,
lookedlikehewould
probablysprainanankle
orbreakanankle doingatrick,
andjustfigureitwasthecost
oflearningtodothattrick.
Youngpeoplearetryingto
fighttheestablishment
ofanordinancethatwould
prohibitskateboards
inPittsburgh's
businessdistricts.
Theseskaterssaytheirboard
istheirtransportation.
BecauseIworkinOaklandand,
youknow,Ilivehere
inPointBreeze,
soIhavetoskatethrough
Oaklandjusttogettowork.
Andiftheybanthat,
thenI'don'twannagetafine
goingtowork.
Youshouldgetthefootageof
Billgettingarrested.
Hegotarrestedfor
skateboarding.
- [ALLSHOUTING]
- [ROCKMUSIC]
[SCREAMING]
- Get off my fucking hair!
- [COP] Put your hands behind your back.
- [BOY]Whyareyoudoingthis?
- Justgetoffmywrist,man.
Whatthefuck?
[GRUNTING]Fuck!
Whatthefuckisthis,man?
I'mjustaskateboarder.
I'mjustaskateboarder.
I'mskatingdownthestreet.
[INDISTINCTSHOUTING]
[DASEZ]Andthecops
threwhiminjail.
Anditwasallinthenews.
Andhewenttojailsaying,
"Skateboarding
isnotacrime!"
[BEN]
Skateboardingisnotacrime!
"Skateboardingisnot..."
Thatwasliketheslogan.
Andbutactually,
technicallyitwas.
[UPBEATMUSIC]
Ifollowedthemtojail,
thentheycameoutand
wecheeredliketheywere
politicalprisoners
beingreleased.
- [BEN]Whathappened,Bill?
- [BILL]Idon'tknow.
- [CAMERASHUTTERCLICKING]
- [BEN]Afterthat
theyhadhispicture
inSassyMagazine.
[BRIAN]Hebecameabig
rockstartoallthegirls,
Like,"Man,Bill,
youlookcute."
[LAUGHING]
[WAVESCRASHING]
[LIGHTGUITARMUSIC]
[RANDA]Bill'ssituationwith
hisillness,youknow,
thathadbeensuchafocus
forourfamily
thatwhenthatwasgone,
thenRandyandIhadto
lookatourrelationship.
That'sthewaylifegoes,
perfectstormseveryonce
inawhilewhereeverything
justgoesto... fragments.
[BOY]Oh,wow,look.[LAUGHS]
It'stotallydestroyed.
[RANDA]IthinkBillfelt
responsible
formeandRandy
gettingdivorced.
[LAUGHING]
[BILL]Meandmybrother,
like,wewereverydependent
oneachotherandwewere
splitduringthedivorce.
Mybrotherwentto
livewithmymom,
butIstillhadto
livewithmydad.
Andthatwasreallytough.
[RANDA]RandyandBillhad
adynamicthatwasreally...
theyhadhorriblefights.
Mybrotherreallystarted
togetthebrunt
ofmydad'shardass
reactionstobeingdefied.
Billoftensawhisart
asaswordandashield.
[RANDA]ForBill,hisarthas
beenverycathartic
andhasbeenshapedby
whateverhappened
tobehappeningwithhim
atthatparticularperiod
inhislife,
andhisreactionstoit.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Supportthetroops.
Bringthemhome.
IcallthePentagon'swar.
Thisismybody.
Mybody.
ArtwasjusttheplaceIwent,
theplaceIwent
whenIwantedtobe
onalevelplayinggroundwith
theotherkidsinclass,
theplaceIwenttogetaway
frommyfamilyissues.
[VOCALIZING]
[RANDA]Everybodyhasthat
experienceofsuffering.
[ELECTRONICVOICE]
Three-leggedchicken.
Three-leggedchicken.
Three-leggedchicken.
[RANDA] But I think sharing the
experience and understanding it
asotherpeopleexperienceit
isanotherstep intheprocess.
[ELECTRONICVOICE]
Three-leggedchicken.
[BEN]Hey,wereyousleeping?
Nosleeping,nosleepingtoday,
bud!
- [BILL] Uh-uh.
- [BEN] It's National Un-Holiday.
Wake up
[ROCKMUSIC]
[BILL]Irememberthere's
onescenethat,youknow,
everybodygoesand
doesanaciddrop.
Anaciddropislike anoldmove
where you just like ride off a
drop and you just drop down.
I was just scared of it, like, I
didn't have flexibility in my right leg.
EverytimeIwouldfallor
mybacklegwouldget...
would get pulled out, it was
like horrible, excruciating pain.
[BEN]Whenwewereskating,
wewouldjustgo,go,go.
Andhecouldn'tkeepup.
Andsoitwouldbe
aquestionofokay,
dowestopskatingordowe
leavemybrotherbehind?
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER] - [BEN]
Are you all right, man? Are you okay?
- [BILL]Yeah,I'mfine.
- [BEN]You'llbeallright?
[BILL]Yeah,I'llbefine.
[DRAMATICGUITARMUSIC]
[BILL]Iknewthatmytime
like,withoutanyproblems
withmyhipswas... already,
man,thosedayswerenumbered,
justamatteroftime.
IknewthatwhenIwas16and
Iwasskateboarding,
likethisshit isn'tgonnalast.
There'snofuckingway.
IbetterenjoyitwhileIcan.
And then it happened and I
started having really, really bad pain.
And there would be times when he
would just be like in tears from the pain.
AndI'dfeellikeIwasseeing
thepainchangehim
inhispersonality.
[RANDA]Itwasreally,really,
reallyheartbreaking
totellhimthathehad
togobackoncrutches.
AndforBill,
abottomlesspitofsorrow.
Hecried.
Weallcried.
[DRAMATICMUSIC]
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[MAN]Allright,20.
[BILLCHUCKLES]Go20.
Anotherthingyoudois
whenyougodowntothefloor
andcomebackup,
soyouhavedifferentrangesof,
levelsofyourmovement.
Youknow,you'restanding
heredoingthis.
Youopenup,youstartto
stepitaround,
two,one,two,spin.
Likethat,get,keepgoing
withyourfeeling,
whateveryourflowis,butthen
go,trytogototheground.
Gotothegroundanddoit
again,andcomebackup.
Justdoanotherturn.
Yeah,soyougolowerdown.
Yeah,beau... good,
thencomebackup.
Good.
Comehere,givemefive,man.
Yougotskills.
- [GRUNTS]
- [LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
Here you go, like that. Pop
your chest out and roll it around.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[BILL]Andkeep'emmoving.
Keepyourneckalive.
Good,yeah.
[BOY]Ihaveaquestionthat
Idon'tthinkcameup.
- [BILL]What'sthat?
- Whathipdoyouhaveiton?
[BILL] I have it bilaterally. My
right ended up worse than my left.
- Yeah.
- Don'ttouchme.
[BILL]Soitstartedinmyright
andwenttomyleft,
sowhenIstartedcompensating
formyleftwithmyright,
myrightwasn'tfullyhealed,
soIdamagedmyright
morethanmyleft.
Yeah.
[WOMAN]I'mgonnatakeyou
foryourx-rays,okay?
[BILL]Okay.
[WOMAN]Andyou'reheretoday
foryourhips,right?
- Yeah.
- Okay, you're gonna be lying down on the table on your back.
Ooh,it'scoldinhere.
DotheyhavetoA/Citsomuch?
- [WOMAN] Yeah, for the film.
- For the film it has to be cold, too?
That'swhyit'ssocold
intheserooms.
[TENSEELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL] You know, I've been
wondering why the hell this room
wassocoldmyentirelife.
[TENSEMUSIC]
CominginherewhenIwas
fiveyearsold
and just being cold, like all of a
sudden it would just be freezing.
Ijustthought,
"Whyisitso[MUMBLES]cold?"
- [STATICCRACKLES]
- [DISTORTEDLAUGHTER]
[BILL]Likethismachine
in1978...
[IMITATINGWHIRRING]
Itjustwaslikeamonster,
youknow?
Backthenitwaslike
theholeinthewindow
waslikealittle
thinlittleslat
theywouldlookthrough
likeitwasagunhole.
Andtheywouldspeakon
amicrophone.
[IMITATINGSTATIC]"Okaynow,
we'regonnatakethepicture."
Youknow,PerthesDisease,
thebigquestionis
should... should he or
shouldn't he have an operation?
[DOCTOR]
Sothere'syourrighthip.
Normally,thatshouldbe
aspherewithinasphere,
aballinaball,youknow,
andthatisamushroom.
[EARL]Itgetsveryconfusing
intreatingPerthesDisease
becausethere'ssomany
differentoptions
onjustattemptingtotreatit
andthere'snosolidmethodof
howtodothings.
And there's still no cure, and no one
knows what's right and what's wrong.
See,it'snotalwaysadirect...
[SUSAN]We'veinherited
amedicalmodelofdisability
thatassumesthatwhen
thereisabody
thatdoesn'tfit
astereotypicalabledbody,
thatitissomething
sadortragic,
andsomethingthat
needstobecured.
Andsowhenyouseethat
inBillShannon'slife,
whenpeoplesaywell,
ifyouhavethishipproblem,
whydon'tyoujustget
hipreplacements?
[DOCTOR]
Andyou'redoingprettywell,
uh,butit'sgonnagosomeday
andyou'regonnaneed
atotalhipreplacement
whenthathitssomeday.
[BILL]ThepainthatIhaveis
a... isaconstantadjustment.
It'slikealwaysadjustingfor
differentgradationsofit.
[EARL]PerthesDiseasecauses
quiteabitofdamage.
Thatdeadbone,youknow,
itstartstoflattenout,
andcausesalotofpainand
frictioninthathiparea,
andsoitcauseskidstolimp,
oryouhavepainafter
walkingforawhile
oranyphysicalactivity.
Itellmyparents thatsometimes
itwaslikesomethingwas
stabbingmyleg
'causeitgotsopainful
thatIfeltlikesomebodywas
cuttingmylegoff.
Thepain,it'sreallybad.
It's like you, kinda feel this grinding
every time you, um, take a step.
In the spring, I started having
just a teeny, tiny bit of pain.
Andinthesummer,
Istartedlimpingalot.
'Causeyouneverknowlike,
wheneveryouwanttodo
somethingfun,youcan't,
ifyoubarelywalk,
youreallywannadoit.
Somebody will have to take you or you will
have to go in your wheelchair and do it,
andthatsucks.
[NURSE]
Doyouhaveanythighpain?
Yeah,itradiates
downtomyknee.
[BILL] That's... that's part of it
that people don't understand,
likeyeah,okay,myhiphurts,
but does it hurt enough for me
to go get surgery to replace it?
Andthenhowlongdoes
thatsurgerylastfor?
[EERIEMUSIC]
Youcan,youknow,
getahipreplacement
andin10years
you'regettinganotherone.
Andinanother10years
you'regettinganotherone.
Andaftersomanyofthem,
youcan'tgetanotherone.
That'sit,youknow,
youreachtheendoftheline.
Nowyouhavetofuseyourhip,
whichisbasically
putitinoneposition
andfreezeit.
Andjust,like,I'mnotinto
thatoptionatall.
Iwannabe,youknow,
responsibleformyownfate.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL] And so I tried to use
canes and they were just useless,
Imean,because,whenmyhip
reallywashurting,
theykinda
didn'treallydoenough.
AndthenwhenIwastrying
tobepreventative
andkindofnotusethemfully
butusethemsome,
theykindofwere
intheway'causeyou...
youcan'treallyhaveyour
handsfreewhenusingcanes,
soIstartedusing
asinglepointcrutch.
[MAN] And then he started
developing better tips for them,
thenonedayIsaw
therockerbottom.
[JEFF]Thosecrutcheswere
likenoothercrutches
thatyousee,really.
Andtheywere
legitimatecrutches,
buttheywerejustU-shaped.
[LIGHTDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]Withtherockerbottom
youhadtherange.
You know, you reach forward and
you have that range around the curve,
soyougetalonger,
smootherpush.
Thatreallymadeadifference
withskateboarding.
Adoctor,youknow,with
noexperienceskateboarding
would probably just look at that and
go, "This motherfucker is so stupid,"
notrealizingthat
withahiplikethat,
youtakeonepushonaboard
andyoujustroll
forlikehalfablock,soyou're
actuallysavingyourhip.
[SUSAN] When we see Bill
Shannon using a skateboard
asamobilityaidweforget
thatthemobilityaids
thatwe'remorefamiliarwith,
likewheelchairs,
cameoutofsomebody
solvingaproblem.
[BILL]
It'sjustcreativenecessity.
Iwaslookingatmychildhood
and how I was in certain
situations with my peers where
youhadtocomeupwith
asolutionnow.
That'screativenecessity.
It'slikethenecessary,
instantreactiongut.
Youknow,andthat'sa...
that'splaygroundmentality.
That'slikeonthestreetand
youhavetocomeup
withasolutioninthemoment.
[UPBEATELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BEN]Hewouldusethem
tohittheball,
soitwaslike
anextraappendage.
Hecouldreallygain
alotofground
justbyswinging
whenweweresprinting,
andIthinkthatmight
evenhavebeen
wheretheglidekindacamefrom.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[PEOPLECHATTERING]
With the camera lens
Spittin' the freestyle
with my friends
Yeah, I'm makin'
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Theyrolluplike
constructionpaperhere.
[BOTHCHEERING]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[CYCLONE]Mycrew,
theStepFenz,herewecome,
15differentclubsanight
inNewYorkCity
for dancers, just underground
shit, after hours in Chinatown,
butitwaslikejustdance,
dancefuel,
andwewouldgodanceall
fuckingnight.
Therewerenoestablished
competitionstogoto.
Therewerethesecirclesand
peoplewouldbattle.
[WILDCHILD]Theirstylewas
clashingwithstyles,
egos clashing with egos, you know,
going at each other through dance,
youknow,asanexpression.
[CYCLONE] Anybody that we didn't know,
like we were gonna throw some rounds.
Inthat,therewas
aconversation,youknow,
butwhatifpartof
theconversation
waslikebackthefuckup,
youknow.
Nosympathyinacypher.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Crutchknewwheretogo.
Wherethemusicwas,
Crutchwouldshowup
justlikewewould.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]IcametoNewYork
andIhadalittleofthis
andalittleofthat,
youknow,butIdidn't
haveanyfootworkforreal.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Hewasstillworkingon
themovementsideofit.
Youknow,hewasn'tasfar
alongbyanystretch.
Hewasdoingawholelotof
fallingbeforehewasflying.
[RAPHAEL]Thewayhe'sableto
navigatehimselfaround
onthemcrutches,thatshit
don'ttakeovernight,man.
[BILL]
Istartedgoingouttoclubs
andotherpeoplewere
dancingatthecub.
AndIjustnaturallyjust
starteddoinglittlemoves,
likefuckit.
Youknow,andthenIstarted
goingtohiphopspots
andlikedoingwhatever
thefuckIcoulddo,
whatIcanpulloff
withmycrutches.
[CYCLONE]Wewoulddance.
Hewouldcomein.
Hewoulddoamoveandif
hedidn'tbusthisass,
I'dbelike"Yo,
thatshitwasdope."
And if he did, he always
got up and tried it again.
Butthere'snoway
Crutchgotapass.
There'snowayit...
itwaseasierforhim
to get recognition or props
just because he was on crutches.
[CROWDOOH-ING]
Style,style!
Oh,Ididn't... Ididn't...
see,Ididn'tknowthat.
[BILL]Butwhenyoufirst
introducesomethingdifferent,
everybody's isn't gonna just
immediately start hugging you,
likewow,that'sgreat.
They'regonnalookatyoulike,
"Whatthefuckareyoudoing?"
Youknow."Gohome.
Don'tcomeinherewith
thatbullshit."
[FUNKYDANCEMUSIC]
[BILL]UntilIgotgood
enough,untilIgotbetter...
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Servin' a rhyme,
workin' on time, yes sir
- One of a kind
- Free-Form fetish
Medicine for
your headaches
We bomb fellas,
better sin for the medics
[CROWDCHEERING]
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Whenhe'sinit,woo-hoo.
Let it go 'cause he's like ah, yeah, bring
it, 'cause you think I don't got it? Ah.
Ripped them off and wax shit
gets to solve this
Gift revolves around
Earth space station
that'll rock you, pa
Have you runnin' for
your ground
A little baklava
Let me talk to ya'll
about some off the wall
Rapper wannabe in
front of me
That got the balls
to not know
Youknow,howhewouldslide
that,beforehebroughtitup
andhelditupforasecond,
like...
I'veseenShaolinmonks
withthesticks
andIgottatellyou,they...
it's the same span of time he's
on that stick and he's turning
and putting moves in concession
to make into a combo to a beat.
One of a kind
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
One of a kind
One of a kind,
verve of the mind
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
Servin' rhymes and workin'
on time, yes sir
ThisisCrutchmaster,man,
youknowwhatImean?
[CROWDCHEERING]
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
IthoughtI'dseenitall
untilIseenUFOs,
turtlesand
bodyrollsoncrutches.
Thatshitrightthereisreal.
[FROSTY FREEZE] I like his style
and I like the way he's aggressive.
Ilikehowhegoesoutthereand
hitshisfreezesonpoint.
[CROWDCHEERING]
Ify'allain'tseen
thiscatgetdown,
y'allain'tseennothing.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Youknow,alotof
peoplelikeobsessabout,
"Oh,I'mtooskinny,
I'mtoofat,"allthatstuff
aboutnothaving
therightbodytypetodance
isallbullshit.
Dancing,it'sinyourhead.
Nomatterhowhealthyyouare,
yourbodyislimited.
Onceyougetthat
throughyourhead
that your body is limited, that dancing
is in your mind and not in your body,
thenyou'reprettymuch
freeasadancer.
Soifyou'redriventodance,
ifyoursoulisofadancer,
andyouhaveabadleg
andyou'reoncrutches,
you'regonnadance
nomatterwhat.
- [STATICCRACKLES]
- [UPBEATPIANOMUSIC]
It's 6:42 right now and chances are you're
never seen anything like this before.
Theshowiscalled
TheArtofWeightlessness.
It'ssponsoredby
TheDanceUmbrella,
andBillShannondefiesgravity
withthehelpofhiscrutches
inauniquedanceperformance.
Bill,thanksforcoming.
Thanksforbeingheresoearly.
I'dneverseen
anythinglikethis.
Iwaslookingat
thevideotapeyesterday
and I was amazed because when you
start dancing around on these crutches,
itisjustlike
youhavenoweight.
It'slikeyou'relightas
afeathermovingabout.
Andit'ssortofafunky
danceroutine,too.
Iheardonecriticsaythat
yourhipisbad,
butyourhopisspectacular.
Yeah,that'sa... yeah,
that'salittle...
thatwasalittlecute
littletitle,yeah.
- [UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
- [CROWDCHEERING]
[WILDCHILD]Billhadanidea
ofputtingacouple
ofhisoldpiecestogetherand
createanhour-longpiece.
- The Art of Weightlessness, man.
- [CHUCKLES]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]Billwason
anotherlevelatthetime.
Therewereonlytwo
pioneeringcompanies
that was doing hip hop dance on the
concert stage and he was one of 'em.
[CYCLONE]
Iwascompletelyignorant
atthatpointtolikewhat
performanceartwas.
Youknow,ifyouthought
theater,Ithoughthe-at-er.
AndsoIdidn'tthinkabout
theaterasbeingaplace
thatwecouldlikeillustrate
anythinghiphop.
Howcanyoubringsomething
thatexistsinacircle
inaclubintothesquare,
intotheproscenium.
[LIGHTAMBIENTMUSIC]
Crutch'swholelike
approachwasn'tjust
thathewasbringinggenuine
hiphopintoit,
buthewasalsobringingin
likethisabstractart
intothespace atthesametime.
[RICHIE]Billhadaraincoat,
youknow,hecameout.
Ihadthisrainsoundeffects,
youknow,on.
[LAUGHING]It'strippy,man.
Imeantheshowisjustlike
trippy,I'mtellingyou.
I'msittingthere
duringtheshow
andIwastripping
lookingatit,
likedon'tforgetyourcues,
youknowwhatImean?
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]Thepolitics,
thecurrentstateofaffairs,
hisbackground, allthatstuff
isputintoeverythingthat
BillShannondoes.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[FUNKYDANCEMUSIC]
Take it easy
Don't worry 'bout it
I got this, I got this
Let me work it,
let me work it out
Take it easy
Take it easy
Take it easy
Don't let me bother you
I got this, I got this
Let me work it out,
let me work it out
Take it easy
Itjustgottobelike
onethingafteranother.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[MAN]Hiphopisoutofall
things,it'sveryimportant
tomaintain yourindividuality.
MynameisJeffGrosso
andI'myourhost.
ThisisfuckingLoveLetters.
Welcomeback.
[BILL]TheGuggenheim,
ImetCrazyLegs,
I'mgoingtoKuwait,
I'mgoingtoJapan.
Whooo!
[CYCLONE]WewenttoFrance.
[MAN]Lookatthisshit.
- [CYCLONE]England.
- [MANHUMMING]
[WILDCHILDANDCYCLONE]
Scotland.
Freedom!
Only ya'll know
what happened
With some passion
Rappers battlin'
all rappers
Carryin' all backwards
[RAPPINGINDISTINCTLY]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BILL]Thereweresome
goodreviews
and people really liked the
work and, you know, all this stuff,
butatthesametime,
thedanceworld,
theywerelookingatitlike
aw,isn'tthatcute,
youknow,hedoesthebreakdance
onthecrutches.
[MAN]
I'veseenCrutchgetangry.
Theykeepaskinghimabout
hiscrutchesand,youknow,
notaboutthe... theartwork,
themusic,orthedancers.
Itwasalotabout
hisdisability,youknow.
It'skindoffuckedup.
[BILL]Nomatterhowhigh
yougoonskillsoncrutches,
there'sstillthebaggage
ofacrutch representingfailure
thatcantrump
yourachievements.
- Ready?
- [MAN]Yeah.
Uh,sotonight,
we'regonnasee,um,
the two pieces that
I choreographed for Varekai,
CirqueDuSoleil's Varekaishow.
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [LIGHTORCHESTRALMUSIC]
[WILDCHILD]Justknowing
thatBillhadanything
todowithCirqueDuSoleil
wasjustahugehonor
thatoneofusmadeit,
oneofusdidit.
[GRANDORCHESTRALMUSIC]
Sowewerereallyproud,
butIdon'tthinkitwaslike
anythingthatreally
shockedussohard.
It was like, it was almost
like, "Oh, of course."
You'resupposedto
bedoingthat.
[BILL]Thecontactedmeafter
theysawmyglide
andtheywantedmeto
actuallybeaperformer
intheshow,likea...
amaincharacter,basically.
But then I found out like what
their artists have to go through.
[RAPHAEL]Iwatched
thesedudesonenight
andthisguywas
bustinghisass.
[BILL]Iwasworriedaboutit
damagingmyhips
ordamagingthenerves
inmyarmsfromdoing
thatmucheveryday,
sameexactthing.
Thatjustdoeswearandtear.
But I said I'll train somebody to
do what I do and become a part
ofthecreativeteam
anddochoreography.
[BILL]Yeah,yeah,
hellyeah,bro.
Nice.
[WILDCHILD] He had to teach these
gentlemen how to dance on crutches.
VladimirIgnatenkov,three-time
worldchampiontumbler.
Doaflair.
Flairyourlegsout,both.Yeah.
[WILDCHILD]Andalsohehadto
trainseveralaerialists.
[BILL]
Keepgoing,keepyourflowon.
Ihadtheseguysthreading
andtick-tocking
and all these different flavors
of like [INDISTINCT] styles.
Then they had their own
acrobatic moves on top of that,
soitjustlookedreally,
reallysick.
Whooo,beautiful.
[CAMERASHUTTERCLICKING]
[BILL]Thedirector
wantedtoputlike
anupsidedownwheelchair
actintheshow,
wherethere'slikeclowns
inawheelchair
thatflipsupsidedown
andtheclownsfallout.
And I was like, "You're not
fucking putting that in the show,"
likeIfeltinsultedliterally
becausehewastrying
tomakeintolike
adisabilitytheme
wheremyworkwasgonnabe
apartofthespectrum
ofrepresentation ofdisability.
AndIwasvery
uncomfortablewiththat.
Ididn'twanttobeapartof
thedisabledCirqueshow.
Iwantedto... mycharactertobe
theonethatflies.
- [LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTORCHESTRALMUSIC]
[RAPHAEL]
Whenyouwanttoteachpeople,
theyhavetounderstand
whatitisyou'redoing,
andthecommunication
hastobethesame.
Otherwiseeverythinggets
lostintranslation.
Sowhenyoudevelop atechnique,
youbegintocodify
alanguagefor...
foraparticularvocabulary.
Younameit,youcallit
whatitis,andBillShannon
isdoingthatwith
theShannonTechnique.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[CLAIRE] By him creating a
specific vocabulary and naming it,
itcreatesanawareness
thatthosemovements
have been absolutely
articulated, like it's a real choice
ofhisbodytogoto
averyspecificplace
andhecanhititeverytime.
Iwasinthestudiowithhim.
Wehadsixweeks
ofonetoonementoring,
andIexpectedtobeableto
dothingslikethat.
And he just cracked up, he's like
you've been trying this for 15 minutes.
I'vebeendoingthat
for15years.
Yes,itwasdance,
itwasmovement,
butitwasthisthing
thatabsolutely
explodedthepreconceptions
thatIevenhad
ofwhatdancewas.
Thosearetherespected
artforms
or genres in dance, are
the ones that have technique.
Whenitputsitselfin
thatframe
andsays,
thatitdeservesrespect,
anditislearnedand
itrequiresdiscipline,
butit'salso... feelsalittle
bitlikealittlefuckyou
tothatsystematthesametime.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
- [AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
- [BRIGHTMUSIC]
[MAN]Woo!Yeah,yeah.
[CROWDCHEERING]
Yeah,letmehearit,NewYork.
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- Raisetheroofup!
Raisetheroofup,comeon,
let'sgo!
All right, all right, let's get
this started on the right note.
- [MAN] Yeah.
- [WILDCHILD] Sketchy, Sketchy, Sketchy.
Hedefinitelysteppeditup
aftercomingfromCirque.
[MAN]
One,two,two,two.
[CYCLONE] It was a sketchy
attempt at bringing hip hop to theater.
[MAN]Oooh,nice,D.
[CYCLONE] It wasn't necessarily
that the moves were sketchy,
buthavinghiphop
intheateratthatpoint
wasasketchyideatopeople,
soitwaslikealittlebitof
sarcasmbehindit
which... ifyouknowCrutch.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
He finally had a little bit of money
behind it and so we were able
togivealittlebitmore
tolikecostumes.
Hewasincorporating
somanythings
thataren'teventypical
inhiphop,youknow,
likeslowmotioncapture.
Hypehimup,right?
Wewanttoseeitagain,right?
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- Comeon,areyouwithme?
[CYCLONE]
Sketchyattempts,tryingmoves
thatyoudon'tnecessarily
knowthatyoucanland.
You'renevergonnaseethat
inacontemporaryshow.
[CROWD]One,two,three,four,
five,six,seven,
- eight,nine,whoaaa!
- [CROWDCHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Youcouldfeel
people,liketheenergy,
likeooohplease,youknow,
like,youcanmakeit.
[CROWDCHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Thecrowds
absolutelylovedit.
[BILL]
Handhops,elbowhops,whoa.
[CYCLONE] There's so many
people in New York that came out
toseeusthatwegrewup
intheclubswith.
And I think it was their first
take at ever seeing us in theater.
Itwaslikewejustwon
acontestsomewhere,
likeabattle,
andlikeeverybody
wasjustsofuckingthrilled
tosee... seeithappen.
LikeI... Iwantedtoclap,
butI'mlikeyeah,wedidit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[MAN]"...weretoaddanother
charactertohisrepertoire."
- Didyoureadthat?
- [WOMAN]Yeah.
[MAN]OhmyGod,
shestartedoutwiththeax.
- [TENSEMUSIC]
- [INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
- What are you gonna do?
- [MAN] "real person with pretenses of being..."
- OhmyGod.
- [BOY]Pretensesofbeingwhat?
- [MAN]Acontemptualartist.
- [BILL]Conceptual.
[MAN]Conceptual,I'msorry.
- [BOY]That'snotverynice.
- [MAN]I'mupsidedown.
[BILL]Well,youeitherare
oryouaren't.
- [BOY] Right?
- [BILL] You can't have a pre...
- [BOYSPEAKINGINDISTINCTLY]
- [BILL]Youdon'thavea...
youdon'thaveapretense
aboutit.
Youeitherareoryou'renot,
youknow,
sowhatshe'ssayingisI'mnot,
but...[GROANS]
It'sjustlike,Idon'tknow,
IwanttosendCrazyLegs
toreviewaballetshow.
- Okay?
- [LAUGHING]
That's what I want to do. And
he'll write for The New York Times.
[WILDCHILD]They'reusedto
seeingonethingoneway,
like theater to them is supposed
to be the old fashioned way
orwhattheyseeas...
ashiphop,
that'stheway
it'ssupposedtobe.
[BILL] Any dance critic that comes
to my work does not know what I did.
Like, balletiswell-documented.
Moderndance iswell-documented.
LikeI'moutherepushing
theboundaries
ofaformI'veinventedin
waysthatarecompletely
likeinvisibletosomeone
who'sjustlookingatme.
Uhhh,it'safeelingofbeing
profoundlymisunderstood.
[LAUGHING]
[DRAMATICMUSIC]
- [CRUTCHESTAPPING]
- [NDISTINTCHATTERING]
[BILL]Whichis,thisishow
youlearnyourbalance.
[ALLCHATTERING]
That'showyou... bendyour
knees,keeplow,point,
belike,I'mgoing!
[ALLCHATTERING]
Whoa.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[KIDSCHEERING]
[EARLLAUGHING]
Comeon,buddy.
[KIDSCHATTERING]
[BILL]WhileIwashere,
likeIwasretouching
some part of my childhood and
revisiting that part of my life, and...
Idon'tknow,
mydadduringthetime
thatIhadmydisability
was going through a lot of emotional
healing from his own childhood.
AndsoIthinkalot
ofthebrunt
ofthatwastakenoutonme.
Iwastheoldest.
Andthat'sreallyhard
becauseIhavetothink
likemyownrelationshipmy...
tomyownkidsissodifferent.
LikeInever... Ineverraised
ahandonykids.
Andmydaddidn'tknow
anydifferent,youknow.
So...
Idon'tknow,it'sjust
hardtoimagine.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[MAN]Billtoldmehehad
metsomebody.
Hewasprettysmitten, youknow,
kindalikereallykidin
thecandystorekindofsmitten.
Billwas,youknow,hewascute.
Um,hewasverydifferent
fromme.
WemetinNewYorkand
helikestotellthestory
ofusbeingintheopposite
sidesofthetracks,
'causeIwasin
CarrollGardensinBrooklyn,
whichwas,youknow,
brownstones.
Andatthattime
hewasinRedHook,
whichwasdownanddirty.
[LAUGHING]
[MAN]Theywerebothlike
thesesalmon,
justswimmingupstream
ashardastheycould.
Imeanyoucouldjust,
youcouldjustreadit
likefromamileaway,
thisisit.
Mmmm,boogy,boogy,boo,yeah.
Uh-oh,isthelipcomingout?
Lookatthelip.
He'ssocute.
Wait,where'sthelip?
Thereitis.
Give'emthelip,
give'emthelip.
Ohhh.
[CYCLONE] After Sketchy,
everybody goes in their own path.
[LEAHLAUGHS]
Daddy.
Oh,watchout.
Watchout,yo.
[CYCLONE] Crutch did the last
thing you would expect from Crutch.
Youknow,he'slike,
"I'mmovingtoPittsburgh."
Likehe'sgrowinghisownfood
andvegetablesand...
hasacarthatrunsofflike
fuckingpotatoesorsomething.
That's... that'sCrutch,
youknow.
Buthegoesbackto
amorerefinedCrutch
intosolowork.
Backintohislikeorganic
interactionswithpeople
ortheirreactionstoBill,
youknow,doinghisthing,
goingthroughthestreet.
[BILL]
It'sfuckingraining,man.
Come on, we gotta get
started here! What's going on?
What'stakingsolong!
[BANJOMUSIC]
Hearyourself.
Oh!
[MAN] So I met Bill at School of the
Art Institute of Chicago in around 1993.
AndIactuallyrememberhim,
youkindacan'tnot
rememberthewayhelooked.
[BARKING]
I was like damn, this kid
wants attention like really bad.
[SHOUTING]
[BILL]Youknow,Ithinkbeing
apublicspectacle
asachild,goingto
demonstrationsinpublic
throughoutmywholechildhood,
andthenbeing
inthestreetskateboarding
andbreakdancing
itjustallfedintolike
I'mjustaperformingartist
inthestreet,
thisfeelsnaturaltome.
[BANJOMUSIC]
[AMBIENTMUSIC]
[MAN] In Chicago we shot on
some really nasty, bad cameras, man,
itwasallnoise.
Andjustlikehidden
cameraguyinthe...
inthecorner,whatever,
likeoff,
offsitewhereyoucan'tsee
himspyingoninnocentpeople.
Youknow,he'sgetting
tangleduponthestreet,
he'sgettingcaughtindoors,
youknow.
He'sjustfallingdownand
he'sgotcrutches.
Sothen,youknow,
somebody'llgotohelphim.
Andthenhe'lljustmakethem
failinhelpinghim,
whichiskindofasadplace
tobe,youknowwhatImean?
[BILL] Like once the reemergence
of my disability came back
inmy20s,
Iwaslikedealing
withthesameexpressions
inpeople'sfacesagain.
And it was like a really old
memory, it's like a very old memory
tohavepeopletreatme
thewaytheydid.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[ROSEMARIE]Oneofthemost
difficultthings
about the transition from the
status of non-disabled to disabled
isfiguringouthowto
managetheawkwardness
ofencountersbetweenthemselves
andnon-disabledpeople.
[BILL]Itwaslikeaturning
pointwhereIrealized
thatIhavethisrelationship
tothepublicdoingtricks
oncrutches,
andthatit'snotall
likelookhowcoolIam
oncrutches.
There'sallthis
otherstuffhappening.
AndthatIhadnoteven
beguntodealwithit.
Andthatwasthebeginning
ofthatjourney.
[STATICCRACKLING]
- [INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
- [TENSEMUSIC]
[BEN]It'sprovocative.
You'retakingadvantageof
people'sgoodnature.
Likethesearegoodpeople
thatcare.
ButIwasoftenin
thepositionofhelpinghim
whenheneededhelp,
soIknowwhatit'slike
to be the person who's reaching
down to help somebody up
whomayormaynotneedit.
SoIidentifywithbothsides.
[BILL]Whathappenedin
thatperformance
that'ssointerestingwasthat
myskateboardwasthere,
butthesidewalkhad
aslightinclinetoit,
andsotheskateboard
justrolledout
andwentintothestreet.
Acabcrossedthreelanesto
runovertheboardonpurpose.
Nowmindyou,Ihad
nomoneyatthattime.
Iwasonfullscholarshipat
theArtInstituteofChicago.
Ihadnorealjob.
Myfamilydoesn'thavemoney,
plusInolonger
hadawaytogetbackto
thetrainstation
andbacktomyhouse,
whichwasliketonsofdistance.
Imeanitwasalongassway.
Ihadtowalk
allthewaytothetrain.
And I was just miserable. And I
started crashing to the ground,
andpeoplewerecoming
andhelpingme.
Insteadofbeinglikeno,
I'mnotgonnaletyouhelpme,
Ijuststartedhuggingthem.
AndIwouldbehugginglike
threeorfourpeopleatonce,
andtheywouldallbe
liftingmeup.
They'dliftmeupand
standmeup,
andinsteadofrejectingthem
Iwasjustkindoflikeokay,
I'mjustacceptingthis.
Iwasjustreallyupset
aboutmysituation,
butalsojusteverything
thathashappened.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
Itwaslike
Iwasjustsurrendering.
IrealizedIdon'treally
wanttomesswithpeople.
Ijustwanttoexpressthese
feelingsandtheseideas.
You know, I imagine that people
might be a little upset by that.
Somepeopleare,like,how
couldyoudothattopeople,
likeisn'tthatmean?
Comeon,there'satleast
acouplepeopleinhere
thatthinkit'sreallymean.
Iwanttoknowwhotheyare.
Okay.[LAUGHING]
Thisguybehindyou,here.
Youthinkit'swhat?
Manipulative.
Ahh,okay.
Um,well,Ikindofwanttotalk
aboutthatalittlebit.
[AMBIENTMUSIC]
[BILL] You know, like
"Regarding the Fall" was a question
andsomeofthequestions
wereaskedinawrongway.
Andthattherearefailures
toitthathappened
inorderformetodig
furtherintoit,
Ihadtogodownpaths
thatweredeadend.
And out of that mistake came
the concept of a neutral palette,
whichisthatyounever
seemelikejustall,
alloutandoutfall.
[SUSAN] Bill realized that he was
in some ways being manipulative
ofpeoplebecausehewasputting
themintoacrisismoment,
so he decided that a better
way to continue to investigate,
becausehewasvery
interestedinhowpeople
wererespondingtohim,
wasnottopresenthimself
assomethingflashy
thatwouldveryobviously
drawattention.
[BILL] I mean this shit is
just beyond like, reasonable,
it'salmostlikesostrange,
numberone,forhimtodoit,
numbertwo,forme
toaccepthimdoingit.
Youknow,it'sjustuh,
I'msittingthere
goingohmyGod,
heactuallyfuckinggaveme
adrinkofwater.
AtthatpointIhad
surrenderedmyself
towhateverotherpeople
thoughtIneeded,
andthiswaslikeprobably
theheightofthat,
somebodyactuallyfeedingme.
Likethatisjust,thatreally
getstothecoreofhelp.
Youknow,youwillhavepeople
whowill,youknow,
try to feed you in your real
life and you'll be offended,
butinyourperformance
youembraceit
andyoutrytounderstandit.
It'slikeIamoutthere
interactingwithphenomena
thatextendthroughout
mywholelife.
Andthepeoplethatare
representingthosephenomena
areindividuals,
butIdon'tlookatthem
asgoodorbadpeoplebased
onhowtheyact.
Ilookatthem
asindividualsthat...
manifest... phenomena
thatoccurtomewhether
I'mperformingornot.
[SUSAN]Thephenomenology
ofdisability
thatShannonexplores comesout
ofanexperienceofrepeated
patternsofinteraction.
Heseesthesamethings
andexperiences
thesamethingsover
andoverandoveragain.
That'sburdensome,
butwhatitalsodoes
forsomeonewhoisasthoughtful
asShannonisitpusheshim
towanttonamethosethings.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BILL]Imagine,Igetup,
Igetdressed,Igooutside,
Ithrowonmytunes,
jumpontheboard
andstarttolike
bopdownthestreet.
And as I go down the street, pushing
on my crutches, everyone turns to stare.
Alotofpeoplestare
directlyatme,
butevenmorepeople
turnafterIpass.
SoIcontinueondown
theblockandacarpullsup.
- [CAR HORN HONKING] - [BILL]
"Hey, cool, what do you call that?"
AndbeforeIcanevenanswer,
thecar'sgone.
I get to the bus stop. I sit down.
A perfect stranger comes along
andlooksatmeandsays,
"Sorry."
Andthenanotherpersoncomes
andsitsdownonthebench,
andthentheguylooks
atmeandgoes,
"Hey,whathappenedtoyou?"
AndI'mlike,
whathappenedtoyou?
Andhe'slike,"No,
Imeanthecrutches."
AndIsaid,everybody
hascrutches;
someofthemyoucansee,
someofthemareinvisible.
Hegoes,"Comeon,man,
whathappenedtoyourleg?
Ibetitwasyourankle.
Ibrokemyankleonce."
Andhecontinuestotellme
hiswholestory.
Thenthebuspullsup,
thebusdriveropensthedoor
andsays,"Hey,comeon,
buddy,Igotya.
Youcandoit."
Igetoffthebusand
there'sastore.
I'mlookingatthestore
andIrealize
thatthethingIneedtoget,
there'stwoplaces
thatsellitandoneofthem's
maybehavingasale.
And I can't remember which
one. And as I'm standing there
Inoticethere'sawoman
holdingthedooropenforme,
waitingforme
togointothestore,
butI'mstill tryingtodecide.
Andshe'sholdingitlonger,
andshe'slookingatme.
Andherfacechanges,
areyoucomingtothedoor?
AndIgetthislittlebit
ofabacklasheyeroll,
butIgointo thestoreanyway.
AndIfindtheitemIwant,
andIgototheregister.
Thecashiersays,"Hey,man,
didyoubreakyourankle?
Ibrokemyankleonce."
And that's just one day. It's not
even a whole day. It's just one errand.
And these things all are
cumulative, day after day,
week after week, month after
month, year after year after year.
[LIGHTPIANOMUSIC]
[ROSEMARIE]Disability
alwaysdemandsastory.
Non-disabledpeople
areneverrequired
togiveanaccountof
themselvesinthesameway.
- Really?
- [BILL]Yeah.
[ROSEMARIE]Mostofussimply
learntomanagethis.
Wehaveastandardanswer.
Wegetitoutoftheway
andwemoveon.
Sothathe'sturnedthis
intoaperformancepiece,
intoanartformwhere
heevokesthisquestion,
thisinterrogationis
absolutelybrilliant.
[BILL]It'salanguage,
andit'satool,
andit'sawayofseeing,
butit'snotasort
ofguidebooktodo's
anddon'tsofdealing
withdisabledpeople
whoneedhelp.
WhatIactuallyencourageis
toabandonassumption.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[REPORTER]Getdownto
TheStudioattheOperaHouse
becausethere'san
amazingperformer
fromBrooklyncomingout
calledBillShannon.
Andthenightiscalled
SpatialTheory.
It'shadravereviews.
[BILL]YouknowthatIwas
doingtheseperformances
whereIwashavingthese
interactionswithpeoplebased
ontheirideasofwhoIwas,
peoplewererespondingtoit,
youknow,interestedinit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
Yeah,yeah.
[BILL] And it became necessity
to communicate it to audiences.
Sowelcometothisevening's
presentationofSpatialTheory.
[MUSICCONTINUES]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[BILL]Okay,nowI'mgonna
sitdownandtalkalittle,
gooversomevideoofsome
streetperformancework,
whereIperformsimple
utilitariantasksinpublic
andsortofbegintolookat
peoplelookatme.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
So I said you know what I'm gonna
do, I'm just gonna pick up a bottle.
I'mjustgonnapick
upthisbottle
inpubic.It'sautilitarian
task,verysimpletask.
Andyou'regonnasee,
thisisme.
- I'm the hero. This is the villain, right?
- [AUDIENCE LAUGHS]
Andthat'sarandombabushka
fromaRussianmarketplace,
sohere'sthereach
forthebottle,
whichcouldbelike
theinitiation
ofwhatIcall
projectednarrative.
Soherstoryaboutme
pickingupthebottle
is like way deeper than my own
story of me picking up the bottle,
whichisbasicallyahighmid,
lowmidsplitreach.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
She'slookingatitlikewill
themanpickupthebottle?
Icannotgoontomy
destinationuntilIknow
ifthemanwillpick
upthebottle.
Now,ifyouwatch
thepurseareahere,
you'regoingtosee
thisheightoftheconflict
reachacataclysmicpoint.
Watchthepurse,getit,
getit,getit.
Ohhh.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
Apsychosomatic
reactiontotheheight
ofthearcofhernarrative.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
AndwhatI'venoticedin,
thisnextlittlemoment
hereiswhatIcallfateof
distractionatthetop
ofthestairs,fateof
distractionrighthere.
Whoa.
Okay,Idon't,Imeanwhenit
happenedIwasliketerrified,
likeohno,she'sgoing
downonthestairs.
Youcanseemygood
Samaritanimpulse,
ImeanI'mreadytolike
divedownafterher,
soI'mnotlikeoutherejust
likeaccusingpeople
oflikebeingstupidfor
tryingtohelpotherpeople
inneedbecause Idoitmyself.
Andthenthere'sfinal
reckoning,you'llseeithere,
thislookoflike,righthere.
She'slikeyouknow,
Ialmostdiedlookingatyou.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[BEN]IthinkBillunderstands
people'sreaction
todisabilitymorethan
mostpeopledo,
andheknows
he'sbeingmisunderstood.
And he can reach in and like
bloop, here it is, you see that.
[BILL] So this next relationship
I call peripheral fluctuation.
Soperipheralfluctuation
isthekindofthing
whereyourperipheryislike
righthere,right,
youcansee myfieldofvision.
Thenyouhavelikeperipheral
overhere,right,
sothenassoonasmy
peripherystartstomove
towardsafull fieldofvision,
it'slike
peripheralfluctuation.
"No,Iwasn'tlooking."
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
[CLAIRE]Allofthosethings
werethings
thatIcouldrecognizein
mylifeindifferentways,
andohyeah,
IdothatorIknowthat.
And... andyeah,that'snot,
that'snotunderstood
byeverybody.
Thisnextrelationship
IcallGestureofHelp.
Agestureofhelpisvery
differentthanrealhelp.
Realhelp,youknow,
likeputmeoveryourshoulder
andcarrymeupthestairs.
Agestureofhelpislike
I'mgonnahelpherhelpme
- upthestairs.
- [AUDIENCELAUGHING]
Nownormallyforme,
Igolikeupthestairs,
butshe'sgoingsideways.
[AUDIENCELAUGHING]
I'mlikewhereare
youtakingme?
I'mgoingtoanotherdimension.
[SUSAN] People who haven't
experienced these interactions,
peoplewhomovethrough
theworldwithsort
ofordinarybodiesdon't
necessarilyunderstand
whatBillistalkingabout,
butit'sthatintervention
withthevideotechnology,
that'swhenpeoplegetit.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[BILL]Peoplesay,they'll
writeaboutme,BillShannon,
youknow,
he'sthisgreatdancer,
andit'stoobadthat,
youknow,hetrickspeople
intohelpinghim onthestreet.
Youknow,orhedoesthings
wherehefallstotheground
sothat... sothat
peoplehelphim.
Soithasthissortofnotion
that... thatI'mgettingpeople
todothesethingsasifthey
don'tdothemalready,
whether,well,nomatterwhat
I'mdoing,they'redoingit.
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[BOY]What'sitfor?
Uh,it'satrio
ofvideoprojects,
called"Window,
BenchandTraffic."
Andthoseprojectsaremysort
ofwayofaddressing
abasicproblemabout
dancinginthestreet,
which is my dancing in the
street is never seen by audiences,
it'sonlyseenbypeoplewho
happentobethere.
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[CLAIRE] He could've just
kinda gone down some easy route
ofmakingsomereally
entertainingdanceshows.
Peoplewouldlovethe
sortofflippancy
andthesuperficiallevelof
thevirtuositythathehas.
Andhedidn't.
[WILDCHILD] The mad scientist
in him is brewing something,
he'sjust,youknow,
he'sbrainstorming
forhisnextbigform
ofexpression.
[PERCUSSIVEMUSIC]
Movingintoaserieslike
"WindowBenchTraffic"
solvesoneproblemthat
Billhadwhenhe
wasdoinghisclickandpoint
editedvideotalks.
Andthatisthatpeoplecould
seehimpickingandchoosing,
which,infact,hewas.
Hemighthavecaptured
fourhoursoffilm
and found the three seconds
that really illustrated his point.
Andpeoplemightsaywell,
there'sa...
there'samanipulation
that'shappeningthere
because you're freezing, you're
stopping, does it really unfold that way?
Well,let'sfindout.
[BILL]There'safabric.
There'sasocialfabric.
There'sa... alandscapeof
gazes,andapproaches
andsubtletiesaroundhow
humanslookateachother,
andpasseachother,
andthebodylanguage
andthepatterns
thattakeplace.
AndIreallywantedtoprove
thatthespectacleisthere,
Idon'thavetouseanything.
Ithappens nomatterwhatIdo,
whetherit'smyreallifeor
I'minaperformance.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[LEAH] " Window" was people
would be viewing the performance
throughawindowin
abuildingonasquare,
andthentheaudience
inthewindow
wouldseetheperformance,
notonlydirectly,
but also through the camera so they could
see up close how people were reacting.
It'sanextensionofhis
owninvestigations
intohowpeopletreatthose
whoaredisabled,
andweoftendon'tknow,
youknow,untilweseeit
onscreen.
[SUSAN] Bill realizes there
are two different audiences,
thepeoplewhohavebeen
watchingseeaguy
who'sclearlycapable,
whereaspeople
whohavebeenwalkingby,
whattheyhave
iscrutchesequalsfragile.
Everyonewhoseesthat
thinkstheyknow
whatthey'reseeing,
butthey'reinterpretingit
sodifferentlythatit's
likethey'retwo
differentrealities.
[LEAH] "Bench" was before
the time of the GoPro,
youknow,heattachedcameras
allaroundhimto
givea360degreeview.
[MAN]Irememberdoinga360
inasuitcasething.
Thehiddencameraswereaway
togetanhonestreaction.
Everyonewouldseeall
thesereactionsbehindhim,
hiswake,basically.
Peopleliterallystop
ontheirtracks.
Thathappensallthetime.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Getallthatandstageitin
themiddleoftheback.
[LEAH] "Traffic,"
we put that on wheels
anditbecomesalot
moreelaborate.
[INDISTINCTCHATTERING]
[LEAH]
Theaudienceboardsabus.
There'saDJonthebus.
TheDJwouldpipemusic
thatBillcouldhear
andthattheaudiencein
thebuscouldhear,too.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[PEOPLELAUGHING]
[PEOPLECHEERING]
[CYCLONE]Hetookhisaudience
intothestreet,dude.
Hetookhisaudience
onagoddamride.
[ALLLAUGHING]
AndIwasonthebuslike,
dude,thisisfuckinggenius.
It was so cool. It was so
exciting, like you really felt
likeyouwerewithhim.
Whooo,whooo!
[ALLLAUGHING]
[MAN]It'sinterestingenough
tobecalledart,
butit'sgotthis,
youknow,spectacle
ofshowmanshipkindofquality
andyou'renotlooking
attheEmpireStateBuilding,
you'relookingatsomebody
who'slivingart.
Hi.
It'shotouttoday,right?
Yeah?
Wha... howiswhat?
Withthese?Itry,Iflapthem,
Itrytogetair.
Igolikethat,liketheycatch
airandthenIcankindoffly.
Ineedawhat?
Idoneedaparachute.
Thankyou.
You,too.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[SUSAN]
"Traffic" is so spontaneous
thatwegettoseenotonly
thosedisabilityphenomena,
but we get to see relationships
develop on the spot.
Andthey'reinthewayanyway.
Bye.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
Ah,that'sfailure.
ButevenwhenI,youknow,when
IfailItrytokeepitsmooth.
Yeah,I'mcool.
I... Ilookgood,don'tI?
Ilookgood,right?
Ontheground.
Huh?Yeah,um,Idon'treally
needhelp,butifyouwant
tohelpme,youcan.
Okay,youwannahelpme,
allright,cool.
[MAN]Herewego,Shannon.
[BILL]
Idon'tneedthishelpthough.
No,listen,Idon't
needthehelp,
butIreallyappreciateit.
Allright,brother.
Thankyou,brother.
Huh?
Uh,it'smyhipisn'tround
onbothsides.
Well, it's both, actually. I'm playing
and I have hips that aren't round.
- Yeah.
- Soit's,it'sinbetween.
Youknow,it'slike
wearingglasses.
Whenyoutakethemoff,
you'renotblind,youknow,
likeIcanwalkbut
notveryfar.
- Irespectthat,man.
- Oh,thankyou,man.
I'vegottonsof
respectforyou,
justyourwholevibeis
justamazing,man.
What'sthat?
Adonation?
Yeah,sure.
Ilovedonations.
- [ALLLAUGHING]
- Oh,man.
- Wow.
- [MAN]Thankyou.
Thank you, sir. Wow, that's...
that's a blessing right there.
Yes.
[ALLCHEERING]
That'sthestreet,baby,
rightthere.
[RAPHAEL]Youwatchpeople
andtheirreactiontohim
asapersonbeingoncrutches,
theyautomaticallyassume
thatheneedshelp.
Wheninfact,he's
helpingthemhelphim.
Andhe'sbeenableto
takethatandturnit
intosomething... magic.
[LEAH]Thereheis.
Waveeverybody.
[UPBEATDANCEMUSIC]
[SUSAN] There is a section
of "Traffic" where
heisonastaircaseandheis
clearlyactingasaperformer.
Heisdancing,heistwirling,
heisperforming
in a way that lets us know
that he has exceptional abilities.
Andthenintotheframe
walkthesetwomen.
[ALLLAUGHING]
Andtheystepintoofferhim
thishelp,butwhatthey
doiscompletelydisrupt
amomentofpureperformance.
That'sthepowerofthehabits
ofinterpretationwehave.
It'ssoabundantlyclearthat
theseguyshavenoidea
andthey'reacting
onassumptions
thatdon'tfitthesituation.
Thereitis.
Andtheaudiencegetsit,
whethertheyhaveany
backgroundornot.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[ALLCHATTERING]
[BILL]Andnowlisten,thisis
really,reallyimportant.
Beyourself.
Beyourself,don'ttry,don't
fake,don'tfakethefunk.
Beyou.
That'showthishappened.
Youthinkeverybodywaslike
whenIfirstdid
mymovesoncrutches,
youknowhowbad
Ilookedtryingtodanceon
crutchesthefirsttime
Itriedtodanceoncrutches?
- Youwannaseeit?
- [BOY]Yes,yes.
[BILL]Youwannaseewhatit
lookedlikeinthebeginning?
Thisiswhatitlookedlike
inthebeginning.
[HUMMING]
ThenIstartedtodo
oneofthese.
Istartedtogowoop,boom,like
that,thenwoop,boom.
Thenallofasudden,
Iwaslike,downhere.
Thenextthingyouknow,
Iwasdoingthis.[GRUNTING]
- [ALLCHEERING]
- [UPBEATORCHESTRALMUSIC]
Sothiscampisveryspecial.
It'sspecialtome.
ThisisthefirsttimeI'veever
metanykidswithPerthes,
soit'sreallyanhonorand
apleasuretobehere.
AndIreallyamtouchedto
beinvitedhere,
andIwantedtothankyouall
verymuchandletyouknow
Isupportyouandtheparents
hereinthestruggles
thatyougothrough,and
thetoughchoicesyouhave
tomakeeveryday.
Youknow,youlivewiththis
and,andyoustruggle,
andyouknow,I... Ifeelyou.
Ifeelyourpain.
Iknow... Ihad...
myparentshadtodealwithit,
andsoIjustfeelreally
blessedtobehere
andthankyousomuch,
allofyou.
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[CLAIRE]There'sanecessity
tocapturemomentsintime,
animportanceto
recognizesomebody
thatcreatedhisownartform.
Thatdidn'tattemptto
beanyoneelse,
didn'tattempttodance
likeanyoneelse,
somebodythatabsolutely
personifiedthepotential
ofhisownphysicality.
[BEN]
Ithinkherepresentshiphop,
and he represents skateboarding,
and he puts 'em together
inawaythatis
aoneofakind.
Lookatthatshit.
[SUSAN]Ourgeneralresponse
aboutpeoplewhousecrutches
isthestorythattouse
crutchesistobemiserable,
tousecrutchesistobe
awkward,tousecrutches
istobepitiable.
Andhisperformances
re-script,re-narrate,
re-telleverysingleone
ofthosestories.
- [CROWDCHEERING]
- [LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[RANDA] He's an agent
provocateur, that's really the essence
ofhischaracter tosomeextent.
It'slikeoh,youthinkso?
I'llshowyou,youknow.
[SPEAKINGFOREIGNLANGUAGE]
[CROWDCHEERING]
[SUSAN] He's brought so much
to the world because he has shared
andtaught,let'slearnto
questiontheassumptions
thatwebringandletpeople
teachusaboutwhotheyare.
[RAPHAEL] What he's doing, I
don't think people have caught up
tothatyet,man.
Andwhentheyfinally catchon,
he'slikeontosomethingelse.
AndIthinkthat'sthe... theway
greatartistsshouldbe.
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[AUDIENCEAPPLAUDING]
[CLAIRE]There'sthedangerous
worldofinspiration,
andthere'sadangerousworld
ofinspirationporn
thatwetalkaboutnowof
particularly
non-disabledpeoplelookingat
disabledpeople
andgoing,
"That'ssoinspiring."
I'mnotheretoinspireyou
justbymyverybeing,
butI'mokayforyoutobe
inspiredbymeifyouchange.
[LIGHTJAZZMUSIC]
[UPBEATJAZZMUSIC]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]
[LIGHTELECTRONICMUSIC]