Bill Shannon for RJD2 - Work it Out
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KRISTIN SLOAN |
Thought this was great (video via quodlibet and spinner.com).
Dance and media artist Bill Shannon’s dance moves (he has a degenerative hip condition and created this way of dancing with crutches) drive a one-take music video shot in NYC for RJD2, who makes appearances throughout the piece.
Beautiful isn’t it? From Bill’s website…
Recently through dance choreography I have juxtaposed abstract forms of urban streetstyle kinetics into a textural landscape with an express focus on time and how it can be used to reinvent the familiar… my role as director and choreographer is in the setting of pace and creation of mood.
…I know choreographers but I am not one of them. I also know dancers but I am not like them either. The reality is that I lack the specialized focus of the choreographer or the training of the dancer. The way I see it, I currently function as an outsider artist of an interdisciplinary nature within the dance field. I use the term outsider because I was never trained in dance.
The dance I perform is pretty much my own invention and, never having seen much choreography, the dance pieces I choreograph lack the sophistication of contemporary artists in the field. So if I am unsophisticated and entirely out of the loop why are the venues normally reserved for those who are so so sophisticated opening up for me?
Bill. This is fantastic. You’ve invented your own dance style and remain true to yourself. But I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. How does not having dance training make you an outsider? If anything, you’re something for a lot of fellow dancers and dance-makers to aspire to, incorporating multiple influences into one raw, hybrid movement style that speaks to people, and most importantly, allows you to express yourself.
