Crutchmaster has leg up on dance performance
“Disabled” dancer does acrobats despite all odds
Emma Sanders
Issue date: 11/11/04 Section: Life!
Before Disabilities Awareness Week began, signs advertising the “Crutchmaster” appeared in residence halls all over campus. “You will not want to miss his unique performance as he ‘dances’ using his crutches,” the sign read. It turns out that the Crutchmaster’s performance was about more than just dancing with crutches. Bill Shannon, the Crutchmaster, presented on Nov. 1 with a humorous narrative about his life, dance pieces with crutches and footage of his street performances. Shannon began by explaining why he uses crutches.
Shannon was born with a deformed femur bone, which eventually lead to the degeneration of his hip joints and now makes it difficult for him to walk for long periods of time. Despite this challenge, Shannon employs a variety of methods to cope with his impediment, including the use of crutches, with which he has incredible mobility and ease, as well as creative uses of skateboards.
Shannon almost resembles a cross-country skier on his board as he glides along, using his two crutches to push off and keep him moving. Sometimes, in the city, Shannon even grabs on to the back of a cab on his skateboard as a quick way to get around.
Shannon not only dances, but performs his art form in public cities employing a variety of different methods. Shannon classifies his performances in two categories: theater performances, like the one at Muhlenberg, and public performances. At the former, Shannon not only performs, but also shows taped footage of street performances and slowly analyzes and explains it to the audience. At the latter, Shannon’s “audience” is the public, and they often do not know that he is putting on an act. His public street performances include crutch dancing, acrobatics, making it appear as if he needs assistance and performing everyday actions that are harder on crutches.
Shannon has names for the different displays of performance art he does publicly. First, there’s “help as an obstacle,” which he defines as someone’s attempt to help him when he doesn’t need it. Once, Shannon tells the audience, he finished performing an impressive array of acrobatic tricks on his crutches when one man watching noticed Shannon’s hat was on the ground, and asked if he needed assistance picking it up. This question surprised Shannon. He wondered if the man had been completely oblivious to the remarkable routine he had just performed. It is this ignorance in the average everyday person that Shannon hopes to alleviate through his art.
Shannon was born with a deformed femur bone, which eventually lead to the degeneration of his hip joints and now makes it difficult for him to walk for long periods of time. Despite this challenge, Shannon employs a variety of methods to cope with his impediment, including the use of crutches, with which he has incredible mobility and ease, as well as creative uses of skateboards.
Shannon almost resembles a cross-country skier on his board as he glides along, using his two crutches to push off and keep him moving. Sometimes, in the city, Shannon even grabs on to the back of a cab on his skateboard as a quick way to get around.
Shannon not only dances, but performs his art form in public cities employing a variety of different methods. Shannon classifies his performances in two categories: theater performances, like the one at Muhlenberg, and public performances. At the former, Shannon not only performs, but also shows taped footage of street performances and slowly analyzes and explains it to the audience. At the latter, Shannon’s “audience” is the public, and they often do not know that he is putting on an act. His public street performances include crutch dancing, acrobatics, making it appear as if he needs assistance and performing everyday actions that are harder on crutches.
Shannon has names for the different displays of performance art he does publicly. First, there’s “help as an obstacle,” which he defines as someone’s attempt to help him when he doesn’t need it. Once, Shannon tells the audience, he finished performing an impressive array of acrobatic tricks on his crutches when one man watching noticed Shannon’s hat was on the ground, and asked if he needed assistance picking it up. This question surprised Shannon. He wondered if the man had been completely oblivious to the remarkable routine he had just performed. It is this ignorance in the average everyday person that Shannon hopes to alleviate through his art.