US 2020, 97 min Directors SACHI CUNNINGHAM and VAYABOBO
B-boy, skate punk, street performer, provocateur, crutch master: Bill Shannon has worn many hats in his life. As a child, Shannon was diagnosed with Perthes disease, a degenerative hip condition that eventually forced him to rely on the use of crutches. Through exclusive access and tons of personal archival footage, directors Sachi Cunningham and Vayabobo chronicle Shannon’s emotional odyssey from a precocious child struggling with disability and chronic pain to a world-renowned interdisciplinary artist who has done stage work for the Tate Modern, Sydney Opera House, and Cirque du Soleil. Crutch offers an intimate, multi-layered portrait of the endlessly creative Shannon and his fascinating body-centric work, spanning performance pieces, sculpture, video installation, and dance. Crutch is not a typical story of overcoming adversity, but of embracing it—the study of a virtuoso who sees his crutches as instruments of expression, not symbols of disability.