Short Documentary: We Live This.
This is the story of Forty, TyTy, Ted & Khalil, four boys from Brooklyn that make up the " We Live This" dance crew. Commonly known as the 'Showtime Kids", the four friends perform on the subway and collect donations.
Being a New Yorker, I'm used to showtime and generally ignore it because for one; it scares the bloody hell out of me to see people doing acrobatic stunts on a moving train and two; I'll probably watch the show, thoroughly enjoy it and feel bad that I don't have a dollar or two on me to give to the dancers.
Watching We Live This by James Burns has effectively changed that.
“I’m begging without words, I’m begging with a smile, I’m not begging with a frown because this is panhandling.”
“I want to have a team where they want to live the life of adventures...want to see things, want to do things bigger than what is their atmosphere around them now.”
There is no denying the skill and joy that these young men bring to any train cart, but this documentary goes beyond that and shines a light on the one thing that we don't quite see; their humanity. In the past when I watched these young men dance on the train, I never considered why they dance. Besides the money, why do these young men choose to practice body-contouring and gravity defying stunts (while also risking being arrested by the NYPD for public endangerment), when they could make money doing a number of other things?
This documentary answers the question while giving insight into the personal journey faced by each member and their joint path together. What I saw in these young men was resilience, hope and courage. There is a poignant beauty in their bond with one another and it was evident in their dance and the ways in which they cared for and trusted one another.
Watch this documentary and find your way into the mind of a showtime kid.
xoxo,
Rachel.