Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:
“He Who Dances on Wood” (2016) is a documentary short, under six-minutes long, produced and directed by Brooklyn-based, Mexican-Ethiopian filmmaker Jessica Beshir.
You can watch it for free on YouTube.
The backstory is that many years ago Fred Nelson was on the New York City subway with his young son, when the son disappeared. Turned out the kid had become mesmerized by some tap dancers who were performing on the train and stayed behind.
So Fred bought his son a pair of tap shoes, and while he was at it, he bought himself a pair, too. The son never followed through. Fred’s own shoes remained in the closet until quite some time later when he was moving and came upon them again.
READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.
That beautiful hand on the old worn out wood — what a shot.
There are really no words to express the beauty of the film and of Fred Nelson, the dancer on wood.
I love when he said he doesn’t know why he learned to do some things so late in life-when he’s getting ready to go!!! I relate.
So glad you all liked the film as much as I did. This, to me, is art. No politics, no ideology–rather the human condition in all its strangeness, pain, and beauty…