About this Short Film
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Film Transcript
I remember some kids — they were making a little fun; they were looking at my shoes. They were different from everybody else because I used to wear shoes with a metal thing, and I kind of woke up with one leg straight and the other leg right. So everybody was like, "Who walks like that and who's this guy?" That caused a lot of anger inside me and it gave me a lot of fear to be with people.
One of the doctors from CRIU found donors to do operations for children with disability. On my right knee they actually put a metal pin. My foot used to get tired very easily, so I would use my hands to do a handstand or do cartwheels whenever I wanted to get to another plane.
I remember my brother was a gymnast. He's the one we came up with the whole idea of me walking on my hands. He said, "Can you try a handstand?" So when I tried to do a handstand I just found myself going down on my elbow, and I went on the other elbow and my legs were just up, so I just began to do tricks with my hands.
When I was 14 years old my brother introduced me to dance. I was worried, but he comforted me. My mum said she didn't want it because my feet were not fit, too tense — one is three toes, another one is two. She asked, "Blessing, why are you doing this?" He said, "Mama, don't do it."
These new friends that I met when I started dancing really impacted my life because I was very shy; I grew up with a lot of fear just to be with people or to talk or say anything. I remember the first friend actually took me to his house to be with family, and for me there was something that had never happened in my life before. It gave me confidence. Some of the guys were already dancing before they saw my brother and they were like, "Can you come back and dance again with your brother?" So we went in for our first dance auditions. We just met up with these guys — it's like we'd never practiced together before and we just came up with something. We were by the DAO and we auditioned there in front of the judges, and we came out like one of the festive crew. They liked everything that we did that day. It was awesome.
I think the first time when I saw Blessing, we were doing a show. I saw this group — they're inmates — and I was like, "This is incredible. This guy needs to be taken to the world; the world needs to see this art because he's art in the making." People struggle just to do that and have to get that ability to implement those moves, and he's just doing it with ease. I'm like, "Bro, you are — you are setting the pack; you are setting the trend for what you do." I think out of my disability I found a unique ability. There's nobody that can do what this guy can do. Oh Lord, I think you gave me that sun for me to see something which is not seen in my life.
Filmmaker
Carolyn Sole is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Carolyn Sole.
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1 comment
Wow ... This Is An Awesome Filmshowing A Great Talent Well Done Blessing.