The Dancing Outlaw

Heute bin ich auf diesen interessanten Zeitgenossen gestoßen. Ein König des Tap Dancings.

This documentary short, produced for West Virginia public TV’s „Different Drummer“ series, introduces us to Jesco White, a hard-living, tap-dancing Boone County resident whose repeated run-ins with the law have interfered with his dream of becoming as renowned a „mountain dancer“ as his late father, D. Ray White. We meet Jesco’s three distinct personalities; the gentle and loving Jesse, the violent and dangerous Jesco, and the extremely strange Elvis. We also encounter various members of Jesco’s family, all nearly as eccentric as Jesco himself. Dancing Outlaw Jesco White is a tap-dancing, Elvis-impersonating, West Virginian, mountain-dwelling, white trash hick who stars in this entertaining documentary revolving around him living with his demons in the shadow of his murdered father.

Hier nun die Youtube-Videos zur Dokumentation:
Teil I

Teil II

Teil III

Teil IV

oder wer das ganze lieber im eigenen Abspielgerät anschaut:
http://rapidshare.com/files/62601391/dancingoutlaw.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/62599291/dancingoutlaw.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/62599893/dancingoutlaw.part3.rar

und hier der zweite Teil, Jesco geht nach Hollywood

Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood

The title says it all! but in case you need more…

This follow-up to „Dancing Outlaw“ feels far more unnatural than the original, but it’s just as fascinating. The short documentary follows West Virginia dance whiz Jesco to Hollywood, where he’s booked to perform on the TV show „Roseanne.“

Most of the scenes depicting Jesco in his native Boone County are blatantly staged. This seems a bit tacky at first considering that the strength of the first „Dancing Outlaw“ was the fact it approached Jesco on his own terms.

But the ’sanitized‘ depiction of Jesco ends abruptly once Jesco arrives on the sets of „Roseanne.“ Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold had been charmed by the first documentary and thought Jesco would be perfect for a ‚white trash/hick‘ show segment. At the time the episode filmed, her relationship with Tom Arnold was disintegrating. The venom exchanged between Roseanne and Tom on the sets is often excruciating to watch.

Roseanne, already in a heated spat with Arnold, flies into a rage when she sees Jesco’s prison-styled swastika tattoo. The couple takes public swipes at each other, now using Jesco as a scapegoat for what were obviously pre-existing problems. Oddly, the only person who carries himself with dignity is Jesco.

In the end, Hollywood can adore The Dancing Outlaw as a cult hero from afar, but they can’t accept Jesco on his own terms — which was the whole point of the first documentary. In a land of glitter and not gold, Jesco is just too real even for those who embrace controversy.

http://rapidshare.com/files/62605835/dancingoutlawii.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/62607371/dancingoutlawii.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/62607638/dancingoutlawii.part3.rar