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He who dances on wood

6 minutes

Late in life, Fred finds joy – and a ‘rhythm in all things’ – through tap dance

‘I just be silent, because I know I found my joy. It’s not Jesus, not Allah. It’s a piece of wood. What else can I say?’

After buying tap-dancing shoes for his son on a whim, Fred Nelson found himself enraptured by tap, which quickly became a central part of his identity and life philosophy. In He Who Dances on Wood, by the US director Jessica Beshir, Nelson explains how the powerful catharsis and renewal he feels through tap-dancing on a simple block of wood is something close to transcendent, and why there’s joy in learning new things even as he’s ‘about to leave the world’.

Director: Jessica Beshir

Website: BRIC TV

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Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking.
But we can’t do it without you.

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview.
But we can’t do it without you.

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