00:00All right, before we start using the M16, there's a couple things you need to know and think about.
00:20The first thing and the most important is to keep your finger straight and off the trigger.
00:23The second thing is to make sure you do not point this rifle at anyone you do not intend to shoot.
00:31I know they're props, but for me, that's a huge thing.
00:36Then, we start shouldering the weapon.
00:40Once we shoulder the weapon, you want to think about a couple of things.
00:44Nice, strong stance.
00:47Making yourself as small of a target as possible.
00:49Your eye gaze is looking right over the top of the sights at your target.
00:57You're going to take that nice pivot, trying not to bounce as much as you can.
01:03Then, from here, you transition, run, slam against the wall, heels down, arms come down, and then you start the stomping pattern.
01:19Up, and up, and bend, and up, and fall, and up.
01:27Up, and bend.
01:29I didn't grow up wanting to be a dancer.
01:32I wanted to become an engineer or do something with math.
01:36But, at the end of high school, I started taking classes in hip-hop, and jazz, and ballet.
01:46I loved being on stage.
01:48I loved the rehearsal process in the community, the opportunity to express myself.
01:52Come in this way, arms.
01:54I didn't see being a dancer as a career.
01:59I wanted to make a bigger, positive impact in the world, and to help others.
02:07I thought the quick and easy way to do that was to step into the recruiter's office and sign on the dotted line to join the United States Marine Corps.
02:18And we're there. Good. Relax.
02:21Yeah, guys. Really, really, really nice job.
02:23The image of a Marine is this hardcore, take-no-crap individual who would basically mow down the door in order to achieve their objective.
02:36In Fallujah, when we got into the war zone, there was a clear set of rules that we had to follow with the people in Iraq.
02:44We were trained to be aggressive, to survive.
02:50But we were also among civilians that you're trying to help.
02:57How do you be a Marine in a war zone and a human being at the same time?
03:04That created a lot of conflict inside of me.
03:07Dance and choreography has allowed me to go back and to try and make sense of both the right and the wrong of what happened.
03:19Dance and choreography has allowed me to go back and to try and make sense of both the right and the wrong of what happened.
03:37Dance and choreography.
03:54Dance and choreography.
03:58Dance and choreography has been set on board in 2014.
04:01Dance and choreography.
04:32When I got back from Iraq, I remember this escalation of anger.
04:59I didn't see this.
05:01Other people saw the effects of war in me.
05:08My wife noticed that I was angry, that I was anxious, that I was struggling with depression, anxiety.
05:17It wasn't me anymore, and she was afraid of who I was.
05:22I assumed that she was just going to leave.
05:27And instead, she said, I want to help you.
05:37She said, if you could do anything in the world, what would you do?
05:40And I told her I'd start a dance company.
05:45And I remember her looking at me and saying, okay, let's do it.
05:49We get to the intrepid, like that big control tower is going to be here.
05:52Okay.
05:53Then we're going to put the stage here.
05:57So you're talking, then Everett, right into sometimes silence.
06:01You're going to need a pause before conflicted for costume changes.
06:12We started Exit 12 to showcase the experience of war through dance.
06:17The competition of being a small dance company in New York City is intense.
06:25The numbers are automatically against you.
06:30Everybody's vying for dancers.
06:31Everybody's vying for performance space.
06:33Everybody's vying for funding.
06:35On top of trying to sell tickets, one of the biggest challenges is sufficiently articulating
06:43what it is that we do in a way that attracts an audience.
06:48Dance show on the intrepid?
06:50Would you like to see a dance show on the intrepid?
06:53Ballet performance?
06:56You want to see a show about the military on the intrepid?
06:59It's a dance performance.
07:00We use choreography as a way to talk about the experience of serving.
07:05Are you a better?
07:06I am.
07:07I served in the Royal Corps in 2005, 2006.
07:09Will you be in the show?
07:11I will be in the show.
07:12Wow.
07:12I'd love to see you there.
07:13Okay, sure.
07:14I'll try.
07:15I'm going to be in town.
07:16Awesome.
07:16And I try to make that.
07:18Doors open at 6?
07:19Yeah, no problem.
07:204 before 7 is perfect.
07:22Okay.
07:23And thank you for your service, sir.
07:28She's not partnering you.
07:30She's not partnering with her.
07:33Stop.
07:33Stop.
07:34Stop.
07:35It's really big.
07:35Bouncy.
07:36Bump.
07:37Bump.
07:37Bump.
07:38Stretch.
07:39Stretch.
07:39Push.
07:40Push.
07:40Push.
07:40Push.
07:41Push.
07:47My son, Jake, went to basic training directly from high school.
07:53Sam, he was only 17.
07:56We had to sign for him.
07:57Breathe that.
07:58Nice.
07:59Oh, nice.
08:01Beautiful.
08:05They ended up being deployed together.
08:08We took them to the airport, and they went to board onto the plane.
08:14Both of them turned around, and they waved.
08:16And my knees just buckled.
08:24I think it finally sort of hit me that they might not come back.
08:29When my boys were deployed to Afghanistan, it was like they shut the lights out.
08:42I couldn't see where they were.
08:49I couldn't feel where they were.
08:51I couldn't experience where they were.
08:54I couldn't experience where they were.
08:54I couldn't take the flashwar.
08:57But they'd be nice.
08:58I couldn't...
08:59Couldn't guess.
09:00Of being able...
09:01I couldn't get lost in that dark dark place.
09:03Yeah.
09:03Ugh.
09:04dark place.
09:12You have no idea what it is to wake up in the morning and wonder if your children are
09:16alive.
09:34Does he have hair?
09:35He has two.
09:36Two hairs?
09:37No, he has a lot of hair.
09:39Look at all the hair there.
09:40Alright.
09:41This is his Italian hair.
09:50Every morning, every day, every moment I thought about them.
10:04We are dead.
10:05There is a beautiful line.
10:07And a beautiful domain.
10:09If you move on to the outside, he has a room for any of us.
10:12That is the natural life of Miami.
10:15He is old.
10:16He has a beautiful place.
10:17He has a beautiful heart.
10:18You are dead.
10:19He was dead.
10:20Hallmark, he is dead.
10:22I did not get it.
10:23All of us are dead.
10:24He is dead.
10:25He is dead.
10:27He is dead.
10:29The name is dead.
10:30He is dead.
10:31ORGAN PLAYS
11:01ORGAN PLAYS
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12:55ORGAN PLAYS
12:57ORGAN PLAYS
13:01AND
13:05ORGAN PLAYS
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13:11I was at the end of my rope, wondering if this was the right choice, wondering if we could make it.
13:19And then, two Marines close to me took their own lives.
13:25One of them was one of my platoon mates in Fallujah.
13:31After that, I decided that I wanted to do more than just performances.
13:36And that's when we started doing veteran workshops.
13:52Military training is extremely powerful.
13:55It affects not only the body, but the mind.
14:02In boot camp, you're taught these repetitive movements.
14:07And it's designed to train anyone, ultimately, how to kill.
14:12The problem with that is, after service, how do you make that part of the training disappear?
14:21I'm going to introduce five words to you.
14:24I want you to put gestures to those words.
14:28You go back to your military training and let them inspire what you do.
14:34With dance, we can transform our experiences and start to loosen that training.
14:53And we can hopefully move on.
14:56That's when I'm doing it.
15:00In the world, the wind keeps falling out.
15:08And we can also Ilene.
15:09I was sent to Vietnam in the spring of 1969, 245th Surveillance Airplane Company.
15:39One night, a rocket blew up very close to me, and we all got stuck.
15:47I was in a total panic.
15:53Never in my life had I imagined I would fail under fire.
15:59And it broke me.
16:10When I came home from war, I was having a very hard time.
16:16Lots of depression, lots of drugs, suicide attempts.
16:21And it went on for years.
16:26Writing and expressing myself has been what's kept me from returning to the darkest places.
16:36There's a liberating energy to it.
16:39It releases things inside of us.
16:49I still struggle with addiction and serious depressions.
16:57Nowadays I spend my time with vets with problems, vets who are suffering.
17:04I want to reassure them that no matter what their situation, deep inside of them there
17:10is a spirit of life that wants to keep moving forward.
17:18That is my purpose.
17:20Because I believe life wants to live.
17:23It is as simple as that.
17:26Life wants to live.
17:30Drug.
17:31Kill.
17:32Drug.
17:33Kill.
17:34Drug.
17:35Kill.
17:36Drug.
17:37Kill.
17:38Drug.
17:39Kill.
17:40Drug.
17:41Kill.
17:42Drug.
17:43Kill.
17:44Order.
17:45Order.
17:46Order.
17:47Order.
17:48Order.
17:49Order.
17:50Order.
17:51Order.
17:52Order.
17:53Order.
17:54Order.
17:55Order.
17:56Order.
17:57Order.
17:58Order.
17:59Order.
18:00Order.
18:01Order.
18:02Order.
18:03Order.
18:04Order.
18:05Order.
18:06Order.
18:07Order.
18:08Order.
18:09Order.
18:10Order.
18:11Order.
18:12Order.
18:13Order.
18:14Order.
18:15Order.
18:16Order.
18:17Order.
19:52You guys got this.
19:53Let's go again.
19:54Hurrah!
20:00Pursuing a career in the arts has been incredibly challenging.
20:05But the thing that gives me motivation to keep going is the people we're impacting and seeing
20:12that through performance.
20:14I think the image of a service member, of a Marine, of a soldier, of a veteran is misunderstood.
20:27You can't put a veteran in a box and say this is what they are.
20:45The effects of war on individuals are so massive and diverse, just like the population that
20:54serves.
20:55Every story is not being told and every voice is not being heard.
21:12Veterans are emboldened when they are able to share their lives with not only other veterans,
21:22but other people.
21:25I was incredibly proud of earning the title United States Marine.
21:40The time I spent in Iraq changed who I am.
21:46This work and this community of veterans has helped me understand who I've become.
22:10And I did so.
22:23The people later whom I was at the Lord behind me began to be able to be able to enjoy a lot of
22:25the people I've seen in Israel that were really out of my community.
22:30And the people who have seen me and been isolated at the moment.
22:35The people who have had the help of the people I came in for their lives with my friends
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