Legendary stunt man and bullwhip artist ALEX GREEN has been awarded the Brian Chic Whip Artistry Award,just days after passing away in Vancouver on July 21. The prestigious award is given to one person every year by the Society of American Whip Artistry in recognition of whip performing and teaching skills. In addition to these traits, Green also was an unsurpassed ambassador for whip cracking.

The award was given to Green posthumously at the Annie Oakley Days Festival in Greenville, Ohio by noted whip performer and teacher Gery Deer, coordinator of the bullwhip component of the festival.

The 68-year-old Green had battled liver cancer for the past year. Founder of Stunts Canada and co-founder of the Wild West Arts Club, Green gave more than 2,500 performances and appeared in numerous TV shows and films. He was the whip coach for Anthony Hopkins in 1998's "The Mask of Zorro."

Even from childhood, Green always knew he wanted to be in cowboy movies. He moved to Vancouver from Australia in the 1960s to look for work in Hollywood, eventually working with many of the great Western actors.

Always a gentleman who made time for others, Green was much respected and liked by all who met him, both personally and professionally. His willingness to share his knowledge of and passion for whip cracking helped set many of today's pro bullwhip artists on the right path.

On a personal note, I met him once, in Las Vegas at a WWAC convention, where he was enjoying events with his buddy Mark Allen (Western Stage Props) and whip great John Brady. After watching me perform a quick newspaper cutting routine with an 8-foot bullwhip which I made scarier by taking the hand-held scrap of paper down to postage-stamp size, he said only one word to me:"Impressive!"

That one nod of approval from a man I admired meant the world to me. It was a shining moment I have never forgotten.

While he and his wife never had children of their own, a whole generation of stunt men and women and whip performers can rightfully consider him a godfather of their art. His like will not pass this way again soon.

(Photo by: Headshot, StuntsCanada.com)

 

 

 

 

        

This is a real story.

The folks at America's Got Talent were flabbergasted when I declined their invitation to audition. The first time, the second time, the third time, with three different production assistants, by phone and email. It was inconceivable to them that I would not want to do it.

Let me see if I can explain my reasons: If I held a cow patty in one hand and a lump of gold in the other and said you could have only one, which one would you choose?

From what I see, most folks would grab the cow patty.

So if I ask you to pick between performing live and doing something for TV or film, can you see that I am giving you the same choice?

I'd rather perform live than for film or TV. Why? What is it that makes what I do in front of a real audience so much richer and more satisfying to me?

The risk of failure is profoundly greater, of course. You get one shot and you do it or you don't. You can't keep trying until you get it right.

It's a shared experience as it happens, for me and for the audience. It's got blood and bile and sweat and truth in it. The audience is an integral part of this creative and interpretive process, not merely a crowd of passive receptors. When a show is going well, the audience accepts what I'm putting out and returns it to me amplified, so I can take that energy and give it back to them again. It is an alchemical process.

It's a big gamble, every time, and there are no guarantees. Just like in life. And when it works, it works for everyone, back and forth. The TV camera itself can't give you that immediate, sensory feedback.

It's a high. And like sky diving or red-lining a motorcycle, it can be addicting. When I do a show or demo, I tingle, from my bones to my skin. When I don't do it for a while, I feel stuck and half alive, as though my real life was going on somewhere without me.

Maybe we're performers because we are endorphin junkies – I don't know. What I do know is that most addictions are negative – they sap you, drain you, consume you and give you nothing back but the desire to continue doing the thing more and more, whatever the cost.

But there are positive addictions, too. Things we do habitually, maybe obsessively, that ground us, reaffirm something in us, wake us up and strengthen us on many levels. Like jogging. Or meditating. Or braiding whip lashes. We can take such a moment's activity and carry it with us through each day as an asset, not as a liability.

Besides, there's this: if you do something for a camera, you can do it only once for the first time. If you appear on America's Got Talent, 12 million people see you and you will only repeat yourself from that moment on with that act. It's over and done.

If I do it live, each fresh audience experiences it anew for the first time. By repetition, it gets sharper and cleaner, and I get a hell of a lot more mileage out of my material. If I do a quick AGT routine for an audience of 250 people, that same material I could use only once for a single taped audience could give me 48,000 live shows. So – why would I want to be on AGT? I've got nothing to prove, and I'd have a hell of a lot more to lose than to gain from the experience. This one's a no-brainer.

Finally, I'm an unrepentant control freak. I enjoy feeling like I'm in the driver's seat. I don't have to worry about being edited, abbreviated or asphyxiated. I feel a lot like a bull fighter before I go on, making sure I'm dressed correctly, my equipment is ready, my mind is settled, my heart is pounding, and I am breathing through it. All this nervousness actually helps me sharpen up for a show because under it is the confidence that comes from knowing what I am doing. I can actually enjoy this transitory nervousness. Fear and excitement are the same thing physically, except with one you are breathing and with the other you are holding your breath. I think you can figure out which is which.

So for me, performing is like holding the Philosopher's Stone, that alchemical amulet that turns the lead in time itself into gold. Everything about it, from choreographing to practicing to rehearsing to presenting, contributes to my ongoing high of being alive in the world on my own terms.

With all respect to the folks at AGT, no game show contest on earth can give me that.

So, let's ask again: would you rather have the cow patty or the gold? Keep breathing, amigos. See you soon -

-Robert Dante-

 

        

Changes between now and the end of the year:
- Summer program (Bullwhips in the Open Field) at Walker Art Center is gearing up smoothly
- We've activated http://www.bullwhip.mobi , synopsizing our regular web site for cell phones and I-phones. It is unsophisticated (which means it downloads faster) and contains regularly updated information and schedules.
- Dante's Bullwhips is now an official supporting dealer of the Single Action Shooting Society. Our first ad appears in the Cowboy Chronicles in July.
- We have now resolved to make an entry into this blog and to bullwhip.mobi at least once a week (more often, if needed).
-Our new line of Indy-style entry-level bullwhips will shortly be available. Last year's introduction of the line proved successful enough for us to make this an ongoing part of Dante's Bullwhips' activities.
- Next week finds us in Kansas, and we continue to add updates to our calendar for new shows, demos, workshops and appearances between now and the end of the year. Calendar is current at http://www.bullwhip.net.
Remember - you heard it here first.
-RD-

        

Whip cracking goes public on five Sundays this summer with Dante's Bullwhips and the Minneapolis Bullwhip Academy taking part in the Walker Art Center's Open Field project in the Twin Cities.

Free and open to the public, the 5-session program introduces whip cracking to newcomers of all ages and gives members of the Minneapolis Bullwhip Academy a venue to enjoy whip cracking in the open air.

Whip cracking is a popular world-wide hobby, sport, and performing art in circus, stage and Wild West event. Some loaner whips will be available and eye protection will be provided. Children must have parents present. Each session is 30-45 minutes, followed by 30-60 minutes of whip practice. This ongoing event is free and open to the public (anyone can watch), but the number of active participants may depend on Dante's consideration of safety. Here are the dates:

• June 13, Sunday at 2pm - Session 1 - ABC: The Basics of Bullwhips
• June 20, Sunday at 2pm - Session 2 - Intermediate Whip Cracking: Slow & Fast Figure 8's, Flashes, Volleys, Two-Handed Routines
• June 27, Sunday at 2pm - Session 3 - Tricks 1: Impress Your Friends! Stuff You Can Do Right Now
• Aug 1, Sunday at 2pm - Session 4 - Tricks 2: Impress Your Audience! Stuff You Can Do with Practice
• Aug 15, Sunday at 2pm - Session 5 - Wind Up/Extra Help for Special Problems

The Walker Art Center's website is at http://calendar.walkerart.org/index.wac.

 

 

        

This fellow is going to be someone to watch for down the road.
(I also like that the word "Courage" makes a fine subliminal message from the far wall.)
Well done!

        

I love fan mail, but I really smiled at this one from Tonya Kay, the whip cracking beauty seen on many TV shows.

"Dante, I am loving your book!  I know it took me a long time to dive in, but that is sincerely about nothing more than other commitments.  Now I am having a ball and think you are too cool!"

And a tip of the top hat to you, too, Tonya. Thanks!

(Tonya Kay's web site is at http://tonyakay.com . A complete listing of her on-screen credits can be seen at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1800223/ . )

        

The Walker Art Center at 1750 Hennepin Ave. in Minneapolis launches a new summer program on June 3 - Walker Open Field, transforming its big green back yard into a cultural commons, a park celebrating the creative assets and collective knowledge that abound in the Twin Cities. This gives the Minneapolis Bullwhip Academy a place to crack whips under the open sky.

When Paul Cunningham, a local whip handler, told me about the program, I contacted Open Field Coordinator Sara Shaylie, and her response was both immediate and encouraging:

"I think your whip cracking and practicing demos would be a great addition to the Open Field."

Happily, I have experience putting together safety protocols, as I did at Pierce College, Dream Circus and Will Rogers State Park in the Los Angeles area and Sunset Park in Minneapolis.
 
Additionally, there will be an Open Field Bar & Grill available for us post-practice, featuring barbeque fare, house-made lemonades, local beers, and specialty martinis by Wolfgang Puck. Hours are Tuesday-Sunday, 11 am-5 pm, and Thursday, 11 am-9 pm. Activities will be subject to city and park regulations.

For more information, go to the Bullwhip Academy group on Yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bullwhip Academy

        

Robert Blake, Dutch whip cracker and street performer, knows how to make folks sit up. In this YouTube video of a European TV show, he banters with the show's host before getting down to business - and he does mean business! They don't speak English, but the whip sings in the universal language of fun and excitement.

        

I love the "Road" movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
Some are better than others, of course, but the 1940 "Road to Singapore" is one of my favorites.
In addition to the still funny inside jokes, it also features a little episode in which Anthony Quinn cracks a bullwhip at Dorothy Lamour as a club act with the flavor of an "Apache Dance," taking a cigarette out of her mouth (no CGI needed!) and doing wraps around her waist and hands.
Dorothy flinches just a little when the whip splits her cigarette, but she stands still for the flower-off-the-hairband shot. We do not see who is on the handle end, but the safety margin seems adequate, even if it appears close. 
When we do see Quinn with the whip, he seems to know what he doing, executing circus cracks, overhand flicks and side shots with ease and confidence.
Next time it's on TMC, check it out - Quinn's moment comes near the beginning, before Lamour teams up with our stalwart globetrotters in this film, the first installment in Paramount's most profitable movie series of the 1940s.
(And if you want to see the sequence for yourself, head on over to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6duJ9tfdmfA )