(smooth hip hop music) (smooth hip hop music continues) - Peace, welcome to the Caged Birds show.

My name is Kash Gaines, dancer first and foremost.

I'm a director and the creator of the Caged Birds show.

The show is a catharsis as well as a mechanism for criticizing mass incarceration using street dance art forms.

Some dancers who weren't necessarily put behind bars even spoke about how an ankle monitor can be a form of bars that we don't see that follow you all around.

(soft music) (person giggles) (soft music continues) ♪ Said I couldn't do it ♪ Y'all said I couldn't do it ♪ Look at me now.

Lovin' it (smooth hip hop music) - What's up, man?

It's your boy Gee from Brooklyn, from Crown Heights.

Style is flexing, lot of high energy, raw street dance, got a battle style.

(smooth hip hop music continues) (upbeat hip hop music) (rapping in foreign lyrics) Lot of, like, pain in my style.

That's one.

A lot of energy.

(upbeat hip hop continues) (rapping in foreign lyrics) (disk scratching) (upbeat hip hop music continues) (upbeat hip hop music continues) Well, who taught me how to dance was (indistinct) from my neighborhood, which is Crown Heights, and people who taught him was his brother Jeezy and innovators like Bison, who do get low.

So it motivated me to wannna dance when I was a kid.

So I followed up and they took me to competitions and from there on, that was that.

(upbeat hip hop music) (upbeat hip hop music continues) So the style, like, bone breaking, it start...like you, you go through a lot of pain learning it.

So there is a painful part to it, but once you train and you train your arms and they get looser, you won't feel anything.

So then people see it, so they think you're in pain so they look away, you know what I mean?

But it's nothing like that.

It's all good.

I'm not putting my body in stress, you know what I mean?

I wouldn't be doing it if it was hurting me.

I just found a passion for it as far as everything.

But it's more like, I just wanted to learn more and unlock new talent.

So I could show the world, or people around me that it's possible to do something different, you know?

(upbeat hip hop music) (upbeat hip hop music continues) (upbeat hip hop music continues) The Caged Birds show, I'm kind of dancing and it's like cops trying to arrest me, but like I keep getting away and then like I finally get captured in the end.

(soft music) When I first met Kash, I was on the ankle monitor and I wasn't supposed to be out, but we shot a film anyway and I could have been arrested for that, but I still went and did it, 'cause I just love to dance.

So, if it's not anything productive like work or school or like emergency stuff, then you just have to be in.

Or if it's not the program you'll be inside and if it's not charged, then you face repercussions.

It is heavy but like I got used to it so like you have to shower with it.

It's crazy.

So once you get used to it, it becomes like a part of your leg.

So, I have to charge it and basically like charge it for like an hour next to the wall, you know?

So sometimes you might get booked out of town, so that's definitely gonna stop you from doing that.

I battled with it before and people see it like under my sweats.

It's very noticeable 'cause it's like huge, so.

- I first started filming dance 'cause I battled in a competition myself, against a crew who filmed the battle from their perspective and watched it even right after, but never posted the footage online.

And I felt as though I had won that battle but never got to see my success, or be able to share it.

So from that moment on, I promised myself that I would either film my own battles, or have a friend, or a professional come to film myself dancing so that I can control my own image and share it with the world how I wanted to share it.

- I showed the video to my program and then they liked it.

They thought it was positive, so they let me continue to go out and do positive things with the dance.

'cause I couldn't go nowhere if it wasn't for dance.

So, anything positive, it was very important, 'cause you never know what opportunities you might come across and you have to go across the country, so that's the number one thing.

You wanna always be free.

- In creating the theater show, we were supported by the nonprofit Works in Process, which allowed us to have a paid residency living in upstate New York, in peace and quiet at a place called Bethany Arts.

- I like Bethany, so it gives you peace of mind, lets you get creative.

Motivated by other artists that's there working on their pieces and you know what I'm saying?

It's just positive energy.

Nature is a big thing here, as you can see a lot of trees, it makes you think about a lot.

What you want to do with your next step.

We also get paid to be here, so that's a positive thing.

We don't gotta be out on the street doing nothing and trying to look for a space to practice, when it is here and you get the funds to take care of yourself while you're doing it.

(upbeat hip hop music) (upbeat hip hop music continues) (upbeat hip hop music continues) It's cold man.

Yeah, I don't just dance no more.

I'm teaching and I also battle around the world now.

I got to perform at the Guggenheim recently and it was a dope time.

It's actually different from battling because it makes you tap into your theatrical side more.

So I feel like it's a good experience though and I gained a lot of knowledge from performing there.

(ethereal music) I started rehearsing for Caged Birds and it opened me up using hula hoop and became a pretty good idea and it helped me win money.

So that's a good thing.

(slow hip hop music) I had the best punchline for the night with the hula hoop so, without Caged Birds I wouldn't have done that.

(Gee chuckles) I got Crow coming up.

He's a pretty good dancer from the West Coast, so for him, I'm just gonna have to practice like every day and make it my focus.

It's not like any other battle.

So, I have to come pretty strong.

I was living down South and I found two rescue dogs and they wound up becoming my best friend, like my kids so, and I just do whatever I can to take care of them and just keep going.

Yeah, they're big.

They're two years old now.

There's a lot of responsibility 'cause it's like having children similar, so yeah.

(dog barks) Yeah, my dogs motivate me to be a better person and give me energy in life.

Have something to look forward to.

(slow hip hop music) (slow hip hop music continues)