He’s been dancing to his own beat for years at a busy intersection in Sherwood Park. Now, the 21-year-old curbside performer has been told to park it by police.
If you’ve driven in Sherwood Park, the street corner at Baseline Road and Sherwood Drive probably looks a little empty. That’s because it’s missing its dancing man, who’s typically seen with his helmet and longboard.
The dancer is 21-year-old Caden Skelton.
He’s been stationed at the corner for a couple of years. Skelton took to dancing on the street after he suffered a brain injury while riding on an electric longboard without a helmet.
“I just started getting back on the board less than a month after I got out of the hospital, and just decided, you know what, I’m going to bust down a boogie on my board,” said Skelton.
Skelton chose that spot in Sherwood Park because of the volume of traffic that passes through that area each day.
“I was able to impact the kids that had a bad day at school. I could impact the bus drivers that they’re just like, hum drum day, got nothing better to do, ‘Oh look there’s a guy dancing right there, yeah,'” said Skelton.
But Skelton’s no longer moving his feet after receiving $1,500 worth of tickets from Strathcona County RCMP.
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“They gave me a stunting ticket. They told me if I dance again (I’m) going to be arrested or given another ticket. If I sing again I’m going to be arrested or given another ticket,” he said.
Strathcona County RCMP tell Global News they received multiple public complaints regarding dancing at a busy intersection.
“Our primary concern is and will remain public safety, both for the individual and for motorists and pedestrians using the roadway,” said Const. Cheri-Lee Smith with the Strathcona County RCMP.
“In this instance, enforcement became necessary only after repeated efforts to address the safety concerns through education and communication were unsuccessful. ”
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Skelton says it feels targeted.
“They’re not giving tickets to anyone else doing what I’m doing or a different form of what I’m doing, but they’re only giving it to me,” he said.
“There was room for compromise. I was working with the superintendent and the chief of police on things, and we came to an agreement. I said, all right, I’ll work with you guys on this. Officers have decided to step over that.”
The 21-year-old also dances in front of Sherwood Park restaurant, Sunny Side Up, and they’re disappointed their dancing egg will be missing.
“They love him. People come in, they’re like, ‘We came in because of this guy, because he’s making us smile,'” said Sunny Side Up owner Monika Lavelle.
Although they may be a little biased, his family and friends will also miss him dancing on the corner.
“When he first started to dance on the corner, I probably was the same reaction as some people, like that’s a little strange. But you know what, after a while, I started seeing the posts, the positive posts and hearing stories of how he’s been really bringing joy to people, it just really warmed my heart,” said Debbie Banks, Skelton’s grandmother.
One of his friends, Arlen Dueck, was just a supporter of his dancing at first, and their friendship blossomed after seeing the impact he had on people each day.
“That’s so cool, he’s doing that, that makes my day, that makes my friends’ day, my family’s day. It brings joy to our life, it brings happiness, seeing someone expressing themselves in that way,” Dueck said.
Skelton hopes he can resolve this situation with the RCMP and get back to dancing.
“It’s almost telling me, ‘We don’t want you to be doing this, we want you to be normal,’ but being normal is no fun,” he said.
People trying to blame the drivers or the complainants are purely ignorant because they completely prioritize a stranger’s fleeting attention-seeking over the actual lives of innocent commuters. They treat a high-speed traffic intersection like a harmless stage, utterly failing to understand that a vehicle weighing thousands of pounds traveling at highway speeds leaves exactly zero room for a driver to be distracted by erratic, unpredictable movement on the curb.The absolute height of their stupidity is that they act as if the danger is a joke or an exaggeration. The reality is that dancing at a major intersection corner is an objectively terrible, life-threatening idea. These defenders are so deeply wrapped up in their own delusion that they will never comprehend the physical danger until the worst-case scenario unfolds: either this dancer gets violently struck by a car or his antics cause a massive, fatal pileup.By that time, it will be entirely too late. Lives will be permanently ruined or ended just so someone could put on a stunt for a green light. Yet, even when that blood is on their hands, these ignorant enablers will still try to dodge accountability and twist the truth rather than admitting they defended a public hazard.
We need more people like this bringing uplifting positive vibes to the community. If you find him distracting. You probably shouldn’t have a license.
Where are the priorities?
A bum on the meridian begging for money all day is ok but singing and dancing is not?
Just anther day for the very corrupt RCMPIGS
At least he’s trying to entertain, unlike the folks standing on meridians with cardboard signs. Yet nothing is being done to clear those up. Before Trudeau, they were few and far between. Now they’re at every intersection.
Let him dance, the world needs more of what he is doing!
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Section 2(d)) protects your right to associate with others. This allows you to gather, form groups, and hold events, including dancing at a street corner, as long as those activities are peaceful and follow local municipal laws.
I’ve seen Caden at the corner a few times. He always brings a smile to so many faces. It’s very much a vocal minority complaining. I for one will miss the times I saw him. One bad day, seeing him was the only time I smiled. I hear people are rallying behind him this weekend.
Who are the people complaining about this man?! What’s to complain about?Shame on you and on the RCMP. I loved seeing him. Made me smile.
If you’re THAT distracted by someone dancing at an intersection, you maybe should quit driving. Dude’s minding his business and making people smile, leave him alone.
Shame on the person or people who complained! And shame on the RCMP for ticketing him for dancing! I don’t see them giving tickets to people for panhandling in the intersections. He was doing it to put a smile on people’s faces, and wasn’t hurting anyone. We love seeing the dancing guy!
I think he.is an attention seeking idiot but that isnt illegal.
The RCMP.should focus.its resources on serious issues
But its ok for homeless addicts to stand on the busy intersection dividers with signs begging for money and trying to make eye contact? What a warped world we live in, and to the people who have complained about this young man being a distraction? Get a life!
Danger to others? A distraction for drivers? I have seen hordes of striking government union workers on sidewalks creating more disruption that this guy doing a little dance.
Where are the people that demand the province keep the RCMP instead of an Alberta Police Force made up of community residents instead of RCMP officers assigned to Alberta from other provinces like Quebec for a three year term? Maybe if we have officers that have lived their lives in a community would have more of a sense of care in a situation like this instead of the iron boot of the law.
how about target actual criminals.
Strathcona County RCMP have a poor reputation. This kind of prove that. Dangerous? Not more so than if someone is waiting to cross. If it is true that have been complaints, then those individuals need to light up.
Are they ticketing the people that are in the dangerous position of, the middle island, pan handling?
Must be time for promotions. Writing a ticket counts an arrest, the more arrests the the officer looks.
Really, $1500 in tickets for dancing? Stunting? He is not break dancing or doing backflips by the side of the road. His feet are barely moving. Safety? He is on a large crossing island where hundreds of people safely wait for the lights to change. With his helmet on he is safer than anyone else out there. A distraction? As a driver you should always be scanning the area around you for pedestrians. Harassment? For sure. The police aren’t giving tickets to sports fans on the sidewalk holding signs or politicians at the side of the road waving to their supporters. The joy of many has been taken away by the complaints of a few grouches.
Pretty pathetic, the rcmp endorse him and gift him a jersey last year and this year harass and ticket him because someone with nothing better to do complains. Really people, he was hurting nobody. Sorry your brain was not capable of focusing on other things. Maybe we should ticket the rabbits around here to for distracting the stupid!
People are complaining about a guy dancing in Sherwood park!
I’d rather have him entertaining than the dogs running around deficating & urinating everywhere!
No one seems to be accountable on feces around our neighbourhoods!
People need to have respect for themselves rather than complain on stupiidity
Focus on driving, not driving without stopping/through stop signs, speeding on streets!
That’s a big Safety hazard !
Seriously? I always smiled when I saw him dancing? Who complains about something like this? You really need to Get a life!!!