Word: stomped
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Stomp seems to be serious about its philosophy. In performance, it really does make startling, beautiful use of the unexpected. The opening act sets the tone for the rest of the show: A young man, wearing a scruffy work shirt and jeans splattered with paint, enters from the wings, pushing a large broom before him across the dusty floor. Evidently intrigued by the noises made by the rhythmic swish of the broom's bristles against the floor, he begins to experiment with its tempo and pressure, resulting in swishes and taps of varying pitch and loudness...
...hour-and-a-half of Stomp consists of a seamlessly interwoven series of such acts. All have their basic conception in common--the creation of dynamic sound and movement from strong bodies and everyday objects--but there's surprising variety among those numbers. One long-haired, bandanna-wearing cast member performs a high-powered solo number for two feet and two brooms; four ornery performers challenge each other to outdo one another in playing matchbooks like maracas. We get solo tap-dancing in heavy work boots, a symphony with drugstore-issue plastic bags and an impressive spotlight number in which...
...Stomp also has the ability to push the viewer into a kind of synaesthesic high--there's a remarkable thrill that comes from watching something that's more than just a combination of dance with musical production. Instead, the movement becomes the music, and the rare thrill that that generates is something which much be demonstrated to be understood...
...creativity, technical perfection and cumulative power aside, what really makes Stomp work moment-to-moment is the power and energy of its performers. This is contact dancing--a wrong move can occasionally lead to an impact injury--and it's no-holds-barred drumming as well. The musical implements are wielded by their players with such ferocity that broom heads actually snap off and poles break in half more than once during the performance; without missing a beat, a replacement is immediately tossed in from the wings...
...vibrancy and power of these rhythmic beats create a stirring in the blood which clearly fires up the audience, and Stomp is often described as possessing a "primal" appeal on this level, or in terms of a universal "ritual" of rhythm. Its creators acknowledge that fact, adding that the show is influenced by a variety of different cultural incarnations of rhythm--ranging from Japanese and African drumming traditions to American tap dance--but that the language of rhythm seems to be universal...