Rache has been trying to organise a group outing to Stomp for some months now but something has always gotten in the way like lastminute losing the booking, dates clashing, tickets not being available etc. but finally we made it. Our tickets were in the nosebleed section but we still felt like we were part of the action. In fact any closer and I think I would have come away with a really big headache from the noise.
And Stomp is certainly noisy but in a good way.
Stomp is a dance group whose signature move so to speak is to use the body and objects to create a musical and rhythmic performance. Starting in Brighton nearly 20 years ago Stomp has toured all over the world and spawned numerous productions. I could understand the success having witnessed tonight’s show. It’s the type of performance that can be universally enjoyed. You don’t have to try to understand anything and in fact there is hardly any speaking to even listen to so all you have to do as an audience member is to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Stomp is composed of a series of pieces innovatively using all sorts of ordinary items including brooms, buckets, chairs, inner tubes, garbage pails, dust, poles, rubber tubes (not just rhythm but also musical tones), voices and even kitchen sink (or three!) There was also matchboxes, lighters, rubbish, and plastic bags. Somehow it all worked though I don’t know how.
There is high energy throughout with some crowd involvement, humour, and jumping all around the stage. Impressively no one person had a specialty and they all seemed to be able to pick up the rhythm and movement as required (though the really hot black acrobatic guy and the dance leader did have special roles.)
Though Stomp for the most part is an explosion of sound the ability of the cast to modulate the sound levels is pretty remarkable. But it wasn’t just sound – it was a very physical performance with things being slid across the stage, people sliding across the stage, items being thrown from one person to the next. The perfect sense of timing was astonishing to witness.
If there was one negative to Stomp it was that despite the ingenious use of items and the great physical aspect of the pieces each set had a sort of sameness to the performance. Its not that it all looked or sounded the same but there was an almost monotony to the show as we moved from one piece to another. Normally there will be a natural break – in musicals it will be a bit of speaking, in plays a scene change etc.
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show and great for a night out.
