The performers of Stomp did just that as well as bumped, thumped, tapped, clapped, drummed, hummed, rapped, tapped, soft-shoed and swept their way through six performances last week at the Paramount on the Seattle stop of their U.S. tour.
Stomp evoked a kind of democracy not only by the broad appeal to audiences of all ages and backgrounds as evidenced by the diverse crowd populating the seats on opening night, but in its fabled ability to turn everything into a percussion instrument; Stomp coaxed rhythm from garbage cans, metal chairs, paint buckets, performers' bodies, plastic bags, brooms sweeping sand, even the kitchen sink.
All of the performers displayed skills not only as percussionists, but as dancers, comedians and mimes. But the true beauty of Stomp lies in the clockwork precision with which the performers work as an ensemble. They executed the playful and child-like choreography with an appearance of haphazardness that made it all look easy
The nearly two-hour performance included many notable pieces. In a martial arts inspired dance with bo (fighting staff), the performers cast gigantic shadows on the theater walls putting the audience in the middle of the action. A couple of humorous pieces, one involving flexible tubes and the other sinks, evoked the mildly sexual innuendos of a gathering of adolescents (mine is bigger than yours) while creating precision tones through the clever use of the physics of water, air and volume. In another inventive piece, the performers turned "trash" (plastic bags, straws and paper cups) pulled out of a garbage bag into musical instruments. Zippo lighters clicked on and off in precision sequence worthy of a drill team in yet another piece. Performers also "played" newspapers, push brooms, tractor tire inner tubes, paint cans worn as elevator shoes.
Stomp's broad accessibility and appeal did draw some audience members whose rowdy appreciation of the performance was more appropriate to a sporting event. But in the words of one fellow audience member from the next row, the performance was "Aaawriiight!"[[In-content Ad]]
