Word: stompings
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...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...
...same time, Stomp is very definitely creating a "ritual" of sorts for the very culture it came out of. As McNicholas says, if people insist on deriving any message from Stomp, it should be "Do it yourself." (Using junk, household and industrial objects, by its very nature, challenges the issue of waste and challenges the notion of culture as being highbrow or detached," he says. "I.e., you don't have to buy a cello or a drum kit to make music...
...apparent sincerity of Stomp's creators and performers about making trash culture work for the masses, there's a certain cognitive dissonance involved in shelling out a significant amount of cash to an upscale theater like the Wilbur in order to watch dusty young people in work clothes dance on a paintsplashed stage. Like last season's dominant theatrical event, Rent the show provides the slightly eerie aesthetic of the glamorously rebellious youth and zero-budget art--an image which doesn't hold up when the viewer's gaze drifts from the stage to the well-heeled, occasionally slightly puzzled...
...ticket price and the philosophical conflicts can be overcome, Stomp is a show unequivocally worth checking out--if you have a love of percussion and a high tolerance for intensity and noise...