Stomp - Sadlers Wells Theatre - Tuesday 2nd April, 2002<P>This was my first experience of seeing Stomp live after only having seen snippets of their performances on TV over the last few years. The atmosphere was quite infectious and the audience, who were predominantly families and young people in their 20's and 30's certainly got into the mood and spirit of the performance from the first swish of a broom.<P>From my experience of the performance the moments that worked best for me were some of the more subtle rhythms. I loved the plastic tubes and the spinning water bottles and the build up of the brooms at the beginning where you could really feel and see the rhythms building up. It was moments like these where you felt any sense of dance coming in as floor patterns were used and a sense of dynamics came into play, both in sound and movement. I would have liked to have seen more of this type of movement and sound interplay as I felt that as the performance progressed there was too much sitting and making sounds to classify this as a dance performance. I asked the friends with me to classify the performance and overwhelmingly they described it as music rather than dance but said the bits that included more complex movement were by far their favourites and they would also have liked to have seen more of this.<P>All the ideas were ingenious and I would certainly view doing my houysehold chores in a completely different light, however I felt that after about an hour the performance had run its' course for me. I was probably in the minority and I'm not denying that it is a very clever and rhythmically demanding show and I did on the whole enjoy it.<P>It is also a performance that throws up the age old question as to what is dance? I'm sure I will be challenged on this one but it needed more contrast if movement and sound to make it a truly satisfying evening.<p>[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited April 04, 2002).]

Review in The Evening Standard.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>It is hard to remember that Stomp has been around for more than a decade. In 1991, a wonderful oddity burst out of the Edinburgh Fringe: not really a concert, not quite dance, definitely not performance art. Today, Stomp has become an entertainment industry. There is a Stomp company in New York, where they have been playing for eight years; there are four more touring companies, and talk of a West End run later this year. <P><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/hottx/theatre/dance_review.html?in_review_id=482427" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

<P>You can read all you want to know about "Stomp" on their <A HREF="http://www.stomponline.com/" TARGET=_blank><B>nice website</B></A> with a great front page.<P>Judith Flanders in the ES wrote:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>If Stomp has a larger point than just playing with rhythm in good, all-round family entertainment, then it is that art can be found everywhere. It doesn't take a Stradivarius, or the Royal College of Music, to make a musician: it just takes the desire.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well actually, when you read the biogs of the performers, it takes years at places like the Laban Centre, various music colleges and experience in a wide range of dance and music shows. These guys and gals are professionals and make no mistake.<P>My view of the show, which I saw on Wednesday, is very similar to yours Joanne. Some good pieces and I agree with your list, but 90+ minutes of eccentric percussion is perhaps a bit too much. I thought of my favourite popular dance/theatre shows like 'Cirque Eloise' which created some emotional magic along the way; 'Circus Oz', where there is more variety; 'Tapdogs' which has a lot more dance, which would appeal to me I guess. On the percussion front, the Kodo Drummers, the War Drummers of Burundi (of which I heard a few echoes in 'Stomp') or a good samba band would generate more excitement in this punter.<P>But there are things to enjoy and the clown figure, who looks like an accomplished tap dance, does well. If you want to see it book quickly, as my mid-week performance was almost full and word of mouth should push sales further.<BR><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited April 11, 2002).]

I agree it is not easy to create the complex rhythms that they were creating and that shouldn't be downplayed at all. Just some more variety of form would have pleased me.

Article in The Scotsman on an ex Stomp performer encouraging boys to get involved in dance through some workshops.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A FORMER star of smash show Stomp has helped to turn dozens of Lothian schoolboys into dance fanatics. <P>Manchester-based Peter Francis held a series of workshops at four primary schools in East Lothian this week. <BR><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=545422002&rware=OCRDQSFJVYLV&CQ_CUR_DOCUMENT=1" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

Article in The FT.

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