Saturday, April 15, 2017

Day 207 STOMP- Enjoy the Rhythm Made From Nothing and Everything



A beat produced from any source (a drum, a hand, or a can) is an instinctive way of human expression that  transcends all  language obstacles.  I think that is what makes  STOMP, a show that  focuses on sound and the creative  percussion of objects, so appealing.  My blog inspiration book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Bookrecommends that we, “make something from nothing”. That is just what happens in STOMP- everything and nothing is turned into a nonstop rhythmic experience!


Reflection
STOMP ran for 15 years in NYC as an off –Broadway show.  I can see why because it was 2 hours of continual energetic  percussion,  movement,  and  pantomime- like comedy.  I was amazed at the varied  recurrent patterns of sound  produced from ordinary things in combination with the stomping. The show opened with the swishing and pounding of brooms  and then moved to rhythms originating from body slapping and clapping,  sinks, cans,  sticks, basketballs, plastic tubs and more. It  all reached a crescendo with lighting speed pounding on huge inner tubes, garbage cans and lids and on signs above the stage.  At all times there was perfect rhythm and choreographed movement.


STOMP is all about making sounds from ordinary things and using them to visually entertain in a creative manner.  Lighters  became  instruments of rhythm and dancing patterns of lights. Shopping carts containing a box and a water cooler bottle, made clashing and hollow reputations as they glided, spun, and stacked across the stage.


Not a word was spoken during the entire show  but there was plenty of  pantomimic communication with the audience.  We laughed as the “clown character” had the  shortest stick or the biggest broom to use. The audience even participated in the rhythm by following  instructions to mimic the pattern of clapping.  

STOMP is a show that entertains with something as basic as pure percussion of  simple objects. This energetic show  reminds us that we all can make  something wonderful  out of  nothing or out of  very little.

 (STOMP runs from April 11 - 15, 2017  at the Benedum Center. It also continues on tour.)

Spiritual Source
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.
(Philippians 4:12)

Other Sources
Stomp/ Pittsburgh Cultural Trust https://trustarts.org/production/51057/stomp