Trash dance
The push brooms, the garbage can lids and the plungers have been making beautiful music off-Broadway for more than 10 years.
“Stomp,” the all-percussion extravaganza, has also wowed Spokane audiences twice before, in 1998 and 2000. It returns for a third engagement of four shows Friday and Saturday.
So we put the question to Lorraine Le-Blanc, longtime “Stomp”-er: After all of these years, does “Stomp” still romp?
“When I left the show (briefly) in 2000, I kind of wondered how long it would continue,” said Le-Blanc, who is also the show’s rehearsal director. “But the way it’s going, I think ‘Stomp’ has become a new language. Someone told me that in performing arts applications, under dance background, people are putting ‘tap,’ ‘classical,’ ‘ballet’ and now ‘stomping.’ ”
Not only that, but “Stomp” has spawned a whole new genre of shows.
“I know ‘Tap Dogs’ was taken from ‘Stomp,’ ” said Le-Blanc. “And ‘Blast!’, even though they use drums, it has the same sort of energy. So I think ‘Stomp’ has a long life left in it. It’s always accessible to the audience, and that’s never going to change.”
She used the phrase “even though they use drums” because “Stomp” never uses an actual drum. Creators Luke Creswell and Steve McNicholas conceived this show as a celebration of the percussive possibilities of household items, including poles, mops, hammers, newspapers, matchbooks, hubcaps and various other items that clang, clash and pop.
New routines are added all the time.
“In the last couple of months, we put in a basketball routine and a routine with folding chairs,” said LeBlanc. “They (Creswell and McNicholas) have a feel for when to add new things. It’s also for the performers — some have been doing the show for five years. … It keeps the performers on their toes.”
This North American tour features one of four “Stomp” companies. Another is touring Europe and the others are in New York and London’s West End. The company travels with 12 performers, eight of whom appear in any one performance.
Not all are trained percussionists. In fact, Le-Blanc had “never picked up sticks” until she was hired for “Stomp” in 1997. She comes from a dance background, which is every bit as important. “Stomp” is as much about movement as it is about rhythm.
“I’ve worked with a lot of modern dance companies, which I’ve found really frustrating because our bodies are used as tools, as technicians,” said Le-Blanc. “We’d be doing this stuff that looked amazing with our bodies, but it had no connection or relationship with the music.”
With “Stomp,” the connection between the music — that is, the rhythm — and the movement is direct.
“People hear music and it makes them move their bodies,” said Le-Blanc. “I love that connection.”
She became a “Stomp”-er after a friend saw the show in New York and told her she would be perfect for it. She went to an audition in London, where she had a career as a West End dancer, and landed the gig based on her movement skills.
“It was hard work, learning the percussion,” she said. “I never thought I’d be able to do it. But with practice and hard work, I’m able to ‘Stomp.’”