Stomp

If you find this in anyway interesting you really need to get a life, or even better, a brain transplant. Watching people hit things with minor variations for over an hour is neither entertaining or artistic. Just because they charge for it doesn't mean it's worth paying for or that there's any meaning or depth to 'hitting things a lot' There is greater profundity and excitement in watching a filthy municipal refuse lorry hydraulically chew last week's refuse into unknowable volumes. If you like Riverdance you'll love this as it's just as mindless. And no the dance routines aren't that difficult - it's just a lot of people doing the same thing at the same time with minor syncopation when even they mange to get bored. If you detect some vitriol it is only because I know there are much more deserving artists out there that could do with exposure over this inane, asinine, drivel.

STC (Unverified), 22/11/12

With the fairly recent craze of street dance groups, the performance tonight proved that Stomp is clearly a pioneer act. The show itself has been running for over 20 years, and it isn’t surprising when you see how fresh and engaging a spectacle it still is.

The performance was varied, exciting, and never predictable. Just when you think the instruments cannot get any more outlandish, out come a parade of giant, inflatable, rubber rings swinging from the waists of the dancers, who pummel them with sticks. Another highlight was a ‘trolley song’, (although not the Judy Garland variety) where the performers played out a beat with trolleys whilst simultaneously gliding across the stage in a  sort of supermarket ballet.

The dances shifted from intense and tribal-esque, with long intimidating shadows dancing across the walls, to intimate and silly, where you almost don’t want to applaud in case you interrupt the beat. There was a good amount of humour, which was unexpected. The comedy was well spread out during the performance and definitely added to it. Even clearing the stage between dances was done in a rhythmic and often comical fashion, so there was never a dull moment.

The performers themselves had real personality and were impeccably disciplined throughout. They were also incredibly versatile; one minute they’d be menacingly stamping their feet like wrestlers, the next they’re smacking sticks like deranged, urban Morris Men.

The music was infectious, a real treat for the ears, and I was desperate to join in all the way through; my feet were tapping maniacally and it was all I could do not to start rhythmically drumming the head of the bald gentleman sat directly in front of me. So it was definitely a relief when the audience were invited to join in clapping, clicking and stamping for the encore. Everyone in the audience clearly enjoyed themselves; it would be very difficult not to. 

Helen Mills (DI Reviewer), 02/10/12