DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704250801

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: DANCE REVIEW

SOURCE: BY SUE VANHECKE, SPECIAL TO THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   38 lines

DANCE TROUPE STOMP MAKES MAGIC FROM EVERYDAY OBJECTS

Trash cans, toilet plungers, everything but the kitchen sink - no, wait, there were a few of those, too.

The eight-member drum-and-dance corps of Stomp brought a full arsenal of everyday objects to Norfolk, to prove that rhythm is everywhere and music is where you make it.

The sweep of a broom, the rattle of boxed matches, the clomp of a work boot all became fodder for Stomp's exuberant percussion celebration.

Whether bashing out martial cadences on waist-mounted trash cans, shuffling and sliding with precision across a salted stage, or brandishing broomsticks, the group displayed intricate polyrhythms, ranging dynamics and stunning physical coordination.

Founded in England by a pair of street performers, Stomp stormed on Broadway in 1994 and has since expanded to three, and sometimes four, touring companies.

To its credit, the show has retained its edgy attitude: the dancers wearragged jeans and T-shirts; the scruffy set is metal scaffolding and sheets of corrugated tin; and the mood among the members is of playful one-upmanship.

Highlights Thursday were many: the inventive use of Zippo lighters, lengths of rubber tubing and sinks filled with water to create melody; a hilarious interlude crafted from coughs, sneezes and rattling newspapers; three members clogging with 50-gallon oil drums attached to their feet.

But the evening's climax was a spectacular segment that found four members swinging precariously from the scaffolding while pounding on an array of urban objects, from hub caps and street signs to fire extinguishers and propane tanks.

The cacophony was a can't-miss crowd pleaser, earning a pair of standing ovations from an audience that whooped, hollered and applauded its excited approval all evening.

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