Infectious Pulse Will Leave You Speechless
June 13, 2003By JEFFREY R. SIPE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
"Pulse: a STOMP Odyssey" is about as much fun as an "educational" movie can be.
A worldwide tour of percussive performance, the movie is a thumping, chanting, heady—and wordless—tribute to the eternal magic of rhythm.
The charming, if mute, guide to this tour is Keith "Wild Man" Middleton, a Brooklyn-born member of the "STOMP" phenomenon, stage shows based entirely on percussion created with feet, hands, matchsticks, garbage cans and scores of other everyday objects.
The stage shows incorporate dancers from around the world in tribute to the fluid cultural influences they represent; the movie puts those influences in the spotlight.
From the Winchester Cathedral Bellringers to the Kodo drummers of Japan, the big screen throbs with dramatic visuals and big, big sound.
The Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps meets the Jackie Robinson Steppers in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge; a 200-piece Brazilian drum troupe serenades residents on city streets; Hindus in Kerala, India, perform an exuberant salute to a row of gold-clad elephants.
It is head-spinning stuff, punctuated with melodious spots, as when "new flamenco" artist Eva Yerbabuena dances on a Grenada rooftop.
"Pulse" speaks to the musician in everyone who has ever yearned to bang a drum or rap a beat.
