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'Stomp' cast rocks at school for deaf - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Poetically inclined people might say they listen to music with their hearts. The literal-minded, of course, would say they hear music with their ears.
But some people feel music all over, with their whole bodies -- the sound vibrations emanating through in the air and up from the floor. Of course, certain kinds of music are better for this kind of listening than others.
For the students at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, in Edgewood, the cast of "Stomp" are the real rock stars. So it was kind of a big deal when the full touring cast showed up for a performance at the school on Thursday afternoon.
"I like the noise," signed Megan Majocha, 10, of Plum, through a sign-language interpreter. "I feel it -- the vibrations in the chairs."
Since 1991, "Stomp" has brought its fast-paced, irreverent brand of dance, thunderous homemade percussion and physical comedy to stages all over the world. That includes Pittsburgh's Benedum Center, where they are performing through Sunday.
They did three quick numbers at the school, starting with head stomper Chris Rubio doing a jokey tap routine, which quickly turned into an eight-person chorus line of synchronized knee-slapping and stomping rhythms. Next, they dribbled basketballs. For the grand finale, it was a clamorous storm of homemade trashcan percussion.
There was scattered clapping from the students throughout, but applause at the school is mostly signified by raising your hands, palms open, and shaking your fingers. There was lots more of that.
"I was actually a little concerned how they'd hear us," said Rubio, afterward, who had never performed at a school for the deaf before. "But they were actually some of the best listeners we've had."
Of course, banging loudly on trashcans has a certain appeal for any kid.
A few of the students clearly were connossieurs of vibration -- or maybe just really observant. One asked during the question-and-answer session why all the performers wore the same shoes. They don't seem to -- they have several different styles of shoe -- but the soles are all the same.
"They're hard on the bottoms -- they make a loud noise," said Stomp cast member Elec Simon. "They're our instruments."
"Stomp"-mania at the school began when Amy Newland, the school's drama teacher, showed her class a tape of the "Stomp Out Loud" show from HBO.
"My room was rocking!" Newland says. "I didn't know how it would go over in my classroom. But my kids, when I showed it to them, just loved it. They were like, 'We want to learn how to do this.'"
She contacted the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, seeking information about possible student matinees. There weren't any, but the Trust has a program called Arts Masters, which helps set up workshops with touring companies at area schools.
"Sometimes it's a volunteer basis. Sometimes there's a fee," says Kathryn Heidemann, program manager of education and community engagement for the Trust. "'Stomp' volunteered."
After the show, a girl asked, through an interpreter, "Do you think it's possible to teach us to 'Stomp'?"
"If you can clap your hands, stomp your feet, and do triplets, you can do 'Stomp,'" Rubio said.
When asked what triplets were, he jumped up and clapped, followed with a quick stomp of each foot. He asked the students to try it.
Just about the whole room jumped up, the students clapping and stomping as fast as they could.
Now, there's a sound anyone can hear with their whole body.
Poetically inclined people might say they listen to music with their hearts. The literal-minded, of course, would say they hear music with their ears.
But some people feel music all over, with their whole bodies -- the sound vibrations emanating through in the air and up from the floor. Of course, certain kinds of music are better for this kind of listening than others.
For the students at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, in Edgewood, the cast of "Stomp" are the real rock stars. So it was kind of a big deal when the full touring cast showed up for a performance at the school on Thursday afternoon.
"I like the noise," signed Megan Majocha, 10, of Plum, through a sign-language interpreter. "I feel it -- the vibrations in the chairs."
Since 1991, "Stomp" has brought its fast-paced, irreverent brand of dance, thunderous homemade percussion and physical comedy to stages all over the world. That includes Pittsburgh's Benedum Center, where they are performing through Sunday.
They did three quick numbers at the school, starting with head stomper Chris Rubio doing a jokey tap routine, which quickly turned into an eight-person chorus line of synchronized knee-slapping and stomping rhythms. Next, they dribbled basketballs. For the grand finale, it was a clamorous storm of homemade trashcan percussion.
There was scattered clapping from the students throughout, but applause at the school is mostly signified by raising your hands, palms open, and shaking your fingers. There was lots more of that.
"I was actually a little concerned how they'd hear us," said Rubio, afterward, who had never performed at a school for the deaf before. "But they were actually some of the best listeners we've had."
Of course, banging loudly on trashcans has a certain appeal for any kid.
A few of the students clearly were connossieurs of vibration -- or maybe just really observant. One asked during the question-and-answer session why all the performers wore the same shoes. They don't seem to -- they have several different styles of shoe -- but the soles are all the same.
"They're hard on the bottoms -- they make a loud noise," said Stomp cast member Elec Simon. "They're our instruments."
"Stomp"-mania at the school began when Amy Newland, the school's drama teacher, showed her class a tape of the "Stomp Out Loud" show from HBO.
"My room was rocking!" Newland says. "I didn't know how it would go over in my classroom. But my kids, when I showed it to them, just loved it. They were like, 'We want to learn how to do this.'"
She contacted the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, seeking information about possible student matinees. There weren't any, but the Trust has a program called Arts Masters, which helps set up workshops with touring companies at area schools.
"Sometimes it's a volunteer basis. Sometimes there's a fee," says Kathryn Heidemann, program manager of education and community engagement for the Trust. "'Stomp' volunteered."
After the show, a girl asked, through an interpreter, "Do you think it's possible to teach us to 'Stomp'?"
"If you can clap your hands, stomp your feet, and do triplets, you can do 'Stomp,'" Rubio said.
When asked what triplets were, he jumped up and clapped, followed with a quick stomp of each foot. He asked the students to try it.
Just about the whole room jumped up, the students clapping and stomping as fast as they could.
Now, there's a sound anyone can hear with their whole body.
