Bare Soundz

31 Aug 2010-05 Sep 2010 ,

Theatre

Improved image coming soon!

First published on 14 Jul 2010. Updated on 5 Apr 2011.

This event has finished

Forget your basic time step – tap guru Savion Glover and his sidekicks Marshall Davis Jr. and Maurice Chestnut are elevating the dance genre to dynamic new heights in Bare Soundz.

The three performers casually saunter onto the stage, taking to individual, raised timber platforms flanked by gig-worthy amps. Their laid back garb reflects the fuss-free set design – no eye-catching backdrops, graphic installations or dazzling costumes to draw you away from the action. Just the dancers, the bare stage and some very talented tootsies.

Using only their feet, the hoofers forge an impressive display of complex rhythmic combinations and surprisingly varied sounds. Davis and Chestnut start the first piece off with a repetitive foundational rhythm, onto which Glover layers his own fancier, jazz-inspired sequence. Later, Glover stomps out hip hop-like bass beats with one foot and lightly tickles the floor with his other. Davis appears to levitate with fluttering footwork during a solo piece, while another number sees all three take to one platform for a perfectly synchronised tandem number.

The atmosphere of mutual respect is especially endearing – Glover wears a permanent grin; occasional mid-solo heckling leads to chirpy on-stage banter; and the effortless rise and fall of footwork tempos suggests an instinctive team communiqué. The pieces are surprisingly long - sometimes entrancingly so for the audience – but the dancers back up from one piece to the next with infectious vivacity and stamina.

Bare Soundz may not be your typical show, but it trumps the rest for a stimulating aural experience that places intricate choreography on equal footing with mesmerising rhythms. Alecia Wood

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