Edinburgh Fringe 2010:
The Drum Show from Berlin
RHYTHM DRUM AND DANCE *****
7-22 August
Venue 150 EICC, Morrison Street
Reviewed by David Kerr
Few shows at the Fringe are as likely to get an audience to its feet dancing, clapping and begging for more as Rhythm Drum and Dance, which bills itself with considerable understatement as ‘the drum show from Berlin’. It’s that all right, but it’s so much more besides.
The action begins with a virtuoso solo performance on a standard rock band drum set before the drummer joins three others at a series of drums set up on a raised stage at the back.
So far, so good. After a few minutes this seems just like any other drum show, flawlessly played but nothing out of the ordinary. Then the dancers take to the stage and the performance takes off. These women are fit, in all senses of the term. They have to be, given the foot-perfect attention they give to their dancing, the quick cycle of costume changes and the seemingly effortless changes of pace and style.
Besides the four female dancers, two astonishingly athletic male hiphop dancers perform so rapidly that they appear to be constantly in the air. These talented lads gave the audience a few laughs as they competed with one-another and fought over a brush. The audience loved it.
These dancers are complemented by a versatile mixed couple of tapdancers who have dragged this genre out of the era of black and white movies and brought new life to the genre. Who would have thought it?
The rapid pace of style changes was enhanced by the lighting, the soundtrack and the sheer talent of the drummers who took the art of percussion to new heights. This is all down to the imagination of the choreographer and producer, Freddie Rust who has put together a terrific show from what might be thought of as incompatible styles.
Give your ears and eyes a treat and get down to Venue 150 at the EICC while there’s still time. You’ll not regret it.
***** five stars
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