By
Maggie Burnett
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Popular rhythmic performance opens tomorrow at UA Centennial
Sticks and stones will break your bones, but STOMP can use them freely - to make music, that is.
The hit percussive performance STOMP comes to UA's Centennial Hall tomorrow for the second year. The touring company's claim to fame is its use of unconventional instruments - such as broomsticks, plungers, water pipes, trash cans and trash can lids - to create rhythm and movement on stage.
Ana Sofia Pomales, a 29-year-old performer in STOMP, is one of the eight performers that appears on stage at one time.
"I saw the show about a year before I got the audition, and I just fell in love with it - and here I am three years later," she said.
Pomales explained that the STOMP performance does not play out like a typical stage show because parts of the show make extensive use of the set. She described the performance as a "visual comedy."
In the show, only two female performers are on the stage at one time - Pomales being one of them. Each woman fits into the role of either a "Bin Bitch" or "Cornish." Pomales said that the "Bin Bitch" interacts more with the men and plays more diverse music and percussion, while the "Cornish" acts more quirky, leaving more room for personality and acting.
"I do both (roles) because I'm a swing, or understudy," she said. "There are two full-time girls, and I do shows for them on the weekends."
Pomales added that STOMP contains no singing or talking. Rather, the show is strictly comprised of beats created by the performers and their instruments.
"It's a lot of visual comedy. The show is really musical first and foremost," she said. "We need to be aware of each other through eye contact. That's what makes the show so special."
Pomales found her musical roots as a child growing up in Puerto Rico surrounded by the music of that culture. She said that though she was originally trained as a dancer, her awe of STOMP helped turn her onto musical performance.
"The whole show inspired me. It's just so intricate. There's so many views and feelings that come out of watching the show," she said. "An ordinary person who has a nine-to-five job will see the show and be inspired."
STOMP originated in the United Kingdom in 1991, the result of a 10-year collaboration between its creators, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas.
Although STOMP has a permanent show stationed out of both New York City and San Francisco, the show travels the nation and even the world. Pomales said she has been traveling with the same troupe for three years and this will be the second time she visits Tucson.
"It was my dream to be a part of a production but not as a character like in a Broadway show. I saw STOMP as a big opportunity to do that," Pomales said. "The personality and what you bring out to the show are all you. It's your own flavor. That's why I haven't gotten tired of it yet."
INFO BOX: STOMP opens at Centennial Hall tomorrow at 8 p.m. and continues through Sunday at 3 p.m. Only a few tickets are left for each performance. For ticket information, call 621-3341.
