Aotea Centre
Review: Bernadette Rae
Intense percussive rhythms and the peacock strut and flash of young male egos bind the two distinctive dancing styles of Cool Heat Urban Beat - the hottest of hip-hop from the streets of New York City and a stylish jazz tap,with a strong whiff of Broadway.
The percussion thunders from the feet of the tappers, the throats of the hip-hoppers and from a citadel of set drums. There is also the DC Liz with his three spinning turntables to scratch and flick, producing an incomprehensible wall of sound - the whole so decibel rich it literally makes your nose water.
Meanwhile, the 10-pack of dancers whip and glide about the stage, hurling themselves through the air in flips and somersaults to put the finest of China's acrobats to shame, embellished with headspins and neckspins and fast and middle-of-the-back spins; with elbow balances and back handstands that stop dead, mid-flight, with spines impossibly curved, feet hovering centimetres above the floor just back from the owners' ears.
Sometimes the tetraplegia-defying acts are carried out in tandem, dreads whipping, threads unfurling, the audience screaming its approval.
Yee haw!
In comparison, the smaller troupe of tappers seems polite and stagy.
The show is loosely choreographed around the theme of rival gangs. The hip-hoppers would have to get my vote, though who wins is barely an issue - West Side Story is under no threat.
<i>Review:</i> Cool Heat Urban Beat
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