beats.per.minute
Posted on 01 Apr 2003 in Pop Culture
I did something a bit different last night by going to an experimental performance at The Studio (Opera House) by a group called Beats per Minute. If you’re familiar with the layout of The Studio you’ll know that it has few chairs and is designed for the audience to mostly stand, mingle and participate in the performance.
BPM consists of three modern tappers (tap dancers) and a band consisting of a bass and electric guitarist, saxophonist, drummer, and two vocalists, one of whom was a hip-hop vocalist/talker. The tappers and band members would move between three stages during the performance, doing various modern/street tap routines backed by the band and vocalists. They also had some visuals on a big screen synchronized with the performance and used subtle lighting to create an intimate atmosphere.
The performance was particularly interesting as the group had only spent the day before the evening performance putting it together. At the end the lights came up and the audience was asked to critique the performance both on paper and on video so they could improve future shows. It was also a bit of a PR exercise by the performers to get as many friends and associates in as possible to convince the Opera House to pickup the show for a proper run.
The music and dancing was great, and the discussion between all the artsy types at the end arguing whether a performance like this should stay within the arts community at the Opera House or be made accessible to all in the club scene was just as entertaining.
If Beats per Minute get a permanent show, or they run another experimental night to tweak their performance through audience critique, I recommend checking them out. The blurb from their site describes the style of performance quite nicely:
http://www.beatsperminute.com.au/../ | [404?]
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