Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Newark, New Jersey
November 5-10, 2002

When Savion Glover exploded onto Broadway in 1996 with Bring in `da Noise, Bring in `da Funk, the electricity in the air was as much a result of the explosive rhythms of the dancing as it was for the unparalleled social statement Glover, director George C. Wolfe, and the rest of the cast were determined to make.

Glover, then 22, was serving notice, not just to the dance world about what tap could be, but to the world at large about the complex rhythms of the black community. Also unmistakable was Glover's artistic manifesto on the lives of young black men like himself--misunderstood, taken for granted, and burning with purpose tinged with anger. It was a volatile mix that quickly became remembered more for the statement on dance than the social commentary.

Now, thanks to an international tour starring Glover himself (see "Savion Brings Back `da Noise," Dance Magazine, December 2002, page 50), audiences are being reminded of the extraordinary political statement of Noise/Funk as well as the equally significant growth in dance this show launched.

This latest tour is different from the original national tour in several ways. Clover is starring front and center for the entire tour, joined by a whole new crew of dancers--Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards (who performed with Clover on Broadway when they were both kids in Black and Blue), Clover's teenage protege, Cartier Williams, and a trio of young men who represent the generation of young tappers Clover has inspired (Maurice Chestnut, Marshall Louis Davis Jr., and Troy Swanigan). Also reprising their roles from the original production are bucket drummers Jared Crawford and Raymond A. King; Lynette DuPree, who took over the role of the singer during the end of the show's original Broadway run; and the wonderful, chameleon-like Thomas Silcott, who served as the show's emcee during the original national tour.

BY NOW, MOST EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT FROM GLOVER IN THE TAP DEPARTMENT: SPEED, HARD PERCUSSION, AND AN ICY-HOT STAGE PERSONA THAT IS PART SOLEMN ZEN IN FOCUS, PART FIERCE WARRIOR IN INTENSITY, AND PART MILES DAVIS WHEN IT COMES TO COOL. But Clover has added more weaponry to his arsenal since 1996, and it shows here most memorably in the marvelous, subtle touches of footwork. Of course, Clover was never just about slamming, but now one notices a richer sense of musicality, of shadings in tone and volume. This was especially noticeable in the wonderful second-act solo for Clover in which he stands, back to the audience, facing a three-paneled mirror, accompanied only by a tape of him talking about the tap greats who have influenced him.

Like other aspects of this new tour of Noise/Funk, the solo and the spoken text have been slightly revamped, and the changes here, as in other places, only serve Noise/Funk for the better. Other improvements include heightened onscreen projections that serve as a back-drop for the dancers, and a new series of images near the end of the show that depicts all of the dancers in rehearsal, with a voiceover about the impact tap has had on their lives. Another major difference between then and now is in the dynamic provided by the other dancers. Where before Noise/Funk featured a group of dancers who were Glover's contemporaries and distinctive performers in their own right, the feel now is that this is Glover ... and company. The exception: Sumbry-Edwards, who not only breaks up the all-boys club but matches Glover with her own distinctive flair.