Shewoam

Last night, I went to watch Shewoam at the Theatre du Passage here in Neuch. The show hadn't really been advertised much, and I'd only heard about it from the friend who I was going to see the show with. All I knew was that it was a "Breakdancing Show" and that was enough for me to warrant buying a ticket.
Breakdancing is quite popular hear in Europe. I've watched a couple breakdancing competitions that have been aired on the telly. Breakdancing is hot.
Anyway, I wasn't sure how this show would work out. I've never watched breakdancing in a theatre. I've never watched breakdancing while sitting down. I'm pretty sure I've always been standing...in a circle. This show could be a little odd.
And it was. Well, it got better. The "host" was hilarious, but the opening musical act wasn't my cup of tea. A guitarist/vocalist and a keyboard player. It was pretty ghetto. The first two songs were exactly the same, bust with different words, and in a different key. The chord progression and rhythm was exactly the same. The keyboardist did a couple different variations here or there...anyway, I didn't like it all that much. The vocalist had a nice voice though.
Then the dancing began. A pretty low-budget show, that's for sure, but whatever. The three members of the troupe played characters whose stories came together as the show went on. There were three members of the group. One smaller one who had great balance and spins, one taller one who was really smooth and was the "slinky" one and one who could pop and lock with the best of them. I can't think of a group that doesn't have one of each. Funny how that works out.
Some of the numbers were pretty tacky. Some of it reminded me of those troupes that would come to your elementary school and sing/act/dance/whatever to deliver a positive message. One particularly amusing act involved the three onstage together in an especially bad "boy band" kind of thing. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. They should have skipped that number.
After the intermission, they showed a video that was supposed to show a day in the life of each of the members of the group. Again, low budget, but whatever. And as expected, "a day in the life of" turned into little episodes that would branch off into breaking.
There was a great act that involved beat boxing and mike-ing the stage so that two members of the group could drum/slap/hit/snap to produce some seriously amazing beats. Not a new idea, but still impressive nonetheless.
This led up to the ending where a percussionist on a drum set provided the beats for the dancers to solo. The drummer would produce different types of beat in different styles for the dancers to break to. Some good stuff.
Anyway, it was a fun night out. I definitely felt like going out dancing afterwards.