Give Me (Tap) Water
March 27th, 2007 by Katie
The French Guinea beat-boxed a rhythym with his barefeet, echoing electronically to silence the crowd. Every so often, Tamango’s focused, balancing gaze would raise toward the rafters and smirk suspiciously. The kind of look a child makes before they paint on the wall. That’s when you knew the troupe of artists from Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Jamaica and France was about to do something just as unexpected as it was phenomenal.
The performers built off of each other as if in conversation - first “speaking” one at a time, then “talking” over each other and after time harmonizing together. Elaborating on his signature style, the freestyle tap dancer pontificated, “Tap is a language. We can tap it, so it becomes a voice. It is articulated. And it becomes more than just the dance.” This common language was apparent when the dancers improvised with musicians and in battle with Tamango.
The Bay Mo Dilo performance (creole for ‘Give Me Water’) at the Joyce Theater on West 14th lit up the city for the third week in March. Five men and one woman muse executed unique spins on ritual dance, song and percussion. These experts moved with authority and a community spirit, as if they had done this piece twice a day for years.
The show was performed in front of projections of water - calm, drinking and standing - rotated with live video feed to create a world all its own. The solo artist’s pieces were instinctual with a wink of pretentiousness. Tamango isn’t kidding anyone about how good he knows he is. Hell, we know it too.