National Touring Cast of STOMP Meets & Greets 600 Local Middle School Students

Yesterday was not your typical day at Stamford's Cloonan Middle School. For a few hours, students had the chance to put down their pencils, join in the fun, and learn how to STOMP...from the pros! 

On January 8, tomorrow night, the Palace Theatre is presenting STOMP, the wildly entertaining dance-percussion theatrical phenomenon. Through special arrangement by the Palace, members of the show's national touring cast made an in-school appearance on Tuesday for 600 kids, grades 6 through 8. Following an exclusive performance of two numbers, "Hands and Feet" and the intro to "Matches," the 5 dancers invited students to join them on the auditorium's stage to share the experience and make a little noise of their own. A Q&A session between cast and students followed.

Check out these wonderful photos of the event from The Stamford Advocate.
 
STOMP’s history reaches back to the 1980s, to the streets of Edinburgh, where Luke Creswell and Steve McNichols thought it would be fun to entertain the public with their unique brand of explosive music. Their grassroots gigs soon caught the eye of Heineken, which debuted the show’s iconic dustbin dance to the world in a commercial. Since taking New York City’s downtown performance scene by storm in 1991, where the show continues its award-winning, record-breaking run at the Orpheum Theatre, STOMP has grown into a worldwide box office sensation – with movies, television shows and music videos added to its repertoire.

Various casts of STOMP have drummed their way around the world, performing more than 14,000 times in front of 14 million people in 50 countries. Connecticut native Kris Lee (Colchester), is one such “stomper.” After performing at the Orpheum since last year, she is now a member of the show’s national touring cast performing at The Palace tomorrow night.

STOMP cast member and Connecticut native, Kris Lee, in the classroom with students from Cloonan Middle School.

The Palace is dedicated to nurturing and working with young artists through our innovative arts education programs. In addition to coordinating this exceptional event, we have provided Cloonan Middle School with complimentary tickets to the performance to share with faculty, staff and students however they want. To make sure the preforming arts are accessible to all future artists, we have offered a special discount of 35% off regularly priced tickets to the entire local school community.