Attending a Jump Rhythm Jazz Project concert is like no other cultural event–artistic head Billy Siegenfeld has pretty much invented his own brand of entertainment with this troupe.
It’s dance, for sure, but vocal effects and musical theater, too–there’s almost as much singing as hoofing in the current engagement at Stage 773, and there’s plenty of hoofing.
Siegenfeld was originally inspired by icons of 20th-Century entertainment, Fred Astaire in dance and George Gershwin in music among them. In recent years, he has updated his taste to embrace soul and hip hop, and that’s part of his magic: Who besides Siegenfeld could craft a number convincingly linking Gershwin and James Brown?
This outing includes a high portion of new works, and among Siegenfeld’s own, my favorite is easily “The Sumptuous Screech of Simplicity,” wherein five women go to town exhilarating in the choreographer’s signature brand of tap. Jump Rhythm involves its own approach to movement in general, and tap is no exception, the feet turned in odd directions at times and an amalgamation formed by the company’s synthesis of feet, hands and vocal effects into one whole.
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Sporting preteen-like hairdos and glasses, the excellent performers here seem a group of young girls driven to music and dance by both a slight case of out-of-control hormones and an infectious joie de vivre. Original tap and bright comedy combine. Siegenfeld turns serious with “There Never Was a War That Was Not Inward,” a driving, angry work that suffers a tad from its didactic streak, but wins you over with its energy and smart organization. Cole Porter and Outkast are both in the imaginative score.
“Maybe? No. Yes!” is a terrifically designed piece in the classic Jump Rhythm mold, but this one by valuable company member Kevin Durnbaugh. It’s fast and jampacked in overall concept and execution.
One new work, Siegenfeld’s collaboration with Jeff Hancock, “My Undecided Shadow,” is a dud, employing the tired trope of conflicted personality set to “Me and My Shadow” — neither the dialogue nor dance are very funny.
But then this show ends with a bang: Siegenfeld’s terrific, rousing “god of dirt” (2007), deftly mixing Jump Rhythm’s approach with the richly Balkan music of Goran Bregovic and boasting a glorious finale.
Jump Rhythm Jazz Project
When: 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Price: $28; 773-327-5252 or stage773.com