Project eXtraordinary
The Raw Dance Company tapped, beat boxed, thumped, thonged and even flippered their way through an electric performance of bright lights and wild rhythms last Friday night at the Matt Dann Cultural Centre.
Their show, “Project X”, included five extraordinary male dancers, a band and a beatboxer, “Dr Rhythm”, who had a hilarious take on the genre.
The speed, agility and energy of these boys were impressive.
You wouldn’t want to compete with them in an egg and spoon race, let alone a dance off.
In fact, they tapped so fast they could have whipped up a five egg pavlova with their toes.
Their synchronisation and complex rhythms were amazing to watch.
About the only thing tighter than their moves were their skinny jeans.
Very skinny jeans. Especially those red ones.
One might say they were on fire. Phew.
The lads spent most of the evening wearing out their tap shoes, but their offbeat take on all things tap took a turn for the trippier when they performed a routine in thongs.
And if that wasn’t enough, their group challenge to devise a piece wearing flippers was surreal.
Move over “Happy Feet”, you ain’t got nothing on these fellas!
The audience spent much of the show cheering and laughing.
Each time Dr Rhythm returned, he had something else witty to offer.
Audience member Maggie Paton said, “I love his sense of humour and when he’s doing impressions.”
His ability to imitate stars like Justin Timberlake and “Justine Bieber” was captivating.
However, it was Dr Rhythm’s take on Elmo mimicking Kanye West doing his Taylor Swift rant at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards which many thought most funny.
The audience was very impressed with Project X. Mickaylah Cooper said, “They’re amazing and really fast.”
Chelsey Podmore came with friends Celeste and Carla.
“We’re dancers and it’s really inspiring,” she said.
They summed up the boys as, “Creative, crazy and cool.”
The dance company, whose Creative Director Andrew Fee has been up to do workshops with Hedland dance students in the past, spent time with keen performers before the evening show.
“The workshop was great, a really good learning experience,” said Ms Podmore, who attended the afternoon session.
By the end of the evening’s performance, the Project X performers might have been worn out, but the audience was set to tip tap, flip flop and beatbox all the way home.
RAW Dance Company with their fans
