Magniloquent: characterized by a high-flown often bombastic style or manner. Tap That II was billed as a dance/comedy fusion, the follow up to the popular Tap That presented by the Magniloquents in the Dance Your Socks Off Festival last year. This group was “brought together by a shared love of tap dancing, booty-shaking, musicals and bumping and grinding in the living room.” The original show was the result of a six month crash course in tap dancing for most of the performers. The idea is to present a lighter side of tap dancing, almost verging on sketch comedy at times. It’s explosive, saucy and just generally fun.

The music ranges from hip hop to Dean Martin to up beat 80s hits. What doesn’t vary is the Magniloquents extreme energy. Their feet move at lightning speeds and they frequently wear hilarious facial expressions. My companion, a tap dancer herself, thought the standard of tapping was pretty high. I enjoyed the theatricality they brought to many numbers. I particularly enjoyed the boys’ parody of sultry chair dancing ala the Pussycat Dolls.

As an additional layer to the performance, a screen is brought out at the beginning of the show onto which they project filmed footage of the Magniloquents being pleaded by a man to tap again as his dying wish. Several numbers into the show the screen appears again, this time showing their search for a new member. A hilarious parody of reality talent shows and 80s dance movie auditions ensues, culminating in the appearance on stage of their new member, who bears a weird resemblance to Michael Flaherty.

Judging by the audience reaction and the fact that they are pretty much booked out for their return show, the Magniloquents seem to have hit on a pretty successful formula. If I was to make one suggestion it would be to develop the distinct characters that are emerging in any further shows. It is evident that individual characters are emerging, but they could be sharpened and refined. But I definitely am a convert to “Choose Tap!” The Magniloquents more than live up to their name!

Originally published in The Lumière Reader.
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The Magniloquents is a dance group comprised of Amanda Baker, Kate Baker, Sam Bunkall, Paul Harrop, James Kupa, Melissa Pentecost and Hadleigh Walker. This talented troupe combined tap-dancing and comedy (Tap That) for last year’s Dance Your Socks Off – and now we have the sequel for this year’s Fringe Festival, Tap That II: The Reckoning! 

The seven dancers blend a serious grasp of tap-dancing with comedic skills – everything from silly facials, kitsch costuming, ironic music and outlandish physical comedy.

Dances can feature anything from one soloist to the whole ensemble – and sometimes the performers play it essentially straight, other times – as with a dance featuring the three females to the Supergroove anthem Can’t Get Enough – the comedy comes, Zucker brothers-style from behind the scenes.

There were plenty of hoots and hollers from a supportive first-night audience; plenty of knowing in-crowd laughs egged the performers on. And a couple of very funny pre-recorded video segments provided the glue for the programme – an intro that featured a dying man begging the crew to fill the world with more tap. And then an audition sequence where the original sextet finds their seventh performer for Tap That II.

The acknowledgements in the show’s program inform/warn people to look forward to the upcoming shows Tap That III: The Rise Of The Machines, Tap That IV: Hot Tap Running and Tap That V: Simba’s Pride. It’s a joke that is on the verge of wearing thin – but the enthusiasm of the performers carries it through, as with other collectives like the FootBallistic crew and those 1980s-loving rockers, The Real Hot Bitches.

But for a 45-minute blast of good tunes (Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Blackstreet’s I Like The Way You Work were among the inspired selections; Limp Bizkit’s terrible Rollin’ was humourously sent-up) and comedy it is hard to argue with Tap That II: The Reckoning! A revue-styled romp of comedy and dance, perfect for an eager and accepting Fringe Festival audience. 

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