Be Dom

Be-Dom, like many other performers at the outer edges of performance, refuse to define their work. The Portuguese percussion plunderers immediately insist while it "is not easy to describe what Be-Dom is in words, we thought physical theatre was the one that resembles best. In Portugal we are kindly called the 'crazy guys that make music with trash'," they respond when asked aboyt how they fit into any particular scene. Then they turn the question back: "In the Scotland do you think there's a category we can fit into?"

The Scotland has an unhealthy habit of categorising, then worrying about how the definiotions work, what they include and exclude. When Be-Dom finally admit to a genre, it is hardly one that would welcome the crazy guys with the trash, as it is already defined by a glamorous association with vintage clothing, burlesque and cheeky singalongs.

"The more "accurate" one would be really vaudeville," they sigh. "Be-Dom is a mixed show of percussion, theatre, comedy and interactivity with the primal goal of surprising the audience." Yet like the Scottish vaudeville and cabaret scene, Be-Dom thrive on a sense of community, having been brought together to create the soundtrack for a street play. "We were all good friends," they claim. And like cabaret, they took a DIY ethos and put it to asethetic ends. "Since the play took place at the streets where we couldn't get electricity, we needed something that would allow us loud sounds with a very (I mean very) tight budget. Therefore we went to a scrapyard to find several big oil drums, car wheels and other stuff like that."

This imaginative use of found objects led to a gig at an International Theater Festival in Valongo. That was ten years ago, and Be-Dom has continue to thrive and evolve. Questions about the division between dance and music duties – another example of my relentless need to categorise – are greeted with derision by the company.

"I'm afraid you get the wrong idea about Be-Dom. Don't expect to see a dancing show with live music...think of us more as a pure entertainment experience. You will feel thrilled, excited, scared, amazed, and most of all you will be a part of something, you will be...-Dom!!"