SWARM, the extreme percussion orchestra, presents theatrical shows of invented instruments, original music, comedic vignettes and intense physical choreography. The performers play and spin the wheeled sculptures about the stage, while leaping and dancing around them.  The mesmerizing contemporary collage of music, movement and mass, thrills audiences of all ages.

Visual artist and musician, Bill Wallace, is the founder and director of SWARM.  He designs and constructs all the funky futuristic instruments.  These include over 100 drum sculptures, marimbas, water gongs, exhaust pipes, plungers, whirligigs, longstrings, artillery shells, musical body costumes, a giant round mobile bathtub and a parachute projection screen. They are made from recycled materials such as PVC pipes, wheelchair rims, artillery shells, metal cans and all kinds of found objects.   These instruments create the experimental world music of SWARM, propelling percussion theatre to new heights.

SWARM offers a variety of shows:

School Show: 60 minute show with Q&A.  A comprehensive Study Guide is provided. This is a humorous fun-filled show where performers spin the drums around the stage, play them with plungers, and throw them back and forth with bungee cords.   A water filled bathtub on wheels creates a slap-stick pitch-shifting opus of water and stainless steel pots and pans.    The hilarious Mop Man is left to clean up the mess.  Recycled rubber exhaust tubes and a pentatonically tuned marimba sculpture round out the show.  The unique choreography and instruments exposes children to the use of recycled materials and the possibilities of creative thinking.  The Study Guide outlines educational projects in Music, Drama, Visual Arts and Environmental Studies

Festival Show: 45 – 60 minute show.  This is a high-energy acoustic show featuring many elements of the school show plus more of the action drumming choreography for which SWARM is famous.   The wheeled instruments allow the stage to be set up and torn down in less than five minutes.  The passionate performers create a high-octane show geared for audiences of all ages.

Theatrical Show:  60 minute show or 90 minute show plus intermission.  This powerful action-packed show features many instruments and musical pieces from the other shows plus a drum kit, whirligigs, stainless steel shakers and a 16’ round parachute screen.  The SWARM light show can adapt to each theatre with the unique feature being that the shadows of the performers are cast on the parachute screen throughout the show.

Multi-Media Theatrical Extravaganza:  100 minute show plus intermission.  This extravaganza includes all the instruments, music and lights of the theatrical show plus a variety of stringed instruments including 20’ longstrings and a cylindrical bass.  The main feature is interactive video woven throughout the entire show. Video images combined with live camera footage and realtime video effects are projected on the performers’ bodies and the parachute screen.

SWARM will tailor their performance to meet your personal needs, and is also ideal for:
Outdoor events
Galas
Conferences
Commercials
Movies & TV
Grand Openings
Corporate product launches, business meetings, etc.

SWARM Workshops offer unique hands-on experiences full of fun, movement and music. The Workshops are tailored to suit the ages of the participants, and a SWARM twelve-page study guide outlines the Workshops. The objective of the Workshops is to inspire interest in the arts and to expose the participants to alternative methods of composing music and building instruments.

Visit the SWARM website