By Carol Norris
Enquirer contributor

His eyes say it all. Keith "Wild Man" Middleton never says a word in Pulse: A STOMP Odyssey, opening Saturday at the Robert D. Lindner Family Omnimax Theater at Cincinnati Museum Center. Yet he's the narrator of this latest incarnation of STOMP, the wildly popular rhythm phenomenon.

Close-up shots of Middleton's face return over and over in the movie. His eyes change expression. Sometimes it's a knowing look, or a bit of smugness, as well as surprise and curiosity.

We caught up with Middleton, in town for the opening showing of the film, this week by phone.

We gotta ask. Why are you called "Wild Man"?

I was a wild child - always getting into something, banging on something. My grandmother used to say, "Stop acting so wild, child" and it stuck.

OK, back to the movie. "Pulse" includes so many traditional dance groups from around the world, you realize you're seeing the origins of all those STOMP rhythms. Which came first - the idea for the movie or the stage show?

STOMP, the stage version, came first. It's been a 12-year journey - two years in the making and it's been running about 10 years. Pulse is an homage to the folks who created STOMP.

It's been the material for a stage show, HBO's "Stomp Out Loud" and now this huge screen film. Is STOMP dance or music?

It's a rhythm. That's what the film is trying to show us. No matter where we're from, rhythm is a language we all speak.

The film features these groups from around the world but also performers from the stage show. What are their backgrounds?

There's a bunch of dancers, a bunch of actors, drummers - a motley group of folks who are rhythmic. There's a guy who's a straight-up comedic actor who's in the show.

What's your training?

I used to bang on a piano and percussion stuff because it was in the house. I have no formal training, but I was around music all the time - my uncle is Clarence Collins from the do-wop group Little Anthony and the Imperials. I played the drums in junior and high school.

How did you get the job?

I was on a hot date in New York and we saw STOMP. I was all jazzed up when we came home. Two months later I heard they were holding auditions and I went. They showed you a number or a piece of a number from the show. They broke it down so you could learn it. Crazy, isn't it? This kid from Brooklyn with no training gets this job.

Now you're the ambassador for the Omnimax film - how'd you land this one?

They just asked me to do it. I just got lucky. I'm their pied piper.

You've traveled a lot with STOMP. Is it popular wherever you go?

Yeah. We were in Taiwan and every day after the show we had to be escorted out. We were like the Beatles, man. It was crazy. ... People understand rhythm; they get it.

Is there more life in STOMP?

They're working on a bunch of things. We just did a full-length film in Romania called Vacuums that'll be released in the fall. It's a real story with a plot full of odd, eccentric folk. It's about two competing vacuum cleaner companies. It's crazy. It's zany. Everything in there is STOMP-esque.

E-mail norris@one.net