Dance Reviews

Feb 10, 2002 - Its Bark is as Good as its Bite but "Tap Dogs" Dance is Even Better

By Jack Neal

Bam, crash, tap and macho, macho dance! Move over Rockettes, and other long legged types, for the pumped-up dance of construction-site machismo.

It's obvious to onlookers the erstwhile steel workers of "Tap Dogs" love combining welding girders and tap dance. That message comes across with an energized staccato as a group of six male hoofers implant their tap virtuosity, hunky sexuality and easy charm on the stage of Reno's Eldorado Hotel Casino. The show opened Wednesday (2/6/2002) and runs through March 31.

"Tap Dogs" is a rough-and-tumble show exhibiting lots of male chutzpah and loads of virtuosic tap. The beauty of the show, and Dein Perry's choreography, is its absolute belief in dance as dance and dance as entertainment. It never pretends to be something it isn't and never, ever reaches for that cheap shot of showbiz dribble some cook up thinking it will please the masses. "Tap Dogs" is foot-stomping tap dance from beginning to end and it never lets up. Sometimes it's performed alone. But most often it's delivered in precise, chorus-line synchronization or in sizzling contrapuntal rhythms.

There are some very special moments, such as one dancer miming the movement of starting an outboard motor, then using his feet to tap out the sputtering motor as it builds into a smooth running engine. There's dancing on the ceiling, dancing in a trough of water (ponchos are provided for rinkside watchers), and dancing on all sorts of slopes and sharp-edged, man-eating looking sets. Any surface will do. The goal of choreographer Perry, however, is not to provide easy laughs but real physical challenges for the dancers as well as thrills for the audience.

As an added plus, much of the show's appeal comes from the way its sextet of dancers interact with one another. The atmosphere is chummy rather than aggressive, amicable rather than competitive. With these six dancing chaps "Tap Dogs" is dance as an equally explored and shared male experience.

Designer-director Nigel Triffitt and lighting designer David Murray have wrapped "Tap Dogs" in a smoky ambiance that lends an ultradicso look to the show. Adding to "Tap Dog's" all-male look, its dancing blokes come dressed in construction-site chic - skimpy cutoffs, tattered jeans, flannel shirts, tank tops, and - ultimately for one fellow - no top at all. It's easy to understand why audiences have been dazzled by these fellows. They look fabulous and they dispense miles and smiles of charm as they storm their way through 75 minutes of uninterrupted dance.

The edition of "Tap Dogs" being seen in Reno stars Sheldon Perry (brother of the choreographer and more-or-less the lead), Todd Anderson, Dan Clemente, Joshua Allan Cyr, Christopher Erk, Justin Myles, Leajato Robinson, and Anthony Russo. (Printed programs are not available.) The roster of eight dancers allows for some switching around and substitutions in what is an enormously physically demanding romp of rhythmic abandon.

The dancer's non-stop movement, accompanied by cacophonous percussion music (ingeniously played with singular dexterity by Damon Botticelli), is dance that is energetic, powerful and primitive. "Tap Dogs" may have come from a mongrel pedigree (an oxymoron I'm sure), but as dance entertainment it's nothing less than best of breed. What a terrific show.

"Tap Dogs" can be seen at the Eldorado Hotel Casino, 345 North Virginia Street Reno, through March 31 (2002). For information call 775-786-5700.