Review: TAPDOGS – sounds like it’s worth it!
UPDATE – Megs went to see the show –
It’s not often that I head south unless I’m flying somewhere, so it felt weird heading towards the airport last night and not hopping on a plane.
I was off to see the show TAP DOGS at Emperor’s Palace and actually quite looking forward to it because secretly I spent much of my youth tap-dancing my parents to past crazy point. I would tap i…
n the shower, tap under the dinner table, tap on the kitchen floor whilst my mom was preparing dinner and well it’s certainly not for anyone that can’t handle some hectic noise levels.
It really is a great outlet for someone who gets a cathartic boost from creating chaos and cacophony wherever they go. And I imagine that the performers in the show were once a handful of youths eager to vent their excess energy by doing just that.
The show was about 2 hours long but it certainly didn’t feel like a 2-hour stint in a hard chair. The ‘tappers’ (which is how I prefer to refer to them as it seems wrong to refer to such burly men as ‘tap dancers’) appeared in character as a group of construction workers and all the sets were steel beams and scaffolding. They appeared comfortable in this environment – probably inspired by real life. They gave a whole new slant on what can be done on a construction site in jeans, t-shirts and Blundstones (the popular Ozzie boot which makes them recongisable anywhere in the world).
The show in my opinion was very creative and entertaining! Their tap boots (not shoes) weren’t the only things synchronised to the beat as they used lighting, gumboots on water, basketballs, microphones strapped to legs and even welders. The effects were suprising and unique.
I loved it – the person that came with me just liked it! I guess I liked the speed, it’s distinctiveness, their humour (lets face it – you have to be able to laugh at yourself if you as an Ozzie are facing a South African audience who only days before thrashed you in the tri-nations), the masculinity, the noise, their casual unaffectedness and their cute butts in jeans (am I allowed to say that?). And they appeared to be enjoying it as much as the audience were – the tap that is, although I got the impression they quite like their butts in jeans too.
It was a pity about the lady sitting in front of me wearing the mile-high turban and my recommendation is that if you’re lucky enough to get seats in the front row you might want to consider wearing latex and taking a water pistol! Say no more…
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22 August 2005
Well done to our boys that beat the Ozzie’s at rugby on Saturday – there were shouts of jubilation all over the world… By the way – what is this strange relationship between SA and Australia – why all the rivalry? Is it ’cause we’re both Southerners???
Well they must be pretty annoyed about Sat’s game so let’s give them a break and go and catch this fantastic Australian dance show. We’re sure they can TAP better than they can kick 🙂 Just kidding…
TAP DOGS
Johannesburg – 22 August and runs until 11 September 2005
THEATRE OF MARCELLUS, EMPERORS PALACE
Durban – 13th – 18th September.
IZULU THEATRE, SIBAYA CASINO & ENTERTAINMENT KINGDOM
Catch the foot stomping, hi – energy, high speed industrial tap show of hardcore footwork and pure dance showmanship. 2005 has seen the Tap Dogs return to South Africa by popular demand after a sold out whirlwind tour 2002. They are taking the world by storm with their unprecedented tap show that combines the strength and power of male workmen with the precision and talent of tap dancing.
The show started with six guys from a steel town north of Sydney, Australia. Oliver Award winning choreographer
Dein Perry headed the team with designer/ director Nigel Triffit, and the composer Andrew Wilke and created TAP DOGS; a 75 minute reinvention of tap for the 90’s.
Australian DEIN PERRY, creator and choreographer of TAP DOGS, has come a long way from the garage behind his dance teacher’s house in Newcastle, a steel town north of Sydney where, as young boy, he and the “Dogs” learned how to tap. At the age of 17, with no opportunities in sight for a dancing career, he earned his dancing papers as an
industrial machinist before moving to Sydney where he tried to break into show business. Small chorus parts in Broadway-style musicals led to Dein’s big break when he was cast in the long running Sydney production of 42nd Street. When it closed, Dein decided to create a contemporary show around the themes of his industrial experience with his Newcastle tap dancing mates.
With a small government grant, Dein contacted his old friend who had also taken up various ‘real’ jobs by this time, and formed ‘TAP BROTHERS’, a very early incarnation of TAPDOGS. From this, Dein was offered the chance to choreograph the West End Musical, Hot Shoe Shuffle, which brought the group to London and earned Dein his first Olivier Award in 1995. A subsequent offer from the Sydney Theatre Company led to the collaboration with eclectic
designer and director NIGEL TRIFFIT, which resulted in the creation of TAP DOGS.
TAP DOGS was the instant hit of the Sydney Theatre Festival where it had its world premiere in January 1995 it caused an equal sensation at the Edinburgh Festival later that year. TAP DOGS went on to play to packed houses at Sadler’s Well in London; consecutive Olivier Award in 1996 for his choreographer on TAP DOGS; and an off Broadway New York season in 1997.
So far the company have won 11 International Awards including a Pegasus Award at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and an Obie in New York.
Since 1998 Tap Dogs have been touring the world with up to 4 companies at a time reaching audiences throughout the far-reaching corners of Europe, Asia , America and Australia. The Australian dance sensation returned home in 2000 to take part in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. 1000 TAP DOGS from companies around the world performed to an audience of 3.5 billion viewers as the event was televised across the world.
