By:Susan Lin
A theatrical production coming to the Island this weekend focuses on six construction workers clad in jeans and work boots. At what is a bare-bones construction site, the men push each other around during the day, and grunt a lot, but never say a word during the length of the show.
The only thing that might be uncharacteristic of the heightened manliness of the six workers seems to be that they are also talented tap dancers.
"Tap Dogs," the name of the show, debuted in 1995. Its founder and choreographer is Dein Perry, a native of the steely industrial town of Newcastle, Australia, and who was once a factory machinist. Since 1995, "Tap Dogs" has traveled to Europe and then North America.
At 7 p.m. Sunday, "Tap Dogs" will be at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville, on the campus of C.W. Post College.
Something that perhaps symbolizes the essence of the production is the performers' black Doc Marten-style boots fitted with taps on the bottom.
"It's harder at first, but they're much better than dancing with shoes," said Anthony LoCascio, 29, a native of Howard Beach, Queens, who moved to San Jose, Calif., a year ago. LoCascio will be one of the performers at Tilles Center.
"You learn to use the boot to your advantage. Because it's heavier, you can become louder with your steps. And you can do some steps and toe work that you would normally have much more difficulty doing when wearing shoes," LoCascio said.
Like their unusual tap-dancing shoes, the six Tap Dogs introduce a variety of things that many people have never seen before in the art of tap dancing. In the show, the construction workers build scaffolding, arrange pieces of plywood, and construct some of the set right on stage.
As they do so, the workers tap dance on steel, up and down ladders, while carrying heavy materials, and one, strapped to a harness, even taps upside down. Following the dancers' movements is an adrenaline-pumping musical score by Andrew Wilkie.
Ninety minutes long, "Tap Dogs" is non-stop action without an intermission. "We start and don't stop until the end, because if we stopped in the middle, we probably wouldn't be able to get going again," said LoCascio.
What attracted LoCascio to audition for "Tap Dogs," he said, was how the production demonstrated that tap dancing can be something that is manly and exciting.
"You had all these other shows out there that were doing this cheesy tap dancing, and this is like it finally evolved and caught up with the '90s," said LoCascio.
LoCascio taught tap dance at Steps Ahead in Howard Beach for ten years before leaving to tour with "Tap Dogs." His only other break from the dance studio was in 1994, to perform in "Happy Stars," the English translation of a French title for a theatrical dance production in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
"I auditioned for two shows in ten years," said LoCascio. "I didn't audition anymore [after his teen years] because there were no shows I wanted to do."
But when "Tap Dogs" was holding auditions in 1997, "I just freaked," LoCascio said. "I couldn't believe that there was finally a real tap-dancing show."
