DANCE GETS MACHO EDGE IN ENERGETIC `TAP DOGS'.

Byline: Daryl H. Miller Daily News Theater Critic

A touch of Fred Astaire, a moment of ``Saturday Night Fever.'' Thrash-rock head-banging. Chippendales cheesecake. ``Singin' in the Rain.'' ``West Side Story.'' ``Flashdance.'' The Village People.

Visions of this and much more pass by as the six Aussie blokes of ``Tap Dogs'' deconstruct and reimagine the art of tap dance in a show that incorporates movement and style from across the cultural spectrum - and, improbably, throws in the grit of construction sites and steel mills for still more texture.

The result is a high-energy performance that shares much in common with the dance-theater phenomenons ``STOMP,'' the upcoming ``Jam on the Groove'' and Broadway's ``Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk'' (although, alas, it falls a bit short of ``STOMP's'' wacky inventiveness or ``Noise-Funk's'' fierce power and pride). Already a hit in Sydney, Australia; Edinburgh, Scotland; London; Dublin, Ireland; and across Canada, the show is making its U.S. debut at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater before traveling on across the States.

``Tap Dogs'' is the creation of Dein Perry, a onetime industrial machinist and trucker who moved on to musicals and choreography. He rounded up a bunch of blokes with whom he'd learned to tap dance as a lad in the steel town of Newcastle, Australia, and ``Tap Dogs'' was born.

Newcastle's workaday world is very much evident in the show's setting: a construction site at which the workers show up in their grungiest jeans, cutoffs, tank tops, flannels and industrial boots (equipped with taps, natch). As the workday progresses and exertion increases, the clothing will be stripped off layer by layer to reveal labor-hardened bodies.

Perry arrives first, running his knuckles along a strip of corrugated metal and trying out a few tap steps. A partition rises partway to reveal more tapping feet from midcalf down. There's a bit of clowning, more tapping - and soon the men, fully revealed, are trying to one-up one another, daring their cohorts into ever more exacting displays of raw-edged tap.

Sometimes in unison, sometimes breaking into individual counterpoint rhythms, the men probe the dimensions of sound while testing the body's limits.

Before they're done, the men will have erected a framework of metal beams, tapping on every possible surface of it to explore the resulting sounds. (All the flooring is miked for maximum sound effect.) At the back of the work site, a metal scaffold will be revealed, housing the percussionists and guitarists who provide context and texture to rhythms that borrow from soft jazz, heavy metal and more.

Meanwhile, Perry serves as mentor to the seemingly youngest member of the troupe, fresh-faced Ben Read, laying out tap patterns and coaxing Read to repeat them. Read copies the patterns, adds his own stylings, and hands them back to Perry for still more embellishment.

Later, a game of one-upmanship is unexpectedly topped by Gerry Symonds, who - strapped into a parachutelike harness - is hoisted by ropes and flipped upside down so he can tap on the corrugated ceiling. Still later, Perry taps nonchalantly amid the sparks thrown by disc sanders.

Finally calming down a bit, several of the guys sit on a bench with their feet in a trough of water - executing a muted soft shoe and kicking up liquid swirls, trying to drench one another. (The front rows of the audience have been handed rain ponchos for just this moment.)

Always macho, often graceful, these men teach us the joys of exploration, camaraderie and group effort. We tap our toes to the insistent rhythms, envying their playfulness and prowess.

THE FACTS

The show: ``Tap Dogs.''

Where: A UCLA Center for the Performing Arts presentation at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater, Wilshire Boulevard just west of the San Diego Freeway (405).

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; through Sept. 22.

Running time: One hour, 10 minutes; no intermission.

Tickets: $25 and $35, available by calling [phone]. Also at Ticketmaster outlets or by calling [phone].

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: The joys of high-energy dance are celebrated by themen at an Aussie construction site in ``Tap Dogs'' at the Veterans Wadsworth Theater.