THEY'RE MASTERS OF THE TAP SHOES TWO PASS ALONG YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DANCE.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - It was like watching a street-corner challenge from decades past.

Two men - both, let's say, in their later years - are standing in front of a mirror in a Canyon Country storefront studio. One spreads out his hands for flair and starts dancing, a series of staccato taps emanating from his flying feet.

His friend stands motionless just for a moment. Then the two men match steps and cadence and move almost as one, the first doing a daring move, mirrored instantly by the other.

No matter that they qualify for senior discounts, these men dance like everybody's watching.

Alex Plasshaert and Arthur Duncan are a two-volume set of dance history. Plasshaert danced in the movie ``Mary Poppins'' and with athletic film star/dancer Gene Kelly; Duncan spent 17 years tap-dancing on ``The Lawrence Welk Show.'' They are passing on that grace to the next generation of hopeful hoofers at Pamela Johnston's Dance Studio.

``I'm old enough to know better and young enough to try it again,'' Duncan said. Raised in Pasadena, he was coaxed into learning tap in junior high school when a group needed a third dancer.

``I learned the routine and thought, 'Hey, this is fun.' The more I danced, the more I liked it,'' he said. ``My cousin was a musician who got me gigs with various service organizations, which covered my dance lessons. I couldn't believe I could get paid for this.''

Duncan was cast in a show at the Las Palmas Theater in Hollywood, under the direction of choreographer Nick Castle, who did the movie ``Daddy Long Legs'' with Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron. Plasshaert worked with Astaire, and soon his and Duncan's paths began to cross.

While Duncan's forte was song and dance, Plasshaert specialized in a lot of things. Primarily a stuntman, he was athletic enough to play basketball and tumble in a harness in the 1960s Disney films ``The Absent-Minded Professor'' and ``Son of Flubber.'' That led him to many more Disney projects, including choreographing ``The Mickey Mouse Club'' and being the lead chimney sweep dancer with Dick Van Dyke in the 1964 Disney movie ``Mary Poppins.''

Plasshaert doesn't show any signs of slowing down, either. His current activities include teaching tennis, golf, tap, ballet and jazz dancing. A drummer at age 12, he got interested in dancing a few years later, admiring the skills of Kelly.

``He danced like a man,'' Plasshaert said. ``I was in awe of him.''

He thought working with Kelly was only a dream, a belief his former wife shared when she answered the phone and heard Kelly asking to speak with Alex.

``She thought it was a joke and told him so,'' Plasshaert said. ``He very humbly insisted that yes, he was Gene Kelly.''

Once the confusion was over, the two men agreed to meet at a studio on the Universal Studios lot, where Plasshaert had an audition that didn't go as well as he had hoped.

``He told me he'd heard a lot about me. He showed me a step,'' Plasshaert said, his hands and feet twitching in the retelling. ``I fumbled a step, but he asked me to come back the next day because he was looking at a few other guys. The next day, I showed up and it seemed like a thousand people were auditioning. I did every step perfect and saw Kelly in the mirror with that little grin of his. I had worked all night practicing and thought to myself, 'At least he smiled.'''

Kelly picked only one dancer that day, and it was Plasshaert, who did the ``Hollywood Palace'' show Kelly was preparing. That gig led to many others where he either danced alongside or choreographed entertainment greats such as Marilyn Monroe, Debbie Reynolds, Barbra Streisand, Louis Armstrong, Elton John and even American Gladiators.

He choreographed the comedy show ``Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In'' as well as other musical variety shows such as ``Mickey Finn's'' and shows for Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Andy Williams and Dom DeLuise.

Duncan is most remembered for the 17 years he spent as a tap dancer on ``The Lawrence Welk Show.'' Although he sings as well as he dances, Duncan remembers Welk telling him he really needed just his fancy footwork for the show, which was heavy with singers.

He's performed with tap greats Sammy Davis Jr., Gregory Hines and Savion Glover, and toured with the national company of ``My One and Only'' with Tommy Tune. He worked with Dick Van Dyke in the film ``Diagnosis of a Murder'' and was spotlighted in the movie ``Tap'' with Hines.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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(color in SAC edition only) Alex Plasshaert, left, and Arthur Duncan pass along years of dance skills at Pamela Johnston's Dance Studio in Canyon Country.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News