Tap Dogs stomp into town

Dance magic: Industrial imagery is used in the vibrant dance show from Newcastle, Australia. Photos provided to Shanghai Star

The Australian dance sensation is finally coming to China, bringing their mix of light-footed skill and gritty, industrial aesthetics to the stage, Zhang Kun reports.

Tap Dogs will shatter your wildest expectations of what dance theater can be.

The show from Australia is making its debut tour of China. From Sept 2 to 21, Q Hall at the QSW Culture Center in Shanghai will play host to 24 performances from the dancing Australians.

Six men dance and stomp on stage, wearing T-shirts, shorts and working boots, "as if going to work", according to their dancing "foreman", Sheldon Perry, who is also the brother of Dein Perry, creator and choreographer of Tap Dogs.

The Perry brothers are from a working class family in Newcastle, Australia. They learned tap dance as children, encouraged by their mother who was a fan of musicals such as Top Hat and Singin' in the Rain.

As adults the opportunities to dance were few, and Dein got a job working as an industrial machinist and Sheldon a truck driver. The work inspired Dein, together with his tap-dancing mates in Newcastle, to create a tap dance show for contemporary audiences, reflecting the tough, industrial world they worked in.