A SCENE FROM TAP DOGS, a 90-minute tap-dancing performance scheduled Sept. 11, 12 and 13 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Inventive Tap Dogs First Up at Lied Center

Australia's Tap Dogs Turn Dancing Into Industrial-Strength Theatrical Sensation

Inventive, ballistic and outrageous, Australia's Tap Dogs give a new twist to the term "dance troupe."

Choreographer Dein Perry worked six years as a machinist for a construction company before finally creating a contemporary show around the themes of his industrial experiences. An instant hit at their debut performance in 1995, Tap Dogs has turned the tap world upside down. Think "Riverdance" with steelworkers and you've captured the beat.

Tap Dogs presents four performances at 8 p.m. Sept. 11, 5 and 9 p.m. Sept. 12 and 2 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Set on a construction site, the six dancers, wearing jeans, t-shirts and authentic Bludstone Boots, perform a non-stop 90-minute show. The dancers construct their own set during the course of the show, building up to a big finale.

Perry has won two Olivier Awards for choreography with Tap Dogs. Perry grew up in Newcastle, a steeltown north of Sydney. He and the future "dogs" attended a makeshift tap dance school as youngsters, but at age 17, with no dance prospects on the horizon, Perry earned union papers and began a six-year stint as a machinist. He moved to Sydney and danced a few bit parts here and there, then got his big break with a part in "42nd Street." With a small government grant, Perry contacted his old buddies, most of whom also had taken non-dance jobs, and formed "Tap Brothers." Collaborating with designer and director Nigel Triffitt, Tap Dogs debuted at the Sydney Theatre Festival in January 1995, where they were an instant hit. Subsequent tours to Edinburgh and London won raves. The troupe debuted in North America in 1996.

Pre-performance talks, part of the Lied Center's ongoing education programming, begin in the Lied's Steinhart Room 55 minutes and 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Tickets for all performances are $38, $34 and $29. Tickets for University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students and youth 18 and younger with proper identification are $33, $29 and $24 for 8 and 9 p.m. performances and $33, $29 and $14.50 for the 5 and 2 p.m. shows.

Call the Lied Box Office at 472-4747 or toll free, (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Box Office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. On performance weekdays, the Box Office is open from 11 a.m. through the first intermission. For evening performances on weekends, the Box Office opens at 3 p.m. For more information about this performance or other Lied Center programs, see the Lied Center's web page at http://www.unl.edu/lied.

This presentation is made possible in part with generous support from Bailey Lauerman & Associates.

New York, Hollywood, Lincoln? Statewide Profiles Stars on Rise

The road to Broadway and Hollywood runs through the International Thespian Festival at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, according to a "Perspectives" segment airing at 8 p.m. Sept. 4 on Statewide, the Nebraska ETV Network's weekly magazine series.

The series which repeats at 7 p.m. Saturdays and at 1:30 p.m. Sundays, includes up-to-the-minute news reports from across the state and other features of interest.

Statewide correspondent Joel Geyer follows Hastings High School thespians Heidi Raper and Jeff Little as they rehearse for Pump Boys and Dinettes, one of the plays produced as part of this summer's International Thespian Festival. The festival attracts 2,000 students from all over the United States and as far away as New Zealand who gather each year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to develop their skills and make contacts that could help them find their way to Broadway or Hollywood.