‘Dogs’ build a beat worth dancing to

I had no idea how much fun it could be to watch six guys tap-dance for 75 minutes.

Clearly, though, plenty of the Opera House crowd already knew, since they started whooping, hollering and applauding as soon as the first tap shoe hit the stage. I haven’t seen a theater crowd this rambunctious in a long time.

When I say “tap shoe,” I should probably say “tap boot,” because one of the concepts behind this Australian phenomenon is that these six guys are a construction crew, dressed in jeans and flannel shirts. They build the set, complete with ramps and ladders and scaffolding, as they go.

Creator Dein Perry came up with that “structure,” if you will, back in 1995. He knew that a tap show had to be creative, visually. No matter how good the dancers are, it would get boring if all they did was, well, tap-dance.

So, “Tap Dogs” is loaded with great visual and aural gimmicks. Here are a few:

“Tapping while dribbling. Basketballs, that is. The basketball acts as a bass drum in counterpoint to the tapping, and the crew gets to show off their Globetrotter skills.

“Tapping with welding torches. The sparks flew like fireworks when they brought out welding torches, or at least devices that simulated that effect.

“Tapping with percussion. The crew became a virtual drum kit during one sequence in which pedals on the floor simulated the sounds of drums or cymbals when tapped.

“Tapping on ladders. The dancing went vertical when the dancers stomped their way up and down a series of ladders.

“Tapping in water. The last 20 minutes of the show were done on a water-drenched stage, which enabled the performers to flick water on one another and on the front row.

These ideas kept the show from bogging down. Yet the appeal of “Tap Dogs” still resides largely in the graceful feet and powerful rhythms of these six young men. They are not distinguished by name in the show, which is fitting in that it is not a star vehicle. I can’t even tell you the dancers’ names, because eight are listed in the program, but only six appear in any given performance.

All I can say is all six on Tuesday night were world-class dancers, each of them getting a chance to show off his skills as well as his personality. There is no dialogue, aside from some hollering, but the performers still create characters.

They also create music. True, there were two percussionists perched in towers overhead, as well as some prerecorded music by Andrew Wilkie.

Yet the most infectious rhythms and the most insistent melodies were created solely by those flying boots. “Tap Dogs” is all rhythm, no blues.