Tap Dogs dazzled audience members Sunday night with strobe lights, smoke, construction material and professional tap dancing.
The show started at 7:38 p.m. with blinding strobe lights shooting toward the audience and loud music blaring. A solo act then began the tap dancing, and the rest of the performers — hidden behind a curtain with only their feet visible — joined in soon after.
Part of the stage was then pulled apart and elevated so the members could tap dance over and in between the floor. Technical aspects were a major part of the entire performance, with one member being lifted offstage by a harness to tap dance upside down.
“My favorite part was probably when he tapped on the ceiling,” said Natalee Bailey, a sophomore studying English. “I thought that was really cool.”
But that was not the only trick shown on stage. Tappers pulled ropes in rhythm to create a visual effect and beat drums with different sounds to create the sound of an electric keyboard and drum.
One performer seemed to hurt his hand on the ropes. He was approached by a staff member from backstage and then simply shook it off and kept performing.
A trough was then brought out and water was poured into it. The members then tapped in rain boots, splashed the audience and had buckets of water dumped on themselves.
“I liked the act with the water,” said Amber Damiani, a sophomore studying political science and sociology. “That was probably my favorite part.”
The group comprised eight members: James Doubtfire, Ryan Gifford, MacKenzie Geenwell, Donovan Helma, Anthony LoCascio, Chaise Rossiello, Anthony Russo and Matt Saffron.
The artist fee was $22,500, said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of programming for the Performing Arts & Concert Series. There were 1,263 tickets sold, which more than covered the fee.
“I’ve never seen a tap show like this before,” Damiani said. “It was awesome.”
je726810@ohiou.edu
