9am
Waking up in the Spanish capital city, Madrid, I head down for breakfast to meet the reason I’m here – six talented tap dancers from Backrow Events that will be performing their unique brand of industrial tap tonight at the Bernabeu stadium, home of Real Madrid football club. Dean Magri, Aaron Sweetman, Nicky Yeoman, Jason Lewis, Chris Ernest are Tap Dogs. The sixth dancer is Australian Dein Perry, the creator and lead choreographer of a tap troop that has been performing in theatres worldwide for the past 10 years.
9.30am
Perry’s rare outing with the troop, managed by Backrow joint managing director Garry McQuinn, is testament to the importance of tonight’s booking. He has flown from Australia to perform with Tap Dogs at the premiere of Real the movie, in front of a star-studded audience. McQuinn believes that a good show will open up a new corporate market in Spain for the guys: “We embarked on corporate work 18 months ago and can choose from a pool of around 20 dancers that perform all over the world. This will be the highest profile piece of bespoke corporate work we’ve done to date and the guys selected are excited to be working with the act’s original choreographer.”
10am
The first rehearsal is due but on arriving at the stadium, the stadium authorities declare that the lads aren’t allowed to use the dressing rooms to work on the choreography for tonight’s show. Whilst an alternative is sought, Perry lines up the Tap Dogs along the technical area between the dugouts and the pitch and hands them each a football whilst explaining which elements of the theatre show they’ll be including in tonight’s act. The Tap Dogs theatre show comprises a basketball sequence and Perry decides to adapt the routine and add a new intricate move. Sweetman throws the footballs from one end of the line to Ernest at the other end before they’re bounced back along the line from one Tap Dog to another as each dancer continues tapping.
11am
Whilst Tap Dogs continue practicing with the footballs, on the other side of the pitch there’s a problem with the stage being constructed in front of a cinema-sized screen for tonight’s performance. The stage floor isn’t flat and the scaffold stairs that Tap Dogs will use in their act have been fixed far too close to trigger pads at the front of the stage that each make a different noise when struck with a tap boot. Backrow’s lighting designer is struggling to direct the Spanish contractors to move the scaffold to the back of the stage and flatten the floor.
11.15am
Tap Dogs are taken to a treatment room in the stadium so they can rehearse. Lewis, 18, is the youngest of the dancers and this is his debut performance. According to McQuinn: “Dein came to me three months ago and said that he’d found a promising young tap dancer from his dance class in Australia. It’s important to bring through young talent so we took him on tour around Australia, taught him the routines and threw him into a couple of shows in Brisbane but this is his first major performance and he’s so full of confidence.”
Perry works the boys through their routines and the sound of boots tapping on wooden floorboards echoes around the treatment room. Tonight’s show includes six solos so Perry discusses which Tap Dog will take on which of the act’s character roles. “I’m not very funky,” says Ernest as he strips off his shirt in the soaring heat of the treatment room. “Let’s get Jason to be the funky one.”
12.10pm
On the other side of the pitch, the Spanish contractors have finally laid the wood to ensure the stage is flat but the scaffold staircase is still to be moved. Tap Dogs complete the rehearsal and head back to the hotel to continue practicing the football routine that has yet to work without someone dropping a ball. There’s still one vital ingredient to tonight’s act that’s missing as well – four pairs of Wellington boots required for a routine that sees Perry, Magri, Ernest and Yeoman sit on the scaffold steps and tap with their feet in a water tray to splash water towards the audience. McQuinn and I are going shopping.
12.45pm
In the car McQuinn chats to Perry on his mobile. Perry is still adding bit parts to the performance and needs a red and yellow card plus a referee’s whistle, which he’ll use to direct his troops.
“Dein is one of the most prominent tap choreographers in the world and has reinvented the dance genre for a contemporary audience,” McQuinn says proudly. “The football routine is a high-risk element that looks wonderful when it comes off but will look bloody awful if someone drops the ball tonight.”
1.30pm
The search for waterproof wellies, or ‘gumboots’ as Australian McQuinn calls them, is not going well. Our local driver Alberto takes us to a department store complex but the only boots to be found are two pairs in a fishing department. McQuinn is worried: “They can do the water sequence in tap boots but it’ll ruin the shoes and doesn’t create the same amount of splash.” We head to another sports store a 15-minute drive away.
2pm
The gumboots are found at the sports store and McQuinn buys five pairs. Alberto translates a Spanish women’s comment whilst we stand in the queue at the checkout. “It’s 27-degrees outside. Do you know something about the weather that I don’t?” she jokes.
4pm
Tap Dogs return to the Bernabeu to rehearse on stage but the power has failed in the stadium. Whilst the problem is rectified, Garry is going ballistic at the Spanish contractors to move the scaffold but his swearing falls on deaf ears. It’s only when he threatens to do it himself that they leap into action. With stadium power back on, the boys can rehearse.
6pm
It’s two hours into the final rehearsal and Perry is working the guys hard to perfect the routines. The intricate football sequence is still not coming together however and Perry and McQuinn discuss having people on the sides of the stage to throw on new balls should somebody drop the ball during the show.
7pm
The rehearsal is over and the success of the football sequence is now in the hands of the Gods. Tap Dogs artiste liaison Pippa Rayner-Cook has sourced the red and yellow cards and even persuaded a policeman to part with his whistle. The guys head back to the hotel and stretch out the last three hours of rehearsals from their aching limbs.
7.30pm
Over dinner Perry reflects on the day: “There’s been numerous logistical problems but we as dancers can’t let them concern us and we just need to focus on the routines,” he says. “I’m a bit worried about the football sequence but it’s like the lion and the master. If the lion doesn’t do want the master wants, then the audience will get behind the lion tamer and when the lion finally performs, it gets a much bigger cheer from the crowd. The audience will want us to get it right.”
9pm
Back at the stadium, Tap Dogs change into Real Madrid training tops and lumberjack sleeveless shirts as each dancer focuses on his role and not dropping the ball.
9.30pm
Outside the stadium guests arrive and go through the motions of the red carpet, which for tonight is lined with assistant referees waving their flags as the celebrities pass. Gallacticos David Beckham and Raul are the last to arrive and Tap Dogs head to the stage.
10pm
Tap Dogs perform the initial routines to perfection and the crowd starts to respond to this pre-film entertainment. The football sequence is drawing near and all who have spent the day with the dancers and know what’s coming cross their fingers that no one drops that ball.
10.15pm
The footballs are out and Tap Dogs work through the routine normally done with basketballs. Sweetman starts the high-risk element of the choreography by throwing the ball down the line to Ernest, who catches it and bounces it back along the line as another ball is thrown over. Rayner-Cook, McQuinn and Brett hold their breaths. The cheer that goes up as the routine is carried out to perfection spreads throughout the crowd. Tap Dogs have wowed the Spanish and Beckham. It’s a shame that the film didn’t do the same.
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