Tap Dogs are the all-male set of hoofers that have taken the world by storm.

In a story that sounds too much like the Billy Elliot film to be true, they hail from a steel town Down Under where founder Dein Perry used to tap-dance with his pals in his lunch break.

With no dancing opportunities in sight, Dein trained as an industrial machinist before breaking away from his blue-collar roots to Sydney and bit-parts in musicals.

Gaining enough experience to win a small government grant, Dein created a contemporary show round the themes of his industrial experience.

Bringing in his steel town dancing mates, who by now had jobs, he formed a company that went on to become Tap Dogs.

Wowing audiences at Sydney Theatre Festival in 1995, the company went from strength to strength and has won 11 international awards and performed round the world to more than 3.4 billion viewers.

In the earliest incarnation of Tap Dogs, Perry and pals called themselves Tap Brothers.

The idea of fraternity is still central to them.

The antithesis of Fred Astaire fluffiness, The Tap Dogs' image is forged out of Levis jeans, dockers' biceps and heavy, steel toe-capped boots.

Performing on a set that looks like a construction site, the dancers shift round platforms, scaffolding planks, ropes, hooks and beams.

The on-stage atmosphere is one of friendly competition where fancy footwork and buddy-buddy body language substitute for building site banter.

The tap style the dancers favour is heavy duty, though it's partly an illusion created by the amplification of the floor.

All of the visual jokes and puns are emphatically masculine.

In one routine they pretend to urinate between their tapping toes.

They frequently get out screwdrivers to adjust the screws on their metal taps - a deliberate far cry from dancers retying their satin ribbons or pulling up their tights.

Live musicians blast out a chunky score that enhances the rolling thunder of the dancers' feet while an inspired use of blowtorches adds to the overall visual splendour in this straightforward and solid good-time stuff.

Tickets £10 to £22. Tuesday to Thursday 7.30pm. Friday, 8pm. Saturday 3pm and 8pm.

Call 01273 709709 for further details.