Anyone who can claim to have taught the legendary Ginger Rogers a step or two has got to be taken seriously.

Canadian tap dancer William Orlowski did just that -- and yesterday he brought his talents to the stage of Hamilton's City Hall with a three-strong backup for his interpretation of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Tin Soldier.

Showcased as part of Kidfest 1999, the show, however, had something for everyone and the mix of music, magic, mime and dance kept the largely young audience spellbound for an hour -- not an easy task I'm sure.

Orlowski and team, Keith, Paulina and Samantha, did a stunning tap dance version of the Tin Soldier using a minimum of props to maximum effect.

A shimmering cloth in shades of blue stood in for rough water, while bowler hats and white gloves were used to create a compelling image of a sewer rat who set himself up as immigration control.

The tale is of a lovelorn, one-legged, tin soldier captivated by a beautiful dancer in a toy castle.

But the gallant little warrior falls foul of a malevolent goblin with magical powers who makes his quest for true love as difficult as possible.

A three-storey fall from the nursery window, a stormy trip down a gutter in a paper boat, a skirmish with the sewer rat and a Jonah-like encounter with a fish all have to be suffered before the fish is caught -- and sold to the hapless private's original owners.

But, in a story psychologists would probably ban today as just too, well grim, really, the soldier ends up out of the frying pan and into the fire -- shortly to be joined by the dancer, blown into the same stove by a stray gust of wind.

The music -- a 30's jazzy composition by American Raymond Scott with touches of Scott Joplin et al -- echoed the heyday of tap, and the ghosts of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were no doubt looking on with approval from the wings.

And Keith almost stole the show as the goblin, pulling paper streamers from his mouth and turning a bottle of Coca Cola into what looked suspiciously like a can of Pepsi -- for the benefit of the new generation, presumably.

Orlowski made his art look effortless, backed up by a suitably fragile-looking Paulina as the paper ballerina.

And the black-clad Keith and Samantha did superbly in a duet with sticks and taps, as well as moving the show along seamlessly.

Raymond Hainey Class Act : Versatile entertainers "The Tin Soldiers'' kept elderly hospital patients amused on Friday before performing to a sell out crowd of youngsters at the City Hall yesterday afternoon. Pictured (from left) are William Orlowski, Samantha Baldwin, Kevin Etherington and Paulina Kee.