BY CLAUDIA LA ROCCO

NEW YORK -- Rangy body clad in gray slacks and a loose, black John Coltrane T-shirt, Savion Glover is tapping through "The Stars & Stripes Forever (for Now)," his tribute to Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things."

He fires off a dazzling arsenal of steps, then lands a flat-footed stomp. Sweat flies from his beard, spraying the front row of the packed B.B. King Blues Club & Grill and splotching his pants as he spins and slides, thick dreads about to escape their loose coil atop his head.

"What's that? What is that?" A young man mouths the words to his friends, shaking his head in disbelief at what he sees happening on stage.

A little girl in the front row laughs with delight.

But most people just stare, open-mouthed or smiling.

The show is Glover's last before beginning a six-week tour called Improvography II, a blend of choreography for his new group, Chapter IV, and improvisation with jazz quartet The Otherz. The tour will bring him to Boston's Cutler Majestic Theatre Friday through Sunday and to the Providence Performing Arts Center May 20.

Glover is known for hitting the wood hard. Sitting in the second row, you can feel the vibrations from his feet -- the impact ricochets up your sternum. But he never sacrifices clarity, and his specially miked platform stage faithfully broadcasts his complicated polyrhythms. Wherever he goes, it goes, with a team of sound engineers.

"I've had people ask, can 'Can he dance on linoleum, is tile OK?" OK?' " Glover's longtime manager, Carole Davis, said with a laugh during an afternoon sound check. "One time, someone even said to me, 'Can he dance on carpet?' It was like, can he dance on water?"

Maybe in his next show.