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Clogging is a traditional type of percussive folk dance which is associated with a number of different regions across the world. In earlier periods it was not always called "clogging", being known variously as flat-footing, foot-stomping, buck dancing, jigging, or other local terms. What all these had in common was emphasizing the downbeat of the music by enthusiastic footwork.

Contents 1 England 2 United States 3 Europe 4 Steps 5 See also 6 External links 7 References

Clog dancing was a common pastime in 18th century England. It is thought to have developed in the Lancashire cotton mills where wooden-soled clogs were preferred to leather soles because the floors were kept wet to help keep the humidity high, important in cotton spinning. Clog dancers were a common sight at music halls throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Dan Leno became the world champion clog dancer in the 1880's, although records show that competitive clog dancing was a frequent occurrence throughout the 19th century.

Clogging is also traditional in Wales and is a regular feature of both local and national eisteddfodau. Competition can be energetic with the dancers leaping over brooms.

English clogging started in the Industrial Revolution. Men sitting at the weaving machines wore hard sole shoes, which they would tap to the rhythms of the machines to keep their feet warm. At their breaks and lunches, they would have competitions, where they were judged on the best rhythm patterns. In later years of the Industrial Revolution, they clogged on proper stages at competitions. In these competitions, the judges would watch the routine and judge it according to footwork, precision, and technique. Clogging traditions still exist in some festivals in Northumberland, and are danced to the traditional music of the area.

More recently household name Peter Zebedee has begun a Clogging revival in the provincial Northern town of Keighley. Modern Clogging or "Clog Clubbing" is picking up and proving to be quite popular.

In the U.S. clogging originates from the Appalachian region and the Ozarks and is associated with the predecessor to bluegrass — "old-time" music, which is based on Irish and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes. Over the years, clogging has developed from aspects of English and Irish step dances, French-Canadian step dance, and tap. It was also heavily influenced by African American dances.

Traditional Appalachian clogging is characterized by loose, often bent knees and a "drag-slide" motion of the foot across the floor, and is usually performed to old-time music. Modern competitive clogging, which is inspired by traditional styles, is often done in tap shoes, and is performed to a wide variety of music, including bluegrass, modern country, rock music and hip hop. These high-energy styles have opened the forum to a wide audience with hundreds of workshops and competitions every year.

Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina.

Clogging shoes are often black or white. Some people feel that white shoes are better at attracting attention from an audience. Clogging shoes generally have taps that are double taps or "jingle taps". This makes it so there are four taps on each shoe. Two on the ball, and two on the heel. One is securely fastened to the shoe, while the other is more loosely fastened and hits both the floor and the fastened tap while dancing or simply walking about. That is why you can hear cloggers on carpet as well as hard surface floors.

In 2005, nearly 500 teenagers attempted the "Guinness Book of World Records" bid for the largest number of clog dancers. It took place in The Hague. They were dancing the ballet version of the Dutch clog dance rather than the folk version. The ballet "La Fille Mal Garde" contains a well-known clog dance. For this specific dance the choreography was created by Stanley Holden (1928 - 2007), though Ashton took overall responsibility for it. Cecil Sharp frequently encountered step dancing and clog dancing in his search for folk dances in England, but it was Maud Karpeles who was more conspicuous in documenting it. She encountered groups of Morris clog dancers in the North-West of England. Her book "The Lancashire Morris Dance" was published in 1930. In 1911 John Graham had published "Lancashire and Cheshire Morris Dances" from the same area. Both in the USA and in England it was also known as "Buck and wing" dancing. The "wing" referred to, is the step where a foot is kicked out to one side, striking the ground as it goes.

According to the website "Streetswing" the "buck" is a reference to "buccaneer". The theory is that these dances were evolved by sailors. The "sailor's hornpipe" has some similarity to clog dancing, in that it is performed solo, with flashy inticate steps. In Jack London's novel Martin Eden (1909) the central character, a sailor, is very proud of being skilled in "buck and wing" dancing. In the USA, clog dancing evolved into the soft shoe shuffle, in Vaudeville after about 1920. A characteristic of this style is that the melody stops for one bar of music, while the dancer continues to make a sound with his feet. Particularly in the context of bluegrass, the word breakdown is similar to hoedown, and this also involves a "break" in the tune, where the melody stops and the dancer takes over, in a piece of showmanship. If there is no dancer, the percussionist plays solo. The type of dancing that took place in minstrel shows might have been a factor in the evolution of the dance from clog into soft shoe shuffle.

In clogging, as in many traditional dance styles step names are not universal; almost every clogging teacher or studio has different names for similar or identical steps. One of the most basic clogging steps is called a double step, or shuffle. This involves brushing the ball of your foot forward, brushing it back, then stepping. Another common step is called the Tennessee walking step, a combination of drags "chugs" and brushes, thought to have been popularized by the Green Grass Cloggers and The Fiddle Puppet Dancers, two performance groups active in the 1980's. Juba is a clogging move, originating from Africa, which involves touching your legs by slapping your thighs during the dance. It is a basic part of the gumboot dance of African mine workers. ^[1]

• Jesco White
• Limberjack
• Tap dance
• Zapateado
• Step dance
• American Racket

• History of Clogging
• Talking Feet
• Wild Goose Chase Cloggers
• Lodge Cloggers
• American Racket Cloggers
• Northern California cloggers. This group uses the drag-slide style of dance extensively.
• Barbary Coast Cloggers
• Welsh Folk Dance Society: contains information about clog dancing in its member groups' pages
• European Callers and Teachers association
• Video of American clogging
• Square and Round Dancing Australia/NZ - Square and Round Dancing in Australia and NZ - Australian Products and area Information for Square Dancing, Round Dancing and Clogging
• California Ground Pounders
• Guinness Records in The Hague
• Buck and Wing
• Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble
• Good Foot Dance Company