When most people think of clogging, they may think of dancers with wooden shoes in Holland. However, American
clogging actually incorporates elements from the traditional folk dances of places such as Pre-Columbian America, the British Isles, and Africa. Southern settlers fused these elements to form what is known as Appalachian clog dancing. And by the 1930s, professional dance teams started to appear after combining traditional dance moves with more contemporary steps, thus creating more exciting and colorful routines on stage. Now, a lot of folks get confused when talking about clogging, because they think it’s tap dancing. However, the two styles of dance are
different.
You see, clog dancers (or cloggers) will use up-and-down body motion and produce most of the sound using their heels. Their movements are usually going to be more flat-footed than those of tap dancers, who use the balls of their feet to tap. Some of the most talented cloggers in the country are a 14-member team known as Tap This! These dancers are based in Lincoln, Nebraska, and have a reputation for high energy dance routines. In a video from the 2015 Clogging Champions of America, Showdown of Champions, we see Tap This! in the performance that made them both clogging legends and champions. The team danced to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” in a performance that brought the house down!
Some of the best things about their routine were that it was fresh, fun, original, with a ton of energy and attitude. These 14 dancers all moved as one and managed to fuse some traditional clogging moves with more modern dance steps. Their footwork was, of course, incredible, but their upper body movements perfectly matched the lyrics as though they were background dancers in the singer’s music video! You need to see these fantastically talented young folks for yourself in the video.
