THE ORIGINS OF CLOGGING

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There's some controversy, in clogging circles, about whether the arms should be used as you dance. It's true that many of the oldtime buck dancers keep their upper bodies virtually immobile while their feet go mad ...but some folks find that arm movements help them both keep their balance and get into the mood of the music. See how it feels to you, and go with whatever "body English" you like best.

While you are practicing these rudimentary clogging steps, you'll like as not wonder, at times, whether you'll ever be able to dance in a public place without counting aloud. Rest assured, confidence will come with time. (Full-length mirrors—although they can make you feel foolish at first—do allow you to see what you're doing ...and perhaps even correct it! )

When you're working on getting the basic feel of clogging, it may help to bear in mind a piece of advice that Poochey King (the female half of the Southern Appalachian Cloggers' lead couple) offers to novices: "It's all in the knees and the heels. If you concentrate on keeping your knees loose and remember to mark time with your heels, you will learn to clog."

FLYING FEET

After you feel competent at chugging, single shuffling, and basic stepping, you can set your sights on learning some really fancy footwork. While it'll probably seem impossible, in the beginning, to nudge your feet into the awkward configurations called for in advanced clogging steps, these "frills", too, will soon become second nature.

Perhaps the most impressive step is the Earl (it's also known as the Bertha or crossover ...clogging terminology varies from region to region). The Earl is a combination chug and hornpipe step, and it looks particularly flashy when performed by a person who has long legs. Here's how it's done: Clog a few basic steps to pick up the rhythm ...then, when it's time for your right foot to shuffle, extend that leg forward instead with the knee kept straight—while you chug backward on your left foot. On the second beat, bend your right knee and bring your foot in toward your body, and chug forward with your left foot. For the third beat, straighten and extend your right leg and chug backward again on your left leg. Finally, on the fourth beat, place your dangling foot safely on the ground ...and ponder the intricacies of a step that requires your body to be moving in so many different directions at one time. The Earl may be repeated from side to side ...and some folks are able to whip off a dazzling series of variations on the crossover.

The chicken (the origin of the name will become quite evident when you see this step performed) is a maneuver that is really not too difficult but is tiring. To do the step (it doesn't matter which foot you start with), chug back and forth on one leg ...twirling your other foot in a circle behind you, in time to the music. When performed correctly, the chicken has a syncopated rhythm, sounding like chug, tap (the second beat coming each time the circling foot touches the floor), chug, tap, chug, tap.

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