Clog Dancing

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on September 1, 1981
1 / 13

Hard shoes—perhaps with taps attached—loose clothing, and lots of space are all you need to practice clog dancing.
Hard shoes—perhaps with taps attached—loose clothing, and lots of space are all you need to practice clog dancing.
2 / 13

THE CHUG, Step 1: Stand with your feet slightly apart. Slide/hop forward, bending your knees... 
THE CHUG, Step 1: Stand with your feet slightly apart. Slide/hop forward, bending your knees... 
3 / 13

THE CHUG, Step 2: ...then slide/hop back into place.
THE CHUG, Step 2: ...then slide/hop back into place.
4 / 13

THE SINGLE SHUFFLE, Step 1: Brush the ball of one foot forward...
THE SINGLE SHUFFLE, Step 1: Brush the ball of one foot forward...
5 / 13

BASIC CLOGGING, STEP 1: First, perform the single shuffle with your right foot. Then step left...
BASIC CLOGGING, STEP 1: First, perform the single shuffle with your right foot. Then step left...
6 / 13

THE SINGLE SHUFFLE, Step 2: ...scuff your foot back.
THE SINGLE SHUFFLE, Step 2: ...scuff your foot back.
7 / 13

BASIC CLOGGING, Step 2: ...step right.
BASIC CLOGGING, Step 2: ...step right.
8 / 13

BASIC CLOGGING, Step 3: ...step left.
BASIC CLOGGING, Step 3: ...step left.
9 / 13

THE EARL, Step 1: Chug backward on one foot and extend the other, keeping the knee straight.
THE EARL, Step 1: Chug backward on one foot and extend the other, keeping the knee straight.
10 / 13

THE EARL, Step 3: ...chug backward, straightening your leg.
THE EARL, Step 3: ...chug backward, straightening your leg.
11 / 13

THE EARL, Step 2: ...chug forward, bending your knee
THE EARL, Step 2: ...chug forward, bending your knee
12 / 13

THE EARL, Step 4: ...then shift your weight to that busy foot [11].
THE EARL, Step 4: ...then shift your weight to that busy foot [11].
13 / 13

THE CHICKEN: Chug back and forth on one leg, twirling your other foot behind you in time to the music. 
THE CHICKEN: Chug back and forth on one leg, twirling your other foot behind you in time to the music. 

It’s hard to say exactly when it happened, but a number of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ staffers have gone and got themselves bitten by the clog dancing bug. The whole thing may have started when we admired the Southern Appalachian Cloggers in action at our seminars last year. But then, it may also have been prompted by a wistful desire to join in on the action at Bill Stanley’s, a bluegrass-and-barbecue spot in nearby Asheville, North Carolina. At any rate, by the time the annual Mountain Youth Folk Festival rolled around this spring–and the Asheville Civic Center was packed with petticoat-layered and denim-clad youngsters dancing their hearts out–our crew was distinctly envious. We had clogging fever.

Well, it wasn’t long before some of us decided to look further into the history of the old-time Appalachian dance form and to learn a few steps (Which we’ll pass on to you later). After all, clogging’s fun, it’s sociable, it’s downright lively, and almost anyone can learn how to do it. In fact, we’ll almost stake the ranch that–by the time you finish reading this armchair guide to clogging–you’ll be itching to put your feet to the test.

The Origins of Clogging

Clog dancing probably had its roots in the traditional fancy steps of the Irish, Scotch, and English immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains. One historian has suggested that the dance originated in the mill towns of England, where workers–who commonly wore stout wooden-soled shoes would go out into the cobblestone streets during their lunch breaks and hold impromptu dancing contests.

The steps developed by those factory laborers–along with the hornpipes, jigs, and reels of the Anglo-Saxon cultures–were then influenced, in the New World, by the heel-and-toe-accented rhythms of Cherokee dances and the routines performed by blacks in minstrel and medicine shows. It’s out of this synthesis, many people believe, that “buck and wing” or “buck” dancing was born.

Performed by one person, usually to the plaintive strains of mountain fiddle music, buck dancing features close-to-the-ground lateral foot movement, with the torso held fairly stationary. (In fact, some of the old-time buck dancers prided themselves on their ability to “go it” with water-filled teacups balanced on their heads.)

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368