What is Clogging?

I’ve been clogging for 13 years now, and I’m always surprised when people talk to me and have no idea what clogging actually is. So, let’s talk about what it is, and what it isn’t.

Clogging is a form of percussive folk dance where you wear flexible leather shoes that have taps on them, and make sounds by striking the ground. Clogging is the official state dance of both Kentucky, and North Carolina.

On clogging shoes, there are two sets of taps, one under the ball of your foot, and another under your heel. Then there is a plate on the front end by your toes that allows you to make sounds by hitting your toes on the ground, or standing on your toes like a ballerina on pointe.

Clogging is a mix of other dance forms like Jazz, Hip-hop, Ballet, Contemporary, River dance, and Irish. Something that clogging is NOT is tap dance. Calling a clogger a tap dancer is the single most offensive thing you could do.

There are two main categories when it comes to clogging. Traditional, and contemporary. Traditional is exactly what you think; it’s the older style of clogging where the steps are very simple, you keep your feet low to the ground, and you dance to country bluegrass music. When you dance a contemporary style, you can do any steps you want including dancing on your toes, and you can dance to pop, hip-hop, rap, or anything else you would like.

The costumes we wear also are a reflection of these two styles. Traditional costumes are very modest, and usually include a skirt and a blouse or a button up flannel. Contemporary styles are all about sparkles and bling, and you can wear anything from leggings, to shorts to crop tops.

As a competition clogger, I know both of these styles, and compete in both categories at every competition. There are many more categories inside both of these two, but I will leave that long list for another blog!

Overall, clogging is so flexible. You can dance so many different steps to so many different kinds of music. I of course personally think it is the most fun genre of dance out there, but that’s just me. Clogging is also for all ages, I know cloggers who are 3 years old, and cloggers who are over 90.

So that’s what clogging is all about! I encourage you to look up videos on YouTube if you are still curious about it. If you search CCA Clogging, you will find many videos, and might even spot me!