The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #31136   Message #403498
Posted By: Arkie
22-Feb-01 - 01:21 AM
Thread Name: Flatfoot or buckdancing instruction
Subject: RE: Flatfoot or buckdancing instruction
Chris Ginn is an exceptional buck dancer and clogger. The style of dance done in western North Carolina where Bascom Lamar Lunsford was such a great influence is usually called clogging. An article by David Holt in a journal named "Southern Exposure" attributed the development of precision clogging to the dance competitions in North Carolina in the 1930s which may have been organized by Lunsford. Cloggers tend to emphasize the heavy beats while buck dancers feet stay closer to the floor and tap out more beat sometimes going note for note with the fiddle.

Mrs. Duck, have you tried the English Country Dance Society as a source of tapes? Buck dancing is a little out of their area, but they may know of some sources. I'm afraid the only sources I know of are in the US. Aren't their some companies who are able to convert the formats.

As an aside, the traditional dancers in the Ozarks call their solo stepdance a "jig" and it varies from the buck dance and clog in that it incorporates bits of many different styles. The primary characteristics are that the body is held somewhat rigid and the dancers don't kick and leap about. While the dance works best when the dancers keep time to the music, many of the dancers will not let a little thing like rhythm confine them.