Clogging

Subject: Clogging
From: lloyd61
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 12:00 PM

Hi, I am Rexann, Lloyd's niece. I'm a clogger, formerly of Bailey Mountain Cloggers of Mars Hill College in North Carolina. Is there anyone out there interested in clogging?

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 12:10 PM

What is a clogger? I've got a pair of Birkenstocks
Will that help?
Little Neo

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Barry Finn
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 12:15 PM

Hi Rexann, welcome , I do love to watch mountain. I was always a dancer, since the early 60's just never did much folk dancing with the exception of some Irish set dancing & a little contra, but to watch Irish step & mountain clogging causes the droole to drip from both side of my mouth (that way you can tell I'm standing level). In my youngerer years I never had the wind for either & now I no longer have the legs for it. Happy stepping. Barry

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: bbelle
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 01:10 PM

Rexann ... the mudcat is a good plan to start, if you're looking for interested cloggers. I've done a bit of clogging, and love the genre, but, alas, back surgery and arthritis ... Try doing a Yahoo! search under "clogging." This should bring up different net sites for you to explore; perhaps even "group" sites. Good luck ... moonchild

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: kendall
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 03:17 PM

I used to contre dance, but time has stolen away my thyme or something. Now, I cant see, I cant hear, had both knees replaced, two by passes, a colostomy a liver transplant, but, thank God.. I still have my Florida drivers licence!! Yes, I stole all that.. too good to pass up. Also, to our British and Canadian friends, I know I mis-spelled licence.. just like you do..LOL

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Tiger
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 03:39 PM

We're here in NE Connecticut, far from clogging country. Our daughter is looking for a club, lessons, info, whatever - just has to be reachable from here. That would include most of New England and Eastern New York.

Any ideas?

Thanx.....Tiger

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 05:06 PM

Hi Rexann, didn't mean to be rude, just kidding around. I'm quite new here myself. The Mudcatters are a wonderful group. Very knowledgable friendly folks. Good luck with the Clogging.
Little Neo

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Banjer
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 05:18 PM

Never was much at dancing myself....Love to watch and clap for a good clogging session. I have seen some folks around here that are real good. From the youngsters to the old timers, all amaze me how they can move so much from the waist down, yet the shoulders don't seem to move very much at all! I did find that I CAN clog, if I eat enough cheese.....!!

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 07:46 PM

I found a couple of interesting clogging pages - click here and here. The only person I know who does clogging is a British guy who sings with me. He does a great job on both singing and clogging.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: alison
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 11:20 PM

I've done a bit of clogging.. it was great fun.. sort of a cross between line dancing & Irish.. all done in tap shoes.....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: bbelle
Date: 17 Oct 99 - 11:47 PM

One of the things I most enjoy about clogging is the sound. I think that's part of the allure of "Riverdance." At the next Mudcat gathering, I'll do my impression of "Riverdance." Didn't do it at the getaway because I wanted to nurse the impression of me as quiet and shy, as long as possible ... moonchild

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Graham Pirt
Date: 18 Oct 99 - 04:05 AM

Rexann Where I come from (Durham in the UK)clogging is done in clogs! Leather shoes with wooden soles and done in fixed position (usually on a pedestal about a metre square - or on a pub table where most of the pitman cloggeres did it). The dancing that Riverdance has evolved from is usually referred to as stepping.

Good luck

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Hutzul
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 12:11 AM

Moonchild, you're right about the sound of clogging. Why else would one of my favorite old vinyl record albums be of cloggers! Just put on the headphones, crank 'er up and I feel like even I can dance.

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Bob Jovi
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 10:17 AM

Graham Nice to be reminded that clogging happens outside of Appalachia and Broadway (Riverdance). Here in Western New England we have Northwest Morris (sound familiar?) that involves multiples of eight dancers--all wearing steel shod clogs. It is centered on the figures, and the footwork is simple ranting (thank goodness!).

A few dancers have taken to what is locally refered to "Marley Dancing"--after a Conneticut family of some former renown. I'm guessing that their probable roots are shared with your pitman cloggers.

Lucius

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Dale Rose
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 10:43 AM

And of course, here in the Ozarks, we don't call it clogging at all unless you are referring to the precision style where everyone dances in unison. Freestyle (if that is the proper word) is much more common and is referred to as a jig dance. Dancers just wear whatever happens to be on their feet at the time ~~ and if what they are wearing happens to be unsuitable when the urge to dance strikes, they just take them off! Arkie could tell you more if he happens to stop by this thread.

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Don from Georgia
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 12:38 PM

I've never clogged but was at one time well into square dancing. I really love to watch any kind of dancing and clogging and Irish dancing are my favorites. I don't drool when I see it but I do laugh a lot and slap my legs and stomp my feet while sitting down.

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Graham Pirt
Date: 19 Oct 99 - 05:43 PM

Bob The North West you refer to is from Lancashire, danced in teams of either men or women (but not often both. The clogging I referred to was from the North East of England, although there are similar individual styles in other parts of the country. I was interested in the "Marley" dancing. In Norfolk there are morris dancers known as Molly Dancers -usually with blacked faces - perhaps a hangover from the days when Morris translated from Moorish.

When young and fit I used to dance Rapper which is a sword dance from the North East of England performed by pitmen. The rappers are double handled spring steel blades used to scrape sweat and dust from the pit ponies. The team of five dancers never let go of the handles always remaining joined in complex figures interspersed with stepping.

Fascinating isn't it?

Subject: RE: Clogging
From: Lucius
Date: 20 Oct 99 - 08:26 PM

Yes.

Molly dancing happens here, as well as rapper. My wife does rapper and Northwest, and I play for one morris team and dance on another. We've even toyed with the idea of putting together a longsword team.

I have never met her, but there is a Conneticut woman of advancing years that performed the off-Vaudville circut when young. Her family billed themselves as "The Dancing Marleys", hence the name. She still teaches, as I have friends who have studied with her.

Lucius