Happy Tappy Feet

This past week, my daughter's clogging class hosted a "parent viewing" night where we are invited into the classroom to take pictures or videos. The woman who owns the dance studio just moved to a larger location, which is really nice - there are more classrooms and they all have viewing windows. It's fun to watch all the classes as they're happening, but there is just something about being inside the room that makes it so much more impressive. Especially with clogging!

I never knew that much about clogging before we signed my daughter up for her class. Originally, I was looking for either Irish Dance or Tap but both classes were full. Clogging is very similar to both of these styles, but the neat thing about clogging are the jingle taps attached to the bottom of the shoes. Because of the extra metal plates, the sounds is much louder with a little extra vibration to it.

Interestingly enough, clogging originated in the Appalachian Mountains and was performed to traditional country and bluegrass songs. (It's the official dance of the state of North Carolina!) My daughter's class is not traditional and they dance to all types of music. Their recital song is Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) by Michael Jackson and they usually warm up to the songs from the High School Musical soundtrack!

I love watching these little kids pounding out the clogging steps. It sounds so powerful when they're all on the same rhythm - it really is incredible and they are so, so cute!

Here is a little clip of what we got to see... Enjoy! And if you're interested in learning more about clogging, I found a great website that has lots of resources and fun facts. See Double Toe Times.