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Sunday, August 31, 2014

History of Clog Dancing in North Carolina in 1950s and 1960s.


I recently came across a video of the Echo Inn Cloggers featured on the Jimmy Dean TV show in the 1950s. This team was a national champion team from Hendersonville, NC. Their step was freestyle, but at the end of the second routine, they lined up and did a flapjack in unison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASV601P_hXc

What struck me is the similarity to how Kay Wilkins introduced precision clogging to the square dance world at the National Championships in Slade, Kentucky in 1948. According to what she told me when I visited her in her home at Plumtree, NC, at that time she had recently started the smooth dance and clogging team programs at Cranberry School, which was consolidated to form Avery County High School in the mid 1960s. She took the dancers to Kentucky for the competition and stunned the square dance world by lining up and doing a precision step at the end. Since the flapjack was very popular in Avery County, I imagine that they did the flapjack, probably very similar to what we see in the second routine by the Echo Inn Cloggers.

In 1964 the Blue Ridge Mountain Dancers of Hendersonville were filmed by David Hoffman of New York in the home of Bascom Lamar Lunsford. This celebrated historic archive has been viewed over a million times on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WY

By this time, the step was being styled with a syncopation and strong down and back movement that distinguishes clogging from the buck step. Clogging was very popular in Hendersonville during that era.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Video from 1981 Clog College Uploaded to YouTube


I have uploaded some new clogging videos to YouTube. These videos are taken from footage I filmed at the 1981 Clog College at Fontana Dam Village and are of historical interest because that was the time when major changes were afoot that would bring about the era of modern clogging. Probably the first all-female clogging team was the Moonshine Cloggers. Until that time, most clogging teams were gender balanced. In 1981, the "syncopated step" was being taught as something that enhanced the dance and was being encouraged to be incorporated if you wanted to have a better routine. This step was done a cappella because it did not go with the music and represented a major departure from the rules of traditional clogging. Probably most significant was the emergence of Burton Edwards in 1980. He presented a new basic step that differed from what everyone else was doing, and he was present at the 1981 Clog College demonstrating his step, although not teaching it at that point. Sammy Simpson, one of the judges at the World Championship, gave a lengthy workshop session that seemed to embrace some of what Burton was doing, but more or less tried to define traditional clogging. Here are the URLs.

Moonshine Cloggers
http://youtu.be/DQgYgXev7ss

Carolina Cut-Ups, featuring Burton Edwards
http://youtu.be/W80OpjqpfV8

Burton Edwards in a duet routine
http://youtu.be/GOsn2oAQwps

Sammy Simpson
http://youtu.be/rMz8vXNyoww

Mike Cassidy of Kentucky
http://youtu.be/i2Eau6Us4IA

Syncopated step instruction
http://youtu.be/D8-dAoZs2w8

A Team from Kentucky
http://youtu.be/dwozsuqcnlg

A Duet (I think from Georgia)
http://youtu.be/uKTKOZinukM

Men open dancing
http://youtu.be/TEKH9GjZ9pQ

Women open dancing
http://youtu.be/8Pt64ss-ujQ

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

April 2012 Clogging Class & Workshop


Announcing – Clogging Workshop & Class

1. What:               Beginner Clogging Workshop
Where:                        Championz Cheer and Dance Studio
Location:                     3744 Pleasant Plains Road, Matthews, NC  28104
When:                         April 21
What Time:                 2:00 – 5:00 PM
Instructor:                   Allen Cooke, director of former Skyline Cloggers of Charlotte
Ages:                          All ages: Kids, 7-ish to Adults, 70-ish
Price:                          $20 (Cheap!)

Description:
A one-day workshop in traditional step clog dancing will be held on Saturday, April 21. Clogging is an original North Carolina Folk Dance and is great aerobic exercise. You can get into the best physical condition attainable and preserve a NC heritage. This is not a class in percussive flatfoot, buck or modern clogging.

2. What:                  Intermediate Clogging Class
Where:                        Championz Cheer and Dance Studio
Location:                     3744 Pleasant Plains Road, Matthews, NC  28104        704-821-2409
When:                         April 26 – May 24 (5 weeks)
What Time:                 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Instructor:                   Allen Cooke, director of former Skyline Cloggers of Charlotte
Ages:                          All ages: Kids, 7-ish to Adults, 70-ish
Price:                          $20 (Cheap!)

Description:
A 5-week class on Thursday nights in traditional step clog dancing for intermediates begins April 26. This is not a class in percussive flatfoot, buck or modern clogging.


Contact:                      warehambr@aol.com             704-366-3334 (Allen Cooke)                      
Venue Web-Site:         http://www.championzcheeranddance.com/
                                   


Please help me pass the word by forwarding this announcement to anyone you think may be interested!
Thank you!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Skyline Cloggers steps drill

I have posted on You Tube a steps drill by the Skyline Cloggers, made back in 1981.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_dERe8Ub3A


We had a video recorder in practice one evening and filmed some routines and drilled on basic steps. Unfortunately much was taped over later. The only other thing left by the Skyline Cloggers is the Foggy Mountain Breakdown rehearsal that had the first quarter or so of the routine taped over. That has been on You Tube a good while. What taped over the practice session was video I made at Fontana in the spring of 1981 when I attended a Clog College. I filmed a good bit of the instruction and open dancing. When I am able to get it converted to digital, I will post it in excerpts on You Tube and mention it here. Among that video is footage of the Carolina Cutups when Burton Edwards introduced his "pitter patter" step. I think the clog college video has a lot of historical significance to anyone interested in seeing how clogging changed from the traditional style to the modern style.

My own style was influenced largely from two teams, the Avery County High School Cloggers, for their general style, and the Daniel Boone Cloggers, for their style and especially for their speed. Both of these teams are from the high mountain country of the Appalachian Mountains in northwestern North Carolina, an area largely settled by Scottish immigrants. I think the Scottish influence is present in the style of the teams from this area, particularly another team from the area called the Grandfather Mountain Cloggers. These three teams made up the nucleus of an awesome scene of clogging in the 1970s. I would say too, that my style was influenced by the Green Grass Cloggers, in that I liked their high stepping and kicks, as well as their choreography. Kay Wilkins, the director of the Avery County High School Cloggers, told me that she saw the Green Grass Cloggers and liked their high kicks too, and adapted some for her routines. Her style was less syncopated than those of the Green Grass Cloggers, and I pretty much followed the same style.

I have always been proud to tell people that early in my clogging career, up in Virginia at Ralph Stanley's bluegrass festival in Dickenson County while dancing around in the grass all weekend, an old-timer told me that I reminded him of the way some people danced many years before. This was many years ago, in 1977. So I never wanted to change my style of dance much.

Friday, February 24, 2012

March 2012 Clogging class announcement

Announcing

What:                          Beginners Clogging Class
Where:                        Championz Cheer and Dance Studio
Location:                     3744 Pleasant Plains Road, Matthews, NC  28104
When:                         March 15 – April 12 (5 weeks)
What Time:                 Beginners 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Instructor:                   Allen Cooke, director of former Skyline Cloggers of Charlotte
Ages:                          All ages, Kids (7-ish) to Adults (70-ish)
Price:                          $20 (Cheap!)


Description:
A 5-week class on Thursday nights in traditional step clog dancing begins March 15. Clogging is an original North Carolina Folk Dance and is great aerobic exercise. You can get into the best physical condition attainable and preserve a NC heritage. This is not a class in percussive flatfoot, buck or modern clogging.

Contact:                      704-366-3334 (Allen Cooke)
                                    warehambr@aol.com

                                    704-821-2409 (Championz Cheer and Dance)
                                    championzcheeranddance@gmail.com

Blog:                           http://cookesclogdancing.blogspot.com/

Venue:                         http://www.championzcheeranddance.com/
                                    3744 Pleasant Plains Road
                                    Matthews, NC  28104

Please help me pass the word by forwarding this announcement to anyone you think may be interested!
Thank you!

Friday, December 30, 2011

January 2012 Clogging Class Announcement


Announcing

What:                          Beginners Clogging Class
Where:                        Championz Cheer and Dance Studio
Location:                     3744 Pleasant Plains Road, Matthews, NC  28104
When:                         January 26 – February 23 (5 weeks)
What Time:                 Beginners 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Instructor:                   Allen Cooke, director of former Skyline Cloggers of Charlotte
Ages:                          All Ages, Kids (7-ish) & Up
Price:                          $20


Description:
A 5-week class on Thursday nights in traditional step clog dancing begins January 26. Clogging is an original North Carolina Folk Dance and is great aerobic exercise. You can get into the best physical condition attainable and preserve a NC heritage. This is not a class in percussive flatfoot, buck or modern clogging.

Contact:                      704-366-3334 (Allen Cooke)
                                    warehambr@aol.com

                                    704-821-2409 (Championz Cheer and Dance)
                                    championzcheeranddance@gmail.com

Blog:                           http://cookesclogdancing.blogspot.com/

Venue:                         http://www.championzcheeranddance.com/
                                    3744 Pleasant Plains Road
                                    Matthews, NC  28104

Please help me pass the word by forwarding this announcement to anyone you think may be interested!
Thank you!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

October 2011 Clogging Class Announcement

Announcing

What:                          Clogging Class
Where:                        Championz Cheer and Dance Studio
Location:                     3744 Pleasant Plains Road, Matthews, NC  28104
When:                         October 6 – November 17 (7 weeks)
What Time:                  Beginners 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Instructor:                    Allen Cooke, director of former Skyline Cloggers of Charlotte
Ages:                           Kids (7-ish) & Up
Price:                           $22


Description:
A 7-week class on Thursday nights in traditional step clog dancing begins October 6. In addition to steps, the class will include some basic figures. Clogging is an original North Carolina Folk Dance and is great aerobic exercise. You can get into the best physical condition attainable and preserve a NC heritage. This is not a class in percussive flatfoot, buck or modern clogging.

Contact:                     704-366-3334 (Allen Cooke)
                                  warehambr@aol.com
                                  704-821-2409 (Championz Cheer and Dance)
                                  championzcheeranddance@gmail.com

Blog:                          http://cookesclogdancing.blogspot.com/

Venue:                        http://www.championzcheeranddance.com/
                                  3744 Pleasant Plains Road
                                  Matthews, NC  28104

Please help me pass the word by forwarding this announcement to anyone you think may be interested!
Thank you!