British interest in American folk clogging began in the 1980's. It
was heavily influenced by people who had learned from the Green Grass
Cloggers, an American college team who mixed traditional footwork and
square dance moves with many other influences to produce a hybrid style
bearing little resemblance to modern American competition clogging.
Making sweeping generalisations, dancers in the UK follow the Green
Grass lead in wearing dark shoes with single taps, start on the right
foot and dance to live Old-time American music. Modern competition
cloggers in America - and worldwide - tend to use white shoes with
'jingle' taps, start on the left foot and dance to recorded Country &
Western or Bluegrass music. We have no formal competitions.
British cloggers will often include other styles of step dance in their
repertoire, mixing English wooden-sole clog dances with French Canadian
and Cape Breton traditions and hard shoe dances from both Ireland and
Scotland.
The adjoining towns of Bluefield in Virginia and West Virginia take
their name from the local blue-flowering chicory trees and bluegrass.
We take ours from the fields of blue flax grown in our area and taken
to America by early settlers.
Here Claire decides wisely that
2 degrees below freezing is not a suitable temperature for showing off
her team T-shirt by the town sign! Click the picture to enlarge.