know how to clog dance?

[burrocrat]

do you know how to clog dance?

somebody recently posted a music video of some guy clog dancing, i forget who and can't find it right now, but it triggered a deep memory for me. i am totally serious about this. i wish i knew how to clog dance. hell i wish i could dance, period. and i will tell you why.

before my kid was born i took his soon to be mama to las vegas in a round about zion flagstaff hopi bullhead city kind of way to complete a family tour and visit roots. anyways, we were staying at a fancy casino for a couple of nights near the end of that journey and i was playing blackjack. i could see across the pit this guy in a button up shirt and tie with stacks and stacks of black chips in front of him. the only time i ever have even one column of black chips is when i 'color up' right before cashing out and that table was clearly out of my limit.

anyways, there was this cover band with a female singer doing 1980's pop about 20 years too late. so after i pulled a few hundred for lucky score and sat down to finish my free cocktail, this dude walks on the the dance floor and clog dances. i am not kidding, it was to janet jackson or something and i didn't recognize the actual dance moves at the time, but now i know he was clog dancing, and he was totally free! it is a moment that i can never forget, that dance.

not knee stomping elbow flapping coverall wearing no tee shirt toothless grin clog dancing, it was subtle, but the footwork was the same, smooth, i recognize it now. he didn't care, he was dancing, leave me alone. collar and tie loosened and free, tall skinny white guy, and then some short round black girl comes up and dances near him too, different dance steps but both free. it was an unusual moment in time.

i have no idea if he was winning or losing or what happened eventually to the at least $50,000 in chips he had on the table. maybe it was chump change to him, maybe it was his life's fortune. but in that moment, none of it mattered.

i am going to learn to clog dance before i die.

 

[alevin]

I learned how to play old time music backup guitar for songs like this. It was always meant to be dancin' muisic. You can aspire to at least the level of these dancers, b. I know you can do it. Have fun learning. It is pure joy to play and pure joy to dance to this kind of music, and pure joy to watch, too.

 

[burrocrat]

yes, flat footin', like that, the smooth casual shuffle, i am going to learn how to do it. then i am going to dance, free. if folks don't like it they don't have to watch. it's on my bucket list.

 

[userque]

burrocrat, be careful where you go cloggin', it might be mistaken for b-/c-walkin'.:blink: The following are similar to cloggin'. The last one, not as much, but you can do it one-on-one with your date.

(Explicit lyrics for C- and B-Walking)

C-Walkin'

B-Walkin' (Starts at 4:14)

Example of smooth coed footwork dancing, Chicago style (Starts at 0:56):

 

[alevin]

I liked the Chicago-style, older couple's style not so different from the western swing I used to do a lot. Don't think I could have ever done the slide-split move, even in my best gymnastics years, that is some dancing move the woman in gray's got.

 

[userque]

I liked the Chicago-style, older couple's style not so different from the western swing I used to do a lot. Don't think I could have ever done the slide-split move, even in my best gymnastics years, that is some dancing move the woman in gray's got.

Yeah...she got mad skillz.

This was an 'occasion,' most steppin' is plain, simple, and laid back:

 

[userque]

...this dude walks on the the dance floor and clog dances. i am not kidding, it was to janet jackson or something and i didn't recognize the actual dance moves at the time, but now i know he was clog dancing, and he was totally free! it is a moment that i can never forget, that dance.

Actually, what you describe is sounding more and more like c-walking. Everyone's doing it now--even in London (mind you, these guys are more advanced than the norm you would find in a casino):

 

[burrocrat]

Actually, what you describe is sounding more and more like c-walking. Everyone's doing it now--even in London (mind you, these guys are more advanced than the norm you would find in a casino):

nope, it was nothing like that.

 

[userque]

nope, it was nothing like that.

Copy that.

 

[burrocrat]

it was more like this, except to janet jackson and his boobs didn't bounce as much, at least not that i could tell.

he did that same slide/shuffle to side and the leg kick on the turns, it was a thing of unrestrained freedom and simple beauty.

 

[userque]

it was more like this, except to janet jackson and his boobs didn't bounce as much, at least not that i could tell.

he did that same slide/shuffle to side and the leg kick on the turns, it was a thing of unrestrained freedom and simple beauty.

Gotcha:smile:...just be careful practicing 'flatfooting' on the West Coast:blink:.

 

[burrocrat]

i don't practice nothing on the west coast no more, it got too hot for me there.

 

[alevin]

it was more like this, except to janet jackson and his boobs didn't bounce as much, at least not that i could tell.

he did that same slide/shuffle to side and the leg kick on the turns, it was a thing of unrestrained freedom and simple beauty.

Hah, I was going to give you Issy's dance last night, decided you might give up and think it impossible, so decided start you off with something simpler, get some confidence and then give Issy's to you to keep you motivated, not bored.

Here's a couple of the actual steps you can get going with...

 

[FogSailing]

That's one good clogging video!!!

FS

 

[burrocrat]

Hah, I was going to give you Issy's dance last night, decided you might give up and think it impossible, so decided start you off with something simpler, get some confidence and then give Issy's to you to keep you motivated, not bored.

Here's a couple of the actual steps you can get going with...

i got the right-left one-two part ok, but then i get confused with the rock step and shuffle step. and no way i can put them together yet. probably gonna have to see it in person.

 

[alevin]

You'll get there. I first started learning old time rhythm guitar by playing with other players, watching their fingers as they played songs. I got better and more confident later when I learned actual music theory and regional styles of playing, concentrated classtime one year awhile back. I bet basic steps are basic steps wherever you go. there are oldtime music groups where you are headed, different regional style (think rhythm and beat, different songs), but still recognizable as oldtime music, probably some associated dancers who'd be able to show you some basic moves. takes practice to put multiple moves or rhythm chords together to accompany a tune.

 

[nnuut]

Never Clogged but learned how to Square Dance when I was a kid in California.
Very Hickie!