Clogging

So many bridges, so little time. Hoedown Island has it all! Part TWO

Clearly, this is all Suzi’s fault. She dared to mention that the weather is generally blazing hot or it rains when Fancy Free Cloggers perform at Hoedown Island. This skies graciously provided both options this year!

So many bridges, so little time. Hoedown Island has it all! Part ONE

Do you prefer your bridges natural, broken, bouncy, or with cow? Fancy Free Cloggers encountered ALL of these during our annual Hoedown Island visit!

For those who have never been, Hoedown Island is located within Natural Bridge State Resort Park in Slade, Kentucky. Jane Bolin hosts fun dances every Saturday night during the season, which runs May - October. Hoedown Island regulars and visitors alike can partake in clogging, two-stepping, line dancing, the Virginia reel, and even the Hokey Pokey!

High energy and lowrider trucks: UCA's Shindig in the Valley 2019

Fancy Free Cloggers traveled to Maggie Valley, NC for our first competition of the year. Things have changed a bit since we last clogged at the Stompin’ Ground; Shindig in the Valley is now part of the United Clogging Association circuit. This means a different rule set, different group of competitors, and a new vibe.

Let the clogging choreo flow!

Who does the choreography for your clogging team? For Fancy Free Cloggers, it varies. We use routines learned at workshops (often with minor tweaks, such as cutting the music). We also have routines choreographed by a single team member. However, the dances we seem to love best are those we create as a team.

Come out of your shell at Hoedown Island! (Part ONE)

Even without our fearless leader, the show went on for Fancy Free Cloggers at Hoedown Island this June. (Don’t feel bad for Evie; she was vacationing at the beach!) We trekked to Natural Bridge State Park (Slade, KY) for a cookout followed by a night of dancing.

Dance book review: Daisy Tappytoes Dares to Dance

Sometimes, only the power of dance can save the day. If that dancing happens to be provided by a talking fawn wearing red tap shoes, so much the better!

Daisy Tappytoes Dares to Dance is part of the Magic Animal Friends series, written by Daisy Meadows. Does that name sound familiar? It's the same author (actually, group of authors) who brought us Tasha the Tap Dance Fairyfeatured in an earlier book review.

Brave the heat and stay on beat at the county fair.

Cloggers and county fairs just go together! Somewhere between the pretty baby contests, the livestock exhibits, the booths of everything sugary and fried, we find a spot to plug in a sound system and dance. Why does it always have to be so HOT?!

Teams everywhere have been posting pictures and videos from their own fair shows. Y'all look great!

SAA-LUTE! Smoky Mountain Encore 2018

Fancy Free was in excellent company among the almost 1000 cloggers from all over (including the Czech Republic) making a journey to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for this annual dance workshop. There's also a clogging competition associated with this event.

Oinky gets a taste of showbiz!

Unbeknownst to the audience, the props we use on stage sometimes have a life all their own! As Fancy Free Cloggers made final adjustments to our routine for the Hee Haw show at Smoky Mountain Encore, the stuffed toy pig carried by one of my teammates was deemed too small to be visually effective. Our team seamstress has a pattern and can make one for future shows (we plan on using this dance throughout the year), but she didn't have time to create a custom pig before the trip to Tennessee...

To cut, or not to cut a long song?

The national dance list/fun dance challenge has left me with a dilemma: do I cut long, repetitive songs to better fit into performances, or leave them as they are so my teammates and I can nail the routines at fun dances?

Clogging class cancelled? Say it ain't snow...

Time to review the snow day policy at your dance studio! Is class automatically cancelled with local school closings? Does your director post it on social media?

A few missed classes due to snow are inevitable in many parts of the country. When those snow days come, here are a few activities to keep you prepared for the next class or performance:When those snow days come, here are a few activities to keep you prepared for the next class or performance:

Year of the Dog, Year to Clog!

2018, the Year of the Dog! With a capital D and that rhymes with C and that stands for clog! (That was for you, Jordan.)

Holiday break is over for most dance studios, but there's still time to contemplate your current status and goals for 2018; Chinese New Year begins Friday, February 16.

Road to the crown: Miss Southeastern Clogger Pageant (PART TWO)

Interested in trying a clogger pageant? Kaley Conn and Summer Hanson from Clogging Connection (Florida) share the preparation techniques that helped them win crowns at the Miss Southeastern Clogger Pageant

Beauty and the beats: Miss Southeastern Clogger Pageant (PART ONE)

Anybody else clueless but curious about clogger pageants? I've seen ladies wearing crowns and sashes passing out awards at clogging competitions and that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge on this topic. 

Enter Kaley Conn, who was recently crowned Overall Queen for ages 12+ in the Miss Southeastern Clogger Pageant. One of Kaley's first missions as Queen is to spread the word about this pageant after she and a younger teammate both had wonderful experiences with the event

TWO are knighted Clogger of the Year!

Cloggers (and non-dancing folks) want their hard work and accomplishments recognized! Fancy Free holds an awards banquet to recap each year before a new one begins. It's also a great excuse to eat!

The audience doesn't know the half of it!

I feel sorry for the audience at big shows. Sure, they get to sit in comfy seats and get the best views of all the razzle dazzle, but they don't know the inside jokes that develop during rehearsal, the hustle and bustle of keeping performers and props where they need to be, the last-minute adjustments due to mistakes or malfunctions, or the goofy things we all do while waiting in the wings. The audience is missing out!

Parade at night? Let there be light!

Christmas season calls for parades. Night parades call for lights. HomeTown HoliDazzle in Wilmington, Ohio combines all of this and more! 

Fancy Free Cloggers once again snagged a spot in the parade lineup. This event is perfect to get FFC in the mood for our upcoming performances in the Murphy Theatre's Cartoon Christmas!

Holiday gifts for cloggers!

Even the savviest holiday shopper may find it difficult to check clogging relatives off the shopping list. It's not like you can camp outside the local clogging superstore on Black Friday and fill a cart with bargains. (We can dream about it, though!) Here's a list of ideas to get you started: