It started with an afternoon of simple practice drills. One of our dances for upcoming Christmas shows requires a group including several less-experienced cloggers to enter the stage doing triples as they move to their assigned spots.
We set aside practice time to focus on the concept of covering distance while performing accurate clogging steps. After several rounds of triples traveling across the room, we moved on to turkeys. That's when the real fun began!
Let's add to our clogging vocabulary! Today's word is a verb, often uttered as a plea, common in clogging classes everywhere: call it. Synonym: cue it.
My official definition is as follows:
Call it (verb): The act of saying the next steps in a clogging routine aloud, generally about 2 beats before the step is to be performed, in order to allow cloggers in the process of learning said routine to get through the dance or a section of the dance for practice purposes.
Let's face it: Clogging requires STUFF. Stuff you need to carry and keep organized. Stuff you want to have at the ready without thinking about it.
Over time, most cloggers will accumulate a personal set of essential items to keep in the clogging bag. I actually have TWO clogging bags, depending on the situation.
This week's post is about something different, but there IS a clogging tie-in, promise!
NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, takes place each November. The goal is to write a total of 50,000 words of your book in a month. (This may or may not actually complete a novel.)
Yours truly is giving it a go for the first time! I am not alone in this. At least one other clogger (Good luck to Kimberly in Dayton, Ohio!) is participating AND she's done it before.
There's no punch line to follow this title, but it could very well describe the front row lineup of your Halloween clogging show this weekend!
While I won't be clogging at any Halloween events this year, I have done a few in my day. The costume you wear to a friend's party may NOT be the costume you should wear for performance!
Yes, it's still October - time to start rehearsals for Christmas performances!
While the general public may not think about Christmas shows until after Thanksgiving, performers need time to prepare!
We've got to find and make adjustments to music, figure out costumes, learn choreography and formations. All this as personal schedules become progressively more packed with holiday obligations!
One of my teammates celebrated her 16th birthday at clogging class this week. It was neither a belated nor an early party; it was THE milestone day, and she chose to spend it dancing with us. It was a privilege to share this special time with Michaela, although she may have regretted her choice once we started singing Happy Birthday! (Yep, most of us should stick to dancing only.)
It's amazing how those who stand beside you in clogging class also stand beside you in life.
It's time to catch up on stories from previous blog posts:
1. New dance officially added to the repertoire! My team debuted "Geronimo" (choreographed by Naomi Zweben) at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival. I shared my nervousness about dancing it in front of the choreographer in this post from September 3rd:
Fine, it wasn't technically autumn until yesterday. I'll argue that fall festival season starts with September, so it's already in full swing!
Fall festivals usually bring comfortable temperatures for clogging performances and savory treats at the food booths. While you may be able to provide examples to the contrary, I find fall festivals to be a bit more quirky and fun than the summer festivals.
It's competition time for my team! I will be headed to Bristol, Tennessee for the Dance Matrix event next weekend.
No matter how the awards fall, competitions always leave us with new inside jokes and special bonding moments. It will be a great time once I get there! BUT...
Does anybody else freak out about packing for competition?!
Wish me luck, folks! This weekend, I will be dancing with Fancy Free Cloggers at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival (Ohio). Several clogging teams perform throughout the day at this festival. I generally love these events, where you get to watch other teams and socialize.
However, I must admit to being nervous about one of our dances.
"We've got a problem."
These words greeted me upon entering the clogging studio for dance class this week. One of our tech-savvy dancers was already hunched over the computer, looking frustrated.
The computer with our music, which worked fine for Hoedown Island practice 2 days ago and worked fine for yoga class just the night before, was now crashing every time the music player opened.
The drive home from my friend's beginner clogging class Monday night was terrible! It was pouring rain AND the road is under construction in multiple places (lines not really visible, including the center line, long waits at a traffic light where the road is down to a single lane, no streetlights to help visibility). Driving along at a snail's pace, tense and hunched over, trying to see the road, silently cursing oncoming big trucks who throw water all over my windshield, I thought about the miles driven in the name of clogging:
We've all had those shows. The ones where the audience is not particularly attentive and they don't seem to care that you showed up to dance.
My team recently performed at a resident home. One of our dancers has close ties to this facility and she has really been wanting to put on a show for the residents and staff.
In addition to clogging, I perform as half of the comedy skit team Otis & Daisy. Our skits tell the adventures of Daisy and her younger brother, Otis (played by clogging teammate Dustin Williams).
On many occasions, we need to borrow something random to use as a prop or complete a costume, and I've discovered the following:
1. My family and friends own weird stuff!
2. A little creativity goes a long way when coming up with props for cheap!
Here are ten examples:
I keep a file of dance quotes on my computer. These five seem right to share today:
1. As to dancing, my dear, I never dance, unless I am allowed to do it in my own peculiar way. There is no use trying to describe it: it has to be seen to be believed. ~Lewis Carroll
2. We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb
