The origins of Clog Dancing
Pretty interesting how different countries developed different styles of clog dancing, from Wales to England to even the Dutch. bY the time it reached America, it had a lot of different influences.
" American Clogging is associated with the predecessor to [bluegrass], which is based on fiddle tunes from the British Isles. Clogging developed from aspects of English, Welsh, German, and Cherokee step dances, as well as African rhythms and movement. It was from clogging that tap dance eventually evolved.
Traditional Appalachian clogging is characterized by loose, often bent knees and a “drag-slide” motion of the foot across the floor, and is usually performed to old-time music."
That “drag-slide” motion is from the African community. Music had always been popular with southern plantation slaves. The white landowners passed laws forbidden slaves to dance. (Many religious white folks were forbidden to dance, as well.) Dancing was defined as “lifting one’s foot off the ground in time to a rhythm.” So the drag-slide was developed as the band played on.
Also, touching a female was simply not done, so buck dancing allowed Granny to dance without the dangers of going to Perdition.
As a young man I used to wear clogs at work as a Sugar Boiler (Candy Maker) but I never danced with clogs. I was fascinated with tap dancers like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly & James Cagney.
I don’t recall seeing any clog dancing in Scotland but when I got interested in watching Documentary Films on You Tube I was hooked.