The Carroll County Cloggers are excited to share our love of clogging with you. As best stated in an Indian Proverb, “To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.” Do you want to feel the music made by our feet? It’s contagious! Is it any wonder that many artists write about DANCE? Justin Timberlake, in the theme song for the movie DreamWorks Trolls sings, “you feel the magic in the air and in your blood. You just Can’t Stop The Feeling! You don’t need no reason, don’t need control when you’re in your zone, ‘cause you got that sunshine in your pocket, got that good soul in your feet. So just dance, dance, dance.”
We just “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and want to share that “good soul” in our feet, so schedule a show, take a class or register for our annual workshop. Let us put “that sunshine in your pocket. So just dance, dance, dance.”
We are the Carroll County Cloggers.
The Carroll County Cloggers are a program of the Carroll County Recreation and Parks Department, Westminster Area Recreation Council. The club was established in October 1979, making us the longest continuously active clogging group in the state of Maryland. Our mission is to keep Appalachian Clogging alive by educating the public and sharing our passion for this true American Art Form.
We are a non-competitive contemporary group. Our dances are done to assorted music genres with diverse choreography consisting of line dances, requiring no partner as well as group figure work with partners. We offer 3 types of memberships; General, Performance Team and Friendship making it easy to find the right fit for your interests.
What is Appalachian Clogging?
Appalachian clogging began in the mid 1700’s making it the first percussive dance form in the United States of America. The immigrants from England, Germany, Ireland and Scotland settled in the Appalachian Mountains. This was a hard life, working the land, constructing homes and barns, requiring teamwork to survive. At the end of the long day they would gather on the front porch of a neighbor. Those who played stringed instruments plucked out a tune as the rest shared folk dances from their native lands. These shared dances evolved and eventually became known as the traditional American folk dance known as clogging.
Clogging can be done individually or in a group. It is characterized by the footwork and tap sounds. Contrary to popular belief, modern American clogging is not done in wooden clogs, but in leather soled shoes with a two-piece metal tap (jingle tap) on the balls and heels of the shoes. Today, contemporary clogging is less improvised and more complicated than the simple folk dances done in its early history. New influences come from multiple styles of dance such as Tap, Street, Hip-Hop, Canadian Step, Irish Hard, Jazz and Formation work making Appalachian or American clogging a true “melting pot” of dances.
The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to the Carroll County Government and its programs, services, activities, and facilities. Anyone requiring an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or who has a complaint should contact The Department of Citizen Services, 410.386.3600 or 1.888.302.8978 or MD Relay 7-1-1/1.800.735.2258, or email [email protected] as soon as possible but no later than 72 hours before the scheduled event.