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Clogging, buck dancing, or flatfoot dancing is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm. Clogging can be found at various Old-Time and Bluegrass Music festivals.
Clogging is the official state dance of Kentucky and North Carolina.
The Soco Gap Dancers performed at the White House in 1939, which caused an uptick in the popularity of team clogging.
American Clogging is associated with the predecessor to Bluegrass music—old-time music, which is based on English, and Irish fiddle tunes by European Americans as well as African American banjo tunes. Clogging primarily developed from Irish step dancing called Sean-nós dance; there were also English, Scottish, German, and Cherokee step dances, as well as African rhythms and movement influences too. It was from clogging that tap dance eventually evolved. Now, many clogging teams compete against other teams for prizes such as money and trophies.
One source states that buck dancing was the earliest combination of the basic shuffle and tap steps performed to syncopated rhythms in which accents are placed not on the straight beat, as with the jigs, clogs, and other dances of European origin, but on the downbeat or offbeat, a style derived primarily from the rhythms of African tribal music.
Yet another etymology of the word argues that it derives from the word "buck", used as a pejorative term for African American men in the 19th century. Buck dancing was popularized in the United States by Minstrel show by European American men in blackface who would engage in African American stereotypes in the late 19th century during their shows. Many folk festivals and fairs utilize dancing clubs or teams to perform both Buck and regular clogging for entertainment.
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