Clogging and flatfooting are percussive dances in which the feet sound the rhythm of old-time and bluegrass music. They grew in the Southern Appalachians from British and Irish step dancing, African American buck dancing and Cherokee dance, among other influences.
Flatfooting is the older, close-to-the-floor solo style improvised at fiddlers’ conventions and porch gatherings. Team clogging appeared in the 1920s–30s at events like the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville, where teams combined square-dance figures with precision footwork. Modern clogging often uses shoes with double taps (‘jingle taps’) and competitive choreography to pop and country songs, while traditional teams still dance with live string bands. The sound is part of the music: a good clogger listens to the fiddle and plays the rhythm with the heels and toes.
