Australian Clogging Association
5th National Convention
Canberra, ACT, Australia
14th to 16th April 2000
Over 300 people from all over Australia attended the Australian Clogging Association's 5th National Convention which was held at Exhibition Park in Canberra from 14 - 16 April 2000. Two guest instructors from the USA headlined the Convention along with a featured Australian instructor. Clogging is a true folk dance from the USA that has its origins in the southern Appalachian Mountains. While it has strong ties to the step dance of the British Isles brought to the region by white settlers, clogging is also influenced by the traditional dance of native Americans and the solo 'buck and wing' dance of African Americans.
Although clogging may conjure up visions of wooden shoes, these are not worn. Leather shoes with jingle taps are the norm. The term clogging purportedly has Gaelic roots and refers to keeping time. Traditionally, clogging was performed to old time and bluegrass music but the danceform has progressed and there is choreography to all types of music today - pop, country and western, folk, rock and even rap.
The Australian Clogging Association is a non-profit organization that aims to promote clogging in Australia. The ACA has adopted standard step descriptions and names and a National Dance List that makes it possible for cloggers to be able to dance anywhere in Australia once they are familiar with the steps.
Clogging is a rapidly growing recreational and social pastime that is enjoyed by people from all walks of life and across all age groups. It is loads of fun and great exercise as well. There are three clogging clubs in Canberra and many more around the country. Clogging groups across Australia participate regularly in charity and other community events, including the National Multicultural Festival here in Canberra.
The Convention began with a meeting and seminar for club leaders on the Friday morning. General social dancing followed on Friday evening along with a club banner parade. Over 30 dance workshops were conducted during the course of the weekend. These were presented by the two US instructors, Missy Shinoski from Kansas City, Missouri and Ryan Rickard from Suwanee, Georgia, the featured Australian instructor, Mary Nuske from Melbourne, as well as some 25 other Australian instructors. Concurrent workshop sessions were held to cater for the various levels of dancers.
Saturday evening commenced with a dinner at the venue, followed by an extravaganza floorshow and more general social dancing. The floorshow included demonstrations by the US and Australian guest instructors and clubs from around the country as well as a presentation of State showcases. The idea of the showcase is that each state gets to present a dance that cloggers in that state have been enjoying during the year and which they would like to have included on the National Dance List. After the formal activities on Saturday night, there was an After Party where the cloggers were able to show their other talents!
The Convention organizing committee consisted of 6 people from the Capital Cloggers Club in Canberra - Kathy Hedger, Jan Collins, Lesley Marx, Lorraine Peisley, Susan Hey and Evelyn DeBritt. Kathy Hedger is a teacher and club leader at Capital Cloggers.
See some pictures of feet (134k) from the convention or a close-up (99k) of the same feet.
You can contact the following committee members to learn more about clogging in Canberra.
Return to Jan's Page.