Dance
Grand Champion’s “Tap This” Perform Fast Paced Routine
Their precision is fascinating to watch.
Marilyn Caylor
04.06.20

It’s not very often that a young group of teens will readily admit to clogging, or even record themselves on video doing it. That kind of dancing sounds so…well, grandma like!

No hard feelings to all the amazing nana’s out there, but the younger generation almost always prefer to wiggle their bods to whatever the latest dance craze is. And clogging usually doesn’t make the cool list.

Until now. The young cloggers of dance troupe Tap This! have taken this classic blast from the past and given it a 21st century upgrade with some on trend choreography!

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At the Clogging Champions of America Showdown in Knoxville, Tennessee, the talented girls (and that one guy in the back) of Tap This! are hoping to win over the judges in this annual leather-footed clogging dance-off.

But do they have what it takes? It’s hard to tell since they all have their backs to the crowd when the performance starts.

Since no one can see their faces or read their expressions, it’s impossible to know what, if any, cheeky surprises they might have in store for the crowd.

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If you didn’t know this was a clogging competition, it’d be easy to assume from their comfy orange and black athletic wear that they were getting ready to bounce around like a popcorn kernel in a hot frying pan! And you’d be right, but not for the reasons you’d think.

They’re energetic and athletic, but their moves are also rooted in tradition.

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The guy and gals of Tap This! are sizzling hot, but that’s because they’re turning clogging into a cool and trendy dance their peers would approve of. Maybe that’s because they’ve already shown that they have what it takes to be on top of their game.

This team of winners from Lincoln, Nebraska are four-time national champs, and it shows.

Facebook/tapthiscloggers
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Facebook/tapthiscloggers

As soon as the music starts blaring with siren sounds, everyone flips around to face the audience.

They have their hands thrown up in the air, acting as if they’ve been “caught,” but that only lasts for a split second before the troupe quickly segues into some energetic gangstas-with-attitude moves.

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Thanks to groups like Riverdance, who brought folk dance to the mainstream, groups like Tap This! can dominate the circuit and show off their amazing talents.

The way these kids are kicking up their feet into the air, and then tapping their heels and toes on the ground, looks a lot like tap dancing. But it’s not – there is a distinct difference between the two styles.

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Clogging is a type of folk dance, and 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.”

Tap dancing, on the other hand, focuses less on the complex choreography, and more on the metal “tap tap tap” sound the bottom of their shoes make on the floor.

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On their Facebook page, Tap This! describes how the blended fusion of clogging and other styles of footwork have led them to win judges over year after year.

“The blending of different dance forms and percussive foot work gives a high energy performance that leaves audiences on their feet and wanting more. For five years the fourteen member group has traveled the country performing on stages in front of thousands of people. Tap This! strives in showcasing talent from all over the nation by creating a variety show like you have never seen before.”

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YouTube

If you still think clogging is a golden oldie from a bygone era, then check out the video below.

It’ll obliterate any notions you have surrounding this supposedly unpopular dance, and you might even find your feet moving to the rhythm and clogging right along with them!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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