<strong>Toe</strong> Tapping Good Time by:Rashae Ophus from the The Herald Journal. Logan, Utah Amy Poppleton is proud of the lively dance form she loves and coaches, but when she tells people what it is, she braces for the wrong impression. “When I say I teach clogging, people say, ‘Oh, so you do the boot-scoot boogie with poofy skirts and bandannas?’” she said, laughing at the notion. “Power tap is the new world of clogging.” Poppleton started clogging in fourth grade and got hooked to the point she would clog at any opportunity to stand still, like in the checkout line at the grocery store. “I really liked it because I’m not like a ballerina-type person,” she said. “I clogged all through high school, and when I got married and we moved to Cache Valley, there wasn’t any clogging here. So I thought I would start my own (studio).” The valley had a clogging team once, but it dissolved more than a decade ago. Poppleton launched Eclipse Power Tap in Hyrum last year with more than 25 students and now instructs 40 cloggers, preschool through retirement. As the teams continue performing in halftime shows, parades and community, events, word is spreading about the new world of clogging. Poppleton said it originated as a folk dance in the British Isles that infiltrated America in the 1800s. A folksy hybrid of tap, jig and country-Western dance styles, villagers would show off clogging skills at community events like a barnraising, cornhusking or christening. “It’s just evolved from all these different cultures — folk dancing, square dancing, the Irish jig — and I really emphasize that we do jazz and gymnastics all together, so all of this is what clogging is now,” she said. Modern cloggers hardly wear wooden shoes from Holland. And though Poppleton may call it “power tap,” they don’t don tapdancing shoes, either. For beginners, Poppleton simply modifies virtually any white athletic shoe with steel taps, or jingle taps. Rather than little tacks nailed into the sole of the shoe, jingle taps resemble a flat metal sheet folded in half with one side glued flat on the sole and a loose flap directly below it. When the clogger’s foot strikes the ground and rebounds, the flap snaps and strikes the plate on the sole, adding a jingle to the initial tap. For the older students, who vie in state and national clogging competitions, Poppleton orders clogging shoes from Kentucky. “There’s tap dancing and then there’s clogging,” Poppleton said. “The difference is clogging is a lot bouncier and the knees bend a lot more.” The <strong>Double</strong> <strong>Toe</strong> <strong>Times</strong> <strong>Jun</strong>e, <strong>2005</strong> Page 14
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