Students will have the option to shuffle-step away stress in a new clogging class this summer.
Clogging is tap dancing’s bigger, louder cousin. Tap shoes have one tap on the toe and heel of the shoe, but clogging shoes have two on each point, for double the jingle, but that’s not the only difference.
“(In) clogging, you use a lot more energy as far as getting your legs up higher,” said Shae Ashby, a graduate student in health promotion and education who will be teaching the class. “It’s very precise. Usually it’s done in teams so everyone has to be the same.”
The class, which Ashby will lead on Wednesday nights from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. this summer, is offered by the Department of Health Promotion and Education.
Ashby has been clogging for about 19 years and competitively clogging at a professional level for the past eight years.
“Clogging is a combination of all sorts of dance,” Ashby said. “People came from Europe and migrated to America and they brought all their traditional folk dances, so clogging is a kind of combination of all those traditional types of dances.”
Ashby said there are strong Irish and Scottish influences and the dance is evolving from square dancing and poufy dresses to a more hip-hop style with pants, but costumes still have plenty of sequins.
The class will run the entire Summer Semester for one credit. Participants will not be required to purchase clogging shoes.