Dancers clog to national event
Dancers with the Dance FX clogging troupe show their skills Wednesday afternoon in Moses Lake before heading to a national competition this weekend.
MOSES LAKE - A five, six, seven, eight ... plus a double tap.
Nearly 10 girls from around the basin have been working their clogs off to attend the 2012 U.S. National Championships in Nashville this weekend.
Many students of Dance FX, 530 W. Valley Road, have been studying clogging for more than a decade.
"A lot of these kids have started when they were 3, and they're just now reaping the benefits of their dancing," said clog coach Toby Black.
Black, who owns the studio with his wife Rosalie, learned the art of clogging in college.
Rosalie dances ballet, jazz and hip-hop.
Clogging, which has similar clackity-clack appeal to tap dancing, is different more many reasons.
First, clogs have two taps on the toe and the heel, whereas tap shoes have a single tap.
Tap dancing is more into the ground, whereas clogging is across the ground, Black said.
"But we claim clogging as a melting pot of every dance," he said, with the style drawing heavily on moves from classical, tap and hip-hop styles of dance.
Black sent a team to the national event 11 years go, and said the troupe would be "dumb not to go" this year.
"At their age and ability, they have to go for a trophy," he said. "You never know those that are out there."
Members of the dance crew, such as 17-year-old Makynlee Miller of Royal City, say they are more than pleased with the results of their hours of practice.
"It's something different. We get to perform and watch people enjoy what we're doing," the clogger of 10 years said.
Plus, since the group hasn't been to nationals in over 11 years, she called the trip a big deal.
"And it will be lots of fun," she said.
Sara Myers, of Moses Lake, said she clogs for different reasons.
"It's kind of like my own little getaway just to, kind of forget about everything," she said. "Just to focus on dance and having fun without drama."
Myers has also studied Irish and hip-hop styles in her life.
"Sometimes when I dance on clog, I feel weightless," 12-year-clogger Erin Carter said. "I feel like I'm in my own world. I'm free."
The girls have been practicing for nationals daily for at least two weeks.
They will compete over the holiday weekend with nearly 40 other teams in Nashville.