Square Dancing, Buck Dancing, and Clogging

Old-time music and dance expressions were always interwoven. Dance forms have had a more tenuous relationship with bluegrass. Square dancing, in its American form, evolved from country set dances found in England, Scotland and Ireland where four couples would dance together, switching partners in time with the music. As Americans developed their own more complex dance styles, like quadrilles adapted from French dance forms, African-American fiddlers and musicians came along with them. They would eventually revolutionize the dance form by introducing “calling,” or announcing the steps and formation of the dances to dancers, which helped organize the dance floor. Calling would go on to become a defining characteristic of the form. The marriage of old-time music and square dancing was a natural fit.

Dancing at Helen's Barn:

A dance tradition as vibrant as any bluegrass instrument, the buck and wing dance is the product of black, white, and indigenous relationships in these mountains and is not without controversy. Dancing solo, a buck dancer focuses on high steps and toe tapping with a stiff upper torso, while the “wing” refers to the flapping movements of the dancers' arms. Although a distinct part of the history of Appalachian dance, the term developed from whites’ derogatory use of “buck” to describe Black men during slavery. Indigenous Cherokee maintained the beat of their singing with kicking, jumping, and shuffling which mirrored the movements of Appalachian buck dancers they observed. In turn, buck dancing influenced a newer form.

Old-time buck and wing dancing.

Clogging was a callback to a homeland, passed down as a unique Scotch-Irish pastime from the borderlands, collecting black and indigenous steps along the way. The British named this dance after its Gaelic root, clog, which means time. If clogging is about anything it is about keeping time. Dancing solo, or in choreographed groups, the clogger is marked by his high kicks and distinct points of the toe and heel, with little arm movement. The rhythmic group dancing of clogging can challenge even the loudest string band as simultaneous tap dancers kick ball-and-heel steps and slap in choreographed time, punctuating sound with the precise execution of signature high kicks and spins, adding to (or distracting from) the percussion to a string band ensemble. The mountains of western North Carolina have been critical in keeping the clogging tradition alive.

Examples of clogging past and present: