Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-10-13
LEARNING THE CLOG-DANCE.
Distinguishing Characterization
giles and Rattles-Judges i'm
the Cellar-On the
Variety Stage.

Roller skating is merely dancing on
wheels. Like waltzing it helps the young
lady who engages in it to graceful car
riage, by teaching her to insensibly hold
herself erect, SO that the center of gravity
shall be where nature designed. The
first hour on skates also shows young
woman that, like all things else, her feet
will only do Their perfect work after a
measure of education.
"There is no doubt" said "profess-
Or" that roller skating is attracting
general attention to the education of the
lower extremities. More ladies', high in
social circles, and children are learning
to dance than ever before Many of them
learn the fancy steps, such as jigs, clogs,
hornpipes, ETC."
"ln teaching lady to do a clog
Dance" the professor continued, the
very first thing is to teach her to roll her
feet, as it is technically called This is
the key of the whole business, and when
dancer can do this successfully the re-
! mainder OF the lesson is comparatively
easy. Rolling ones foot is merely rails
ing the hip, turning the foot in and strik-
ing the toe on the floor. The whole
motion must be gone through with grace
fully and without effort AS the right
side of the body is generally more fexi-
BILE than the left-simply because it has
been used more freely-I generally begin
rolling the left foot first. in order to coun-
teract the usual tendency in favor of the
right.
THE distinguishing characteristic of
the clog-dance is the clear, bell-like tap
of the toe or heel on the floor. The
slightest shutting ruins the effect, while
in jig-dancing shutting is the prime
merit. In jig the sand is relied on for
what may be called the music, while in
the clog the shoes make the melody.
Jingles are inserted in a great many
clogs, and what do you think they are
made of ?"
'Give it up"
''In many cases of the old-fashioned
copper cent. 4, hole is dug in the heel of
the clog, and a cent set in so that its
broad side is flush with the surface of the
heel. Then it is fastened through the
middle with a screw, and is left to play
loosely in the socket Other devices are
of course used to reach the same effect,
but jingles and rattles have seen their
day. There was time when it was
necessary to 60 to England to see the
clog-danging in its glory. The people
over there take much more interest
in such things than we do, and the
Judging between the comparative merits
of two dances is considered very serious
piece of business.
''The judges generally retire into the
cellar, we may call it, under the stage,
there to remain until both dancers have
separately gone through series of steps,
They have no knowledge, of course, as to
which dancer makes the first exhibition,
and as the ringing of the clogs is even
more distinct under than above the floor,
the merits of the dance can be thus read
lily Judged without a possibility of the
judge seeing the dancers and allowing his
decision to be biased by personal preju-
dice"
Here the professor grew emphatic and
tapped the writer on the chest with his
forefinger.
fBut let the American dancer go on the
English stage, among the English people,
in concert hall, and it is dollars to cents
that he VIII break down before ne has
danced ten minutes"
"Why"
'Recauset they are much more thorough
over there than we are. The artist who
makes his appearance on London varie-
ty stage must understand his business
thoroughly. .Supposing he is dancing a
hornpipe, the chances are ten to one some
voice in the audience will shout: Give
us reeln or Give us dead march y
and the orchestra will Immediately de-
sert the hornpipe and drop into a reel or
a dead march without giving the dancer
a moments warning. Few of our men
can stand that ordeal. They have a
repertoire of some half dozen dances,
and continue grinding out those dances,
with variations, to the end OF the chap
ter. '-Cincinndti Enquirer.