Clog and Step
Clog and step are percussive forms of dance, generally performed by small groups and solo dancers. At one time most of the country would have had some kind of step dance tradition, often danced in the street, in pubs, and during social occasions. Nowadays they are quite commonly found along with other types of performance dance.
The term step dancing can refer to several styles of traditional percussive dance and can also be called step clog, clog, or stepping. Traditionally, dancers would have danced in their work shoes. For example, in Lancashire, wooden-soled clogs were worn in the mills, and on Dartmoor, hard-soled leather shoes or boots would have been worn for farming. Nowadays, clogs, tap shoes, and hard-soled shoes are all worn depending on the style of dance.
Costumes vary – some choose to wear costumes derived from archive photographs of mill workers in their working clothes or even their Sunday best, whilst others have adopted more modern outfits. On Dartmoor, in East Anglia and in the Romany/Gypsy and Traveller community, no special costume at all is worn, just everyday clothes.
Pat Tracey, Clog dance
Accompanied by Peter Kennedy
Royal Albert Hall, 1960
Photo: VWML collection
