Pink Think: “What a joy it is to dance and sing!” – Angela Carter
My clogging shoes (see photo here) make a pleasant jingling sound like a tambourine as I carry them against my hip, and I have visions of me as Esmeralda doing a gypsy dance…when in fact I am a thirty-something mom who is taking clogging lessons for the very first time.
I peek nervously into the warehouse-like community building and there is a little girl walking around on the dance boards. Her mother, who will be my teacher, waves me in. Already, there is another mom sitting on a bench putting on her shoes. I know her from soccer; her son plays on my daughter’s team.
Three other women join us. I’m relieved that none of them have ever taken clogging before. We can all feel foolish together. After introductions, we stretch and warm up. My muscles, still sore from a trail ride this past weekend, pop and stretch. Ah, much better.
A delicious feeling comes alive within me. I feel happy as I stretch my arms like a ballerina above my head during warm-up. I will be dancing once again.
***
I’ve always loved to dance. When I was a teenager in the Philippines, I enjoyed beating my uncle Ray at freeze dance. I was too shy to perform in high school, but college was a new opportunity to start afresh. I took ballet my first year at Utah State University. I performed Filipino dances with the few Filipino students on campus. And I discovered Latin dancing (salsa, merengue).
I graduated and married, and dancing fell by the wayside.
Until two years ago. For a community event, I choreographed and performed the tinikling, which is a native Filipino dance where performers jump over and between bamboo poles, while they are clicked open and shut. Maria, my clogging teacher, performed a clogging dance with a few other women. I watched them and decided if I got a chance, I would learn how to do it, too.
***
I have my chance today.
Maria puts on fun songs – “Let’s Hear it For the Boy” and “Sweet Home Alabama”. None of the granny or polka music that I was afraid we would dance to. She teaches us some simple steps which we put together in a sequence. The steps have interesting names: bucky, rocking horse, sugar. I am amazed when I eventually make the right tap and shuffle sound, when I actually dance a sequence.
Clogging is like line-dancing while shuffling and tapping your feet.
The hour flies by. I’ve always thought that clogging looks like a happy dance. That one could not help but smile while performing it.
It’s true.
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How joyful that sounds! How often we forget to pursue the things that will give us pleasure.
I’m going to go play the piano now…
Doing something that brings you much joy – wonderful!
So wonderful that you found something that brings a smile to your face. I used to be in dance, too, via Asian community events. even danced tinikling and the Pandanggo sa Ilaw (Sp?) — happy times 🙂
Hey— so I clicked on the girl on the leopard bed on your side bar. Do you mind if I steal that from you? And most importantly do you recommend joining? Does it work?
All sounds like great fun!
“I choreographed and performed the tinikling”
i learned how to do that in elementary school. for some reason, one of my classmates owned those sticks and taught us how. i’ve always wanted to pick it up again.
congrats on getting back to your love!
Kimberly: Like dance, playing the piano makes me happy, too.
Lance: Yes, it is.
Marivic: I miss performing Filipino dances. We don’t have much of an active Fil-Am community here. As for the leopard girl (SITS), it’s kind of fun, especially if you are a comment junkie like me:-). The blog certainly gets a lot of traffic.
Angie: Yeah, it was!
Hana: A lot of elementary school kids perform that around here for P.E. Great exercise 🙂
I’ve never had the guts to try clogging.
I can’t dance, unfortunately. I’m not that graceful. I always thought the tinikling looked like fun, though.
I just found your blog and I’m coming back for sure. I don’t think I’d want to learn clogging, but I might be talked into a cool Filipino dance. So far, I know the “stand in a circle and shake your hips apathetically at the the church dance” dance.
This post makes me so sad. It’s a horrid thing when something you love is ripped out of your life without warning.
I started performing (dance) in 1969. I’ve danced all over the northern hemisphere for audiences as small as six and as large as 17,000 seated or 20,000 along a parade route.
But I herniated a disc in my back two years ago, and I’m now relegated to being the MC most of the time.
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”
Time is short; dance while you still can, sister. I wish I still could.
That sounds like such fun!! I may try to find something new this week, just b/c of your inspiring tales-o-the-clogging world.
On another note, another blogger messaged me with a challenge today…and to keep the game going, I am supposed to pick six bloggers to pass the challenge onto. It’s totally up to you, though. Don’t feel pressured. 🙂 It’s pretty simple, more like a chain-letter type dealie. It’s on my blog if you wanna check it out.
Matthew: Just takes two feet, mostly :-).
Q: It’s a lot of fun, especially when you get past the getting clipped by the sticks part.
Melanie: I know that dance! I didn’t know the name till now 🙂
PW: I wasn’t sure I could dance again, either; glad I can. Too bad you can’t anymore 🙁 Hey, but it’s fun you can still MC.
That’s so stinkin cool! I’ve always loved tap dance even though I have no coordination at all. I finally took the class but I was the only student and the teacher was ten years younger than me and obviously frustrated with my lack of skill. After six weeks I quit. I still have the shoes though, and one day I’ll find ten people to take the class with me. Then I can blend in and not feel so dang conspicuous. I think it’s totally awesome you’re doing it. Clogging is awesome.
Terra: I needed something to take me out of my comfort zone, for sure.
Josi: You know, it takes just that one person to start…
Lovely post.
Thanks, RC.
I took clogging lessons for a couple of years when I was a little girl. I quite enjoyed it and was very good at it. My middle daughter learned the tinikling in fourth grade. She really enjoyed it, too.
I popped over from SITS. I’m from Utah too (Sandy) and I used to clog – almost 20 years ago. I just recently got back into square dancing, but it’s not nearly as good an exercise as clogging. Do you mind if I ask you where the classes are?