Clogging & Tap - 3 Easy Differences

Here are three easy ways to tell clogging and tap dancing apart:

1. Both clogging and tap shoes have metal plates. Clogging shoes have two plates that bang against eachother on both the heels and toes giving off the "jiggle", while tap shoes have just one on the heels and toes making a clean sound. Taps are tacked on to clogging shoes versus screwed on to tap shoes.

2. Cloggers dance primarily on the downbeat, tap dancing is on the upbeat. When you listen to a song, do you hear the beat? The "thump"? That's the downbeat. That's what cloggers use. Cloggers hit the beat with their heel and dance with high knees. Tap dancers frequently make use of syncopation and stay mainly on the balls of their feet dancing low to the ground.

Students from The Clogging Studio in Harrison, AR practice before a talent contest.

3. Clogging is America's folk dance and is often referred to as a "melting pot dance". No genre has been left untapped when it comes to developing steps. The dance is as old as our country. Tap dancing came along in the early 1800's and was widely used in the infancy of showbiz. There are many style of each - tap and clogging - and as clogging evolves from one generation to the next, the two seem to get closer.

On a side note...
Tap is not a prerequisite for clogging just as riding a bike does not make one a better driver. If you have been told that tap is required to learn clogging or will make you a better clogger, you have been misinformed. The two dance forms are alike, but that ends with superficial similarities. Is one harder than the other? No. Both types of dance require dedication, strength, and plenty of time spent honing ones technique. Just as everything in life, it may come naturally to some while others have to put in extra effort. Which to study depends on the dancer. Some find it easy to switch back and forth between clogging and tap, while others prefer to stick to one style.