What is Appalachian Dancing?
Appalachian dancing is a form of folk dancing developed in the Appalachian Mountains of North America, where it is still popular today. Incidentally, we have it on good authority ("the natives!"), that correct pronunciation is not the same as our word "appellation" - a name. The name Appalachian (App-a-latch-i-an) came from the word
Appalachee from the Appalachee Indians.
Generations of settlers from all over Europe took their traditional dance steps and music with them to the New World, where they were blended together with rhythms of African slaves and the dance steps of native Indians - Cherokee this time! Eventually a new dance style, "Appalachian" dancing emerged. It is sometimes called American clogging, but is not usually danced in clogs. Instead, we use tap shoes or flat leather soled shoes.
In practice, Appalachian dancing looks like this. It's something like a cross between Irish dance, traditional English dance, and clogging. It is much more free flowing than Irish dance, but uses similarly intricate steps. Appalachian dancers either improvise their dances, providing a percussion like accompaniment to the music, or they dance set routines in formation. Improvised dance is often done in the "flat footing" style.
Generations of settlers from all over Europe took their traditional dance steps and music with them to the New World, where they were blended together with rhythms of African slaves and the dance steps of native Indians - Cherokee this time! Eventually a new dance style, "Appalachian" dancing emerged. It is sometimes called American clogging, but is not usually danced in clogs. Instead, we use tap shoes or flat leather soled shoes.
In practice, Appalachian dancing looks like this. It's something like a cross between Irish dance, traditional English dance, and clogging. It is much more free flowing than Irish dance, but uses similarly intricate steps. Appalachian dancers either improvise their dances, providing a percussion like accompaniment to the music, or they dance set routines in formation. Improvised dance is often done in the "flat footing" style.
