Electro Good

Electro Good was choreographed by Jenny Powers and at the time we learned it, we thought is was really difficult. It was the first time we used props, formations, and stunts all in one dance! In this clip we were rated SUPERIOR at the SGU Festival of the Performing Arts; however, may we add here that this really doesn't mean much seeing as how all the judges were completely unqualified to rate clogging or tap an any way. You simply MUST watch for the flip (done as the girls hold hands in a circle). How in the world did they do that!?!?! These girls are age 15-16.

Sano Scat

In 1992, a new competition category was introduced at the Dixie Clog Competition: The parent-child duet category. Surprisingly, Mom and I weren't the only ones in the category, but we were the best seeing as how everyone else was basic-beginner. The category wasn't split into competency levels. Even still, Mom remembers one of the judges saying,

"Yours was the best duet at the competition and you would have won the overall if they had included the mother-daughter category in the running."

There's always a would have/could have/should have right? Now we could care less about trophies, we're just thrilled we have this thing on film! Is it actually possible to dance THIS fast??? Perhaps there was no such thing as speed control back then because I swear this thing is in fast-forward motion!

Oklahoma

Oklahoma was choreographed by Cindy in 1992. It was a competition show routine and we performed it at the Calgary Stampede in Canada and in Disney Land. Cindy always loved this music. Better footage to come but for now, this must tide you over:

This clip is from the 1992 clog competition. The girls are 11-13 years old.

Moses Supposes

Moses Supposes is a difficult tap dance.

Cindy learned the original choreography from Singing in the Rain and her advanced tap company performed the dance at Diamond Talent in 2007. Now Cindy's family perform it as part of the Stirland Family Show. (above) Nicole, Sharlee, Cindy, Bea, Sarah, and Meg perform Moses Supposes at Broadway Magic in Hurricane (2009).
(P.S. It is really hard)

Against the Grain

Pictured below is the first class to learn and perform Against the Grain.
It has since become a staple dance for beginners transitioning to the intermediate level and a favorite of cloggers.

In the picture above, we are performing during a fundraiser for a special needs boy in the community.

I Will Survive

Nicole choreographed this dance. It included some tough footwork. (Above) Students perform this dance about 1999 at the Dixie Clog Competition when it was still being held at Tuacahn.

Hand Jive

Hand Jive was choreographed for the AAC in about 1993.

We worked on the ripples endlessly! It scored high in competition and was a blast. Many of these students stayed with AAC beyond graduation and eventually combined with older classes.

Fantasmic

Fantasmic was our first real show routine with stunts.

(Above) We are performing at the Rebelette review.

This was the first dance Mom hired out choreography for in about 1993. She got the idea for the music from its namesake on a clogging trip in Disneyland. We were sore for days after learning this dance one Saturday, but we loved it and were so proud to do it. I remember Summer going up in the T-lift and thinking we should be on Star Search. Mom purchased these costumes from the Tigerettes and let me tell you, we were skinny because these things are tiny! We actually got permission from Disney to perform this dance at the Carnation Plaza in Disneyland.
Later, for the 20th anniversary recital of the AAC, this was one of the dances Mom brought back for the review. At the end of the recital a big screen played clips from the original performances and then new cloggers performed the entire dance for the audience.

DANCE

"Dance" was introduced as a team dance toward the end of the clogging glory years for a Disney Land performance. Since then it has become tradition to perform this dance second-to-last (just ahead of Grand Old Flag) in every performance. It has become a staple dance for all cloggers intermediate and above. It is a traditional clog with lots of energy, cheers, and fun!

Cuban Pete

Cuban Pete has been a favorite among All American Cloggers. These pictures show the first group to do the dance in 2000 but it has been performed later by many of Polly's students.

Tuacahn Clog Competition

Xcaret, Cancun, Mexico (2000)

Mission Impossible

Mission Impossible is a line competition dance. These kids tackled some pretty hard stuff with this routine; it was chalked full of pullbacks and syncopation steps. Plus the timing of the music was weird. The picture above-right is at the competition at Tuacahn. The stage is wet because some kid had just thrown up. Mom had to squirt it off. She was semi-in-charge of that competition and it was SOOO much work! Actually, I thing that weekend alone took years off her life. How did she do it all?

The clip I'll leave for now is at Western Nationals in Lagoon, 1997:

WATCH MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Turn the Beat Around

We used this music for a couple different classes and genres

...The first time we used this music was for a show duet for Nicole (that's me) and Charity Tebbs {you should see out wrap-around pants! I'll have to find a pic}. I think the class above was the next to use it and the choreography was totally different. Later, it headed back into the realms of duet. I'll include a bit of the dance below for now and promise to try and find some more footage later.

Toss the Feathers (Irish)

Toss the Feathers was our first Irish Clog

This was a very difficult dance to learn and was one of the first that incorporated a fair amount of tap technique. Since "Toss" the AAC has performed many Irish dances (mostly to Bill Whelan's repertoire). When I washed the footage I started to tear up: We were so good! We were such good friends! I wish I could go back!!!

WATCH TOSS THE FEATHERS
(circa 1997-Western Nationals: Prelims; Lagoon)
STAY TUNED FOR CLOSE-UPS AT THE END OF THE DANCE

Yankee Doodle

Yankee Doodle is a formation dance that we started performing with our senior group in about 1990. It was adapted for the entire AAC to perform in Canada in 1992.

Cindy adapted the dance again a few years later for a beginner group (they wore THEE cutest flag costumes in the universe). I will try to find pictures of these early versions but for now you're stuck with the latest:

Cindy brought Yankee doodle back in 1999 for this group as an intermediate dance. They performed it at the Arts Festival (above) and as their primary competition routine (below).

We just can't get enough Yankee Doodle! This year Mom brought the music back but choreographed an entirely different, difficult, fabulous 80's style TAP DANCE for one of her upper-level classes at Diamond Talent.

Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing is a percision partner dance and it requires an insane amount of endurance!

It involves traditional blue grass music and combines difficult and fast footwork with rapid formation movements to provide an exhilerating dance. It just happens to be my (Nicole's) FAVORITE dance of all time {Percision is also my favorite clogging genre}. We started doing it about 1996.

The Little Old Opre show, Opera House, St. George

Southern Germany

The last performance of Swamp Thing was in 2000 (about) when Nicole Metcalf Hadley and Kiersten Hinton Kirshbom (sp???) performed it as a duet in Disney Land.

WATCH SWAMP THING (Prelims, Western Nationals 1997)

Get Me Back to Dixie

Second only to GOF, Get Me Back to Dixie is our most danced dance.

We usually open a show with this traditional partner dance and all AAC students intermediate and up learn it in their clogging career.

Arts Festival circa 1994

Polynesian Cultural Center, Oahu, Hawaii 1994

Calagry, Canada 1992

We also performed at the Calgary Stampede but in this performance at Heritage Park it started to rain pretty hard so we switched locales and did our entire show under this gazebo. It was tight, but we managed.

GRAND OLD FLAG

The AAC ends every single performance with this classic dance. Every clogger learns it as a smiple right of passage but few know where the tradition started.

When we went to Japan in 1989, we wanted to end with something patriotic so Cindy and Polly decided that Grand Old Flag fit the bill. We ended our shows with and passed out flags to the Japanese audience at the end of the song (which is why we alys hold flags). We don't pass the flags out anymore, but the finale of Grand Flag has stuck for 20 years!

We have performed this dance all over the world:

The Carnation stage in Disney Land (for ttwo decades)

The DisneyLand hotel and at the Queen Mary

Xcaret, Cancun, Mexico

25th anniversary show in Disney World, Florida

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

This dance was one of Cindy's favorites. This group was so great and completely advanced for how young they were. The boys lifted the girls and the audience went wild! Hard to believe some of these kids have kids ready to clog too!

(Footage to follow)

Can Can

The Can Can was the pinnacle of our clogging endeavors!

This was our last dance together before most of our class graduated.

As the Can Can was a show dance routine, the thing was full of many bells and whistles and splits (every single one of us could do the splits)! This dance made it to Nationals where competed in finals and were UNFAIRLY beat by the Monroe group who couldn't even get their shuffles on thee ground and spent their entire dance hopping and yelling.

Footage:

Watch the CAN CAN!
(This is the preliminary performance at finals to get into triple crown)

Watch the Can Can (Triple Crown Finals, Western Nationals 1997)

(ABOVE) WATCH OUR COMPETITION

These guys so beat us and they SOOO shouldn't have. See what I mean about the doubles not even hitting the floor?!?! There's practically no clogging at all and the clogging that is there is so NOT difficult. WE WERE ROBBED! (As you can tell, I haven't gotten over it yet and it's been 12 years)