Clogging Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

A percussive footwork dance in which the dancer drives the whole foot into the floor to make rhythm, entered as its own style section at United States studio dance competitions alongside Tap, Jazz and Folkloric.

Clogging is a dance in which the feet make the music. The dancer works the whole foot, heel, ball and toe, into the floor in quick, repeating patterns, usually with a relaxed upper body and a bounce through the knees, so the sound and the rhythm are as much the performance as the movement. Shoes with metal taps on the heel and toe are the normal choice, and the sound is the first thing a panel hears. At a studio competition it is entered as a section of its own beside Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop and the other styles.

None of the eTalenter templates that carry Clogging prints a definition, a step list or a music rule for it. Each simply lists it among the printed performance styles (between 18 and 24 of them) and places a routine in the style that best describes it. Because tap and clogging both make sound with the feet, the first practical question for an entrant is which of the two a routine belongs in; the usual dividing line is that clogging drops the weight into the floor with a full-foot beat and a lower, looser carriage, while tap works in lighter, sharper strokes from the toe and heel. If the choice is not obvious, ask the organiser before registering.

A round runs like any other style at these events. Routines are called in a running order, the dancer or group performs one piece to recorded music inside the printed time limit, and the panel scores it live. All six templates offer Clogging for solos and for duets and trios, small groups, large groups and lines, and the entry is repeated across the event’s age divisions and ability levels, so the same style can be entered by a five-year-old soloist and by a studio line of older dancers.

Organisers keep Clogging in the programme because it brings a distinct, crowd-pleasing sound to a dance day and gives dancers who train in percussive footwork a section of their own rather than competing against tap or jazz routines. For the coordinator the practical points are floor and sound: a percussive style is hard on a stage surface and needs a floor that tolerates taps, so read the event’s own props, safety and floor rules before accepting entries.

Where Clogging comes from

Clogging grew up in the Appalachian region of the United States, where settlers from the British Isles and other parts of Europe brought their own step and clog dances and mixed them with the rhythmic traditions of the people around them. It was a social dance of community gatherings before it became a stage and competition style, which is why the competition version keeps the driving, full-foot rhythm and the group formations.

Where Clogging is run

In the templates eTalenter holds, Clogging is a section of United States dance-studio competitions. Six of them list it, five as one of the 18 to 24 printed performance styles of a national or regional studio competition circuit and one inside a community talent-show dance competition. These are adjudicated studio-circuit events rather than school festivals, and the age divisions, levels and scoring differ from one event to the next, so always follow the syllabus of the event you are entering.

• United States

Key facts

• Individual in solo sections, and Team in duet/trio, small group, large group and line sections
• Open to both genders in every template that carries it
• Time limits run from 2:00 to 2:45 for a solo, 2:30 to 3:00 for duets, trios and small groups, 3:30 to 5:00 for large groups and lines, and up to 8:00 in one event’s longest entry type
• Scored out of 100 per judge, and the totals come to 300 in the rule books that use three judges; two templates are installed on a 100-point scale and four on 300
• No template prints marks per criterion for Clogging, though one names the headings its judges score on (technique, difficulty, execution, choreography, showmanship and overall presentation) and another prints score ranges for technique, execution and showmanship
• Age divisions run from the youngest children’s division (five and under or four and under) up to adults, with three or four ability levels, such as novice, intermediate and advanced, on top

On eTalenter, Clogging is filed under Dance and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 6 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Clogging is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 300, commonly time-limited to 2–8 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Clogging

What a Clogging panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• No template prints marks per criterion for Clogging, so what follows is general advice plus the headings that two US rule books do name: technique, difficulty, execution, choreography, showmanship and overall presentation in one, and ranges for technique, execution and showmanship in the other
• Clean, even sound: every beat should land where the music puts it and sound the same weight as its neighbours, because a muddy or uneven pattern is the first thing a panel hears and the quickest way to lose technique marks
• Rhythm that matches the music: patterns that stay locked to the tempo and phrase of the track from the first count to the last, with accents that fall where the music asks for them rather than where the dancer happens to land
• Difficulty that is executed cleanly: complex patterns and fast tempos only earn credit when they are clear, so a simpler routine done with control beats an ambitious one that blurs
• Posture and carriage: a lifted, relaxed upper body and quiet arms, because stiff shoulders or flapping arms distract from the footwork and read as effort rather than ease
• Showmanship and expression: a face and body that enjoy the rhythm, since a blank look through a fast pattern is the commonest way to lose showmanship marks
• In duets and groups, unison of both sound and movement: every dancer’s feet should land together and sound as one, with even spacing and tidy formation changes; one late dancer is audible as well as visible

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Clogging under Scoring Setup, or start from the full folk dance judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Clogging

How entrants and their teachers usually get Clogging right on the day:

• Ask the organiser, or read the syllabus, which style a percussive routine belongs in at this event, and check the age, level and entry-size rules before registering, since the sections differ between events
• Build the routine from the music first: count the track, mark the phrases and accents, and set the footwork patterns to those marks so the sound answers the music rather than running beside it
• Practise the patterns slowly and clearly on a hard floor before adding speed; record the audio as well as the video, because the sound often shows an unevenness the eye does not
• Cut the music to the printed time limit and rehearse with a stopwatch; two of the rule books print overtime deductions (one point per 15 seconds in one, one point per 5 seconds in another), so a long routine costs marks
• Rehearse in the real shoes and costume well before the event, and check that the shoes’ taps are tight, since a loose tap changes the sound and can be unsafe on the day
• Find out about the stage floor and any rules on shoes, taps and props, and warm up the ankles and calves properly, because clogging puts constant load on the feet and lower legs
• For groups, drill the unison by listening, not only watching: have the group close their eyes and clap the pattern together, then dance it, and fix any dancer who is early or late
• Ask for the judges’ written comments after the event and use them to decide whether the next version needs a cleaner sound, a clearer rhythm or more presence

Frequently asked questions

Is Clogging judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

Is clogging the same as tap?

No, although both make sound with the feet. Clogging is generally danced with a relaxed upper body and the weight dropped into the floor with a full-foot beat, while tap works in lighter, sharper strokes from the toe and heel. The templates do not print a definition, so if a routine could fit either style, ask the organiser which section to enter.

What shoes do I need for clogging?

The templates do not print a shoe rule. Clogging is normally danced in shoes with metal taps on the heel and toe, so the sound carries. Check the event’s own floor and equipment rules before you buy or travel.

How long can a clogging routine be?

It depends on the event and the entry size. Across the templates a solo runs from 2:00 to 2:45, duets and trios 2:30 to 3:00, small groups 3:00, large groups 3:30 to 4:00 and lines up to 5:00, with the longest entry type in one event running to 8:00. Always check the limit in the syllabus you are entering.

Is clogging judged individually or as a team?

Both. A solo is judged as an individual entry. Duets, trios, groups and lines are team entries, where the panel also looks at how evenly the dancers share the same sound, timing and spacing.

Which age groups can enter?

The US templates run it from their youngest division for children (five and under or four and under) up to adults, and the youngest division is often a placeholder floor rather than a printed minimum. Several events use the average age of a group, so check the age rule of your event.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full folk dance judging criteria guide, or browse every dance competition item.