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Not just Wow, but
WOW - - is the first word that comes to mind after my trip to
the San Antonio Cloggers Showcase! WOW, what a beautiful
theatre setting. WOW, what a lot of great clogging. And,
WOW, what fun it was to just sit back and watch all the
creativity that went into two packed evenings of dancing
entertainment!!! Add to that the gorgeous weather.
(Can you tell we traveled from up north?) And such a
lovely city with lots of exciting restaurants and fun things to
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Cadence Cloggers of San Antonio hosted
the Showcase and performed here at the beautiful Arneson River
Theatre. (The river runs between seating and the stage.) |
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| Mary
Ann McConnell, my friend (and our company attorney), was able to
come along with me. A clogging lover herself, she just got
so excited about all the enthusiastic dancing. She had
trouble staying in her chair, and I thought she was going to
jump up on stage, to be a part of the fun!
We were excited
to come to Texas. Actually, I was born in Orange, Texas,
when my Dad was in the Navy. But having only been back
once, to Houston, I wanted to visit another part of the
state. Mary Ann's interest in the state began young.
With the reputation for THINGS BIG, she entered a chicken
painted yellow in a children's pet parade and called it a Texas
Canary! So we decided to head to Showcase to experience
clogging fun and things Texas.
We arrived on
Friday afternoon, just in time to go out for a quick salad with
my aunt and uncle, who live in San Antonio. Then they
dropped us off by La Villita, on their way to a Spurs
game. (We made up for this brief culinary lapse throughout
the weekend, by tucking generously into the local fare - -
including, of course, Barbecue!)
We'd been
"warned" that San Antonio had some of the friendliest
people we would every meet. Sure enough, greeters at the
door of Arneson River Theatre and Emcee, John Thompson, made us
feel comfortable right away and brought us up to speed on the
"doings" of Showcase. We started to feel a part
of things, not like visiting strangers.
Variety has to be
the next word that came to my mind during Showcase 2006.
Variety of dancers, music, costuming, and choreography.
From an idea by Peg Hadley, Showcase has been graciously hosted
by Cadence Cloggers for 18 years - - a feat of enthusiasm,
teamwork and dedication. Over 500 dancers in the show
ranged from ages 3 to 82, even three generations within one
family. Clogging Express, among other clubs, had adults
and children of all ages performing in the same group in
succession. Cannonball Cloggers, Cadence Cloggers and
Fire-on-the-Mountain Cloggers all had mixes of male and female
dancers that gave a feeling of real power to their dance
routines.
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| Cannonball
Cloggers of Sherman TX performed to a medley of Broadway
show tunes. |
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Pick
a type of music you enjoy, and you can be pretty sure Showcase
had it. The Ledbetter Bluegrass Band started the evening
off with Bluegrass selections. Then came clogging routines
to: Traditional, Country, Hip-Hop, Show tunes, Irish,
Techno/Rap...even Mambo and Polka tunes! How about a banjo
version of Yellow Submarine? Did I miss any? Not to
forget the clogging basics: Honors were done for the
"South Texas National Anthem" ("Cotton-Eyed
Joe") by Brazos Valley Cloggers. And Orange
Blossom Special, without which no clogging event would be
complete, was ably performed by Dixie Style Cloggers. I
also enjoyed the Irish flavored routines of Friendswood Country
Cloggers, with lots of Buck footwork.
Costuming brought
drama and fun to the evening: From the glitzy threads and
sequins of Clickety Cloggers (sky-blue satin vests), Gingham
Gals/Steppin' (sequins in a rainbow of colors), Texas Thunder,
and the Yellow Rose Cloggers (more sequins, both). To the
patriotic and country outfits of Texas Loving' Cloggers, Okie
Stompers, and the Cow Country Cloggers with their white dance
boots. Or what about the cool green tops and black pants
of the Double D Cloggers, with those funky hairdos?!
Nieci and Buster
Green of Cadence Cloggers did a great job of staging and keeping
the show running on schedule. Buster was the winner of
Clogger of the Year in 2005! If you can believe it, the
stage was a firmer wooden deck of a ship. Footwork was
serious business, and the stage showcased presentations of the
groups, including Risin' Star Cloggers - - a competition team.
I felt awed by
the routines of All Rhythm Dance Alley and KDAS Cloggers!
No problem hearing the sounds of stomping feel with these two
large groups! All Rhythm sizzled to music from Grease and
other tunes from that era - - a large troupe of female dancers
in white, calf-length 50's style dresses with turquoise
cummerbunds, bobby socks, and ponytails of flying curls.
It was a talented (and brave) young male dancer who joined the
group and held his own in "My Boyfriend's Back"!
New to Showcase
this year, the KDAS clogging routine was Hot! Hot! HOT! -
literally. All themed on Fire - I loved those
firefighters' slickers and hats. When the dance got too
hot, slickers came off to show sleeveless "muscle"
shirts with red sequined suspenders. The interlude with
two dancers carrying the ladder onstage was clever, and some of
the gymnastic moves added flair to the routines. An
entourage of 108, waves of dancers from adults to three little
girls costumed as Dalmatian dogs successively filled the
stage. (One of the little "Dalmatians"
threatened to steal the show and came dangerously close to
falling into the river a couple of times.) Quite an
impressive debut for this new group!
All in all,
Showcase 2006 represented two jam-packed evenings - -
featuring 11 hours of music and dance energy from 22
groups. It was a chance for the public to be inspired by
clogging. And a chance for the cloggers to inspire and be
inspired by one another. Thank you to John Thompson and
the entire Cadence Cloggers family for affording us the pleasure
of this Fun - - WOW - - Experience!
by Carolyn Stevens
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