Club founder says clogging provides confidence, thrills

By Tonnie Dixon

May 12, 2008 | Dancing in front of 30,000 people doesn't bother Heather Foster, president and founder of the USU Clogging Club.

She began clogging in her hometown of Sandy at the age of 7 and says the sport has instilled in her sense of confidence she otherwise wouldn't have gained on her own. Finding her niche at a young age has enabled her to develop and enhance her dancing to what it is today.

"I love to perform. I really do," Foster said. "It's not just that I love to get up there and be in front of people, it's the anticipation, the excitement, the adrenaline you get right before you walk on stage and then you dance your hardest and you dance your best and you know, you've practiced for months for this moment for this two minute spot."

Foster loved clogging so much that she decided to start a clogging group made up of advanced and pro cloggers in fall of 2006.

"Out of all the girls, I had the most experience teaching, which was OK with me because I was the one who was gung-ho about it," Foster said.

The group then decided to form a club because that was the only way they could get studio space.

Foster said the hardest part of creating the club was not writing a constitution and all the paperwork, but reserving studio space for her girls to practice. Organizations funded by the school have first priority and once they take their studio time, then clubs can take what is left.

"I've actually had to fight for a lot of my studio time and I get really picky when people try and come in saying, 'Can we share this room with you?' No. I tell them I had to fight for this and I am not sharing it because it's a distraction for my dancers. I'm sure you need it but I have it so come after," Foster said.

The club consists of seven members who happen to be women. Foster says men are welcome to join but people usually look at men who are clogging in college like, 'Hmm, I don't know about that.'

"But I have danced with men in the past and the ones that are still dancing when they're my age and they've danced their whole lives, there are really really good. But so far not much interest," Foster said.

Foster said, "When I teach, there is a fine line between being someone's friend and being their teacher. I love my girls. We're all friends, but when I'm at dance I have to be the teacher and I can't be their friend."

She considers herself strict because she took private lessons for 10 years from one of the best teachers in the state that taught her to be focused on technique, style and being sharp in your movement. Foster said, it has translated into how she dances and what I expect from her dancers.

"I expect a lot out of them and they usually perform up to my standards and if they don't, I tell them," Foster said.

One member of the clogging club, Natalie Nicholas, said Heather is stricter then usual when time gets closer to competition.

"Heather is really good at keeping us on track if we lose our focus," Nicholas said. "We sometimes get really silly and she tells us to focus."

Practice consists of two days a week for more than two hours each and in the spring when it's competition season, they practice for two more hours on Saturday making the total more than six hours a week.

Clogging or power tap is a type of rhythmic tap dancing but is not anything like tap dancing. It is more aggressive and hardcore than tap, Foster said.

"If you call us tappers, we usually get upset," Foster said.

The shoes are what make it different from tap. It is basically a tap shoe that has an extra tap on top that is lose called a Steven Stomper. It makes a different kind of sound and a different kind of rhythm, Foster said.

Foster said she comes up with new steps as a way of displaying uniqueness.

Nicholas said, since dancing with Heather she has learned many new steps and has expanded her clogging routines.

"I feel like since I've been clogging up here, I've been stretched, big time," Nicholas said.

Foster said she likes using modern kinds of music like Madonna because jazzy type music can get hokey after a while.

Foster taught clogging on the east coast for a while and says it is nothing like the west. "Dancing back east versus dancing on the west is completely different since I've taught in both places. There are types of styles that are really really different, some are really really traditional ­ big fluffy skirts and won't dance to anything but country and bluegrass where out here we are dancing to songs by Madonna and anything that has a good enough beat. So I like really good fast upbeat kind of music. It's kind of a cross between tap dancing and Riverdance but it's not either or those," Foster said.

The club's website states, "The Clogging/Powertap Club exists to provide experienced and inexperienced dancers the opportunity to dance in a group setting, allow students to gain experience performing in groups for competitions and performances, allow interested dancers to learn novice to professional level clogging steps, and to dance in a fun and inviting atmosphere."

Foster said it has always been a goal or hers to one day open a clogging studio and doing what she loves. She said she has received an offer to go in on a partnership with another couple in Logan but doesn't know much about the couple and plans to talk with them about it soon.

"For me it has turned into a skill that I can use to make money as well as just for me having fun," Foster said, "which is kind of the whole point of life ­ find something you that you want to do that's fun and you love it and you can make money doing it."

The USU Clogging Club is a non-profit organization where students must provide shoes and pay for their own costumes.

"I don't make any money off of it," Foster said.

Foster plans to graduate this May with her bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in professional and technical writing and will give up her title as president of the club this week. The president's duties are to schedule practices, performances and dealing with any issues that arise within the club. Foster said she will most likely stay in Logan and continue choreographing dances for the club.

"I am really pushing these girls to expand the club. I'd like to see them branch out into USU league," Foster said. "We've generated a lot of interest up on campus when we danced in some ward talent shows, stake talent shows, and the ballroom performance as a special guest just a few weeks ago."

MS
MS