# Dancing: what's the difference between clogging and tapping?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 7, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755 "2004-04-07T15:18:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755/1 "2004-04-07T15:18:23Z")

</div>

I went to my daughter’s dance competition last week. There were lots of categories (my daughter was competing in jazz and ballet), but “clogging” and “tapping” were two different categories, although I’ll be darned if I could tell the difference. Would someone be so kind as to explain it to me?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755/2 "2004-04-07T15:22:37Z")

</div>

The rhythms – tap is usually syncopated, clogging isn’t.

twicks, tap-dancer for 15+ years

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755/3 "2004-04-07T15:24:41Z")

</div>

Clogging a la Michael Flatley is lame.  
Tapping a la Gregory Hines is cool.  
😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-whats-the-difference-between-clogging-and-tapping/238755/4 "2004-04-07T15:34:10Z")

</div>

> [@Terminus Est](#):
>
> Clogging a la Michael Flatley is lame.  
> Tapping a la Gregory Hines is cool.  
> 😃

“Good answer! good answer!” [/_Family Feud_ contestant]

One of the many things I didn’t like about _Lord of the Dance_ (which is, strictly speaking, an example of “step dancing” (Irish) as opposed to “cloggin” (Southern U.S.) – aside from the profoundly creepy immobility of the dancers from the waist up – is that the example of tap they included was about 60 years out of date. There is much cooler stuff happening – like Savion Glover, for one. (See the "Where are all the dancers? thread elsewhere in this forum.)