Well this weekend took us from the north side suburb of Elk Grove Village (see yesterday’s post) to the south suburb of New Lenox, IL.  My friend Laura was performing with her Clogging Team at the New Lenox Pavilion. What a great evening we had at this beautiful outdoor pavilion, enjoying great music, and watching a very entertaining performance.

Until Laura had told me about this, I hadn’t heard of clogging.  I’ve seen Irish Step Dancing and know about tap dancing (I used to tap), but I wasn’t familiar with clogging.  Since then, I’ve learned that clogging is an American form of dance that began in the Appalachian Mountains in the 1700’s.  It is similar to tap dancing, although the taps are slightly different, and was the forerunner to tapping.  Originally, cloggers danced mostly to bluegrass music, but now also dance to popular and country music in addition to traditional clogging music.

The performance we watched was really great.  The dancers ranged in age from 8 -80 years.  Wow!  And, they all were upbeat, enthusiastic, and very energetic.  Most of the music was country (my favorite) but some popular music was also played.  It was a great ending to our weekend.

I wanted to tell you about this for a few reasons.  First, this group has more performances scheduled for this summer, including a show at Daley Plaza in Chicago, and one at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.  So, if you are out and about and are looking for some great entertainment, check out one of their clogging shows.  You can visit their website www.newlenoxclogging.org to learn more about this group and their scheduled performances.

The second reason I wanted to tell you about this was to inform you about this type of dance.  Maybe, like me, you hadn’t heard of it before.  And, maybe if you find it interesting, you could find a clogging group in your area and give it a try.

Finally, I thought the New Lenox Pavilion was a really nice place.  We brought our own lawn chairs and sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed some outdoor entertainment.  I know they have other outdoor events planned throughout the year, so it’s just another suggestion for outdoor family fun.

While I did pack all the essentials – our chairs, umbrella in case it rained, water to drink in case we were thirsty, I did forget my camera.  So, sorry, I do not have any pictures to share with you. But, be sure to check out their website.  And, thanks Laura, you were awesome!