Rainbow Country Cloggers
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The cloggers have been dancing at the music fest since it started, and for years have made an effort to donate to the event, Naylor explained.
So how did it all get started?
Naylor credited Wayne Rostad and the show On the Road Again for shining a light on clogging.
Alice Melish, from the Richmond area was seen on the show doing a clogging demonstration.
Friends Robert Addis, Eddie Blake and Steve Barter approached Melish. She offered to come and teach a clogging class if there were a decent sized group of people interested.
Naylor and his wife Jennifer Sylvester were among the first cohort 30 years ago.
By 1991, Naylor and Sylvester had caught the dancing bug and Naylor started teaching. Within a few years, the group had over 200 students clogging four nights a week.
Things slowed down when Naylor and Sylvester started a family, but kept the group going on a smaller scale, operating out of Lennoxville and Bury on Tuesday nights.
The group members vary depending on the time of year, but hovers at around 55 dancers at the moment.
According to Naylor, a pair of clogging shoes goes for around $120. Beginners are welcome to give it a try with regular shoes, but it’s usually the percussive nature of the dance and the shoes tapping on the floor that draws people.
While seeing a dozen experienced cloggers dancing in unison may seem intimidating, Naylor said the average person could pick up the basics in around two-and-a-half months. Things get more complex later on, he explained.
The Rainbow Country Cloggers do a combination of flatfooting, Irish step dancing, Canadian step dancing and clogging, which Naylor said keeps dancers on their toes.
While clogging is most often choreographed on the downbeat, step dancing is the opposite, which requires a bit more no-how for experienced dancers, Naylor said.
Anyone who has been to a fair or community event in the Townships in the last 30 years has likely seen the Rainbow Cloggers perform at least once.
According to Naylor, those performances are a form of recruitment, to attract the following year’s students.
“It’s a visual thing,” he said, “Either you like it or you don’t like it.”
Based on recent competition results, the local dance group has some serious clogging chops.
Naylor and Sylvester’s daughter Kassandra, who slipped on her first pair of clogging shoes at around two-and-a-half, now teaches and choreographs for the Rainbow Country Cloggers and recently brought a group of dancers to a competition in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Kassandra competed in the a cappella category, where she was judged based on her rhythm and quality of sound as she danced. She won first place in the category, as well as grand champion honours for most combined points at the competition.
The six girls she accompanied also fared well at the competition, finishing first and second in the traditional clogging category, first place in a duo performance, and second place in a solo performance.
Friday’s clogging show at Galt will include performances from the various groups within the Rainbow Country Cloggers, as well as some demonstrations from smaller ensembles. Kassandra will also do an a cappella demonstration.
The cloggers will be joined by local musician Courtney Drew, who will accompany the dancers for a number of songs on fiddle and accordion.
Naylor said the cloggers have been participating at the Ayer’s Cliff Music Fest since it started. It is a longstanding tradition for the Rainbow Country Cloggers to perform on Sunday, just before the presentation of the wish.
Admission to the Rainbow Cloggers’ show on Friday is by donation, with all money raised will be delivered to the Ayer’s Cliff Music Fest the following week.