Clogging is the state folk dance of North Carolina, and N.C. State is one of three universities in the U.S. to have a clogging team. 

The Wolfpack Clogging Team was founded in 1989, making this its 25th year of existence. It was originally founded as a class, but then transformed into a competing team. 

Harriet Myers, junior in human biology, and Amanda Bolick, junior in marine biology, are the two co-directors of the team. According to them, clogging is similar to tap and an Irish step dance, but it’s more defined in that the steps are looser, creating more rhythm and sound. 

 Both Myers and Bolick started clogging at a young age: Myers when she was six and Bolick when she was eight, after doing tap for five years. Both said they fell in love with it and continued to clog throughout middle and high school.

Myers said she was going to stop clogging when she got to college even though she knew about the team, but said her mom made her try out for the team. 

“And then you met me and you couldn’t leave,” Bolick said. 

Bolick’s college clogging story is different. She said she was deciding between Mars Hill University and N.C. State, the only two of the three universities whose clogging teams actually compete.  

“And then you met me and you couldn’t leave,” Myers said jokingly in return to Bolick.

The team has grown to double its size this past year. The girls attribute it to getting the name out on campus more. They said the team has tried to participate in everything they can, just to let students know there is a clogging team here. 

“There’s a lot of people that grow up clogging who have no clue when they come to N.C. State that there is a team, so when they find out they’re interested,” Bolick said. “So I think a lot of it has been just simply recognition — just getting our name out there.”

Though there are no men on the team now, there used to be many, and its current faculty advisor, Chip Futrell, was one of the founding members of the team in 1989. However, this has not caused a lack of diversity within the team, according to Myers. 

“I really love the variety that we have on the team this year,” Myers said. “All the girls on our team are very different, and they all come from different backgrounds, but we all have one thing in common: clogging.”

For most of their competitions, the team has to travel. Although their rides can be long, Bolick said she loves the experience because of the bonding that happens along the trip. 

“When we travel — and I love that we get to travel together –— we all get to know each other and we become friends, not just teammates,” Bolick said. “We have inside jokes and have a ton of fun together. This really adds to the competition environment because these are not just the people you dance with, they’re your friends and you love them.”

The Wolfpack Clogging Team qualified for nationals at its last competition, which was the team’s last chance. Myers and Bolick said they showed off a new dance and put in the extra hours. Normally, they said they practice every Thursday and every other Sunday, but in preparation to qualify for nationals, they added practice to every Sunday, instead, as well as extra hours of practice to get the job done. 

The team heads to Cadence Nationals the second weekend in April in Asheville, N.C. There it will meet with other teams, most from private dance studios, to compete. The Wolfpack Clogging Team will take two new dances, along with two of its favorites, to clog its way to the top.