The Double Step Cloggers, a newly established student organization at NMU, focuses on teaching students clogging. 

“I’ve been clogging for about four years now, and I fell in love with clogging, and I wanted to share that joy with other students here on campus,” said Lizzie Kucharek, president and founder of the Double Step Cloggers.

Kucharek said that, while most people would imagine dancing in wooden shoes – it’s more of a mix of different styles, such as buck dancing or flat footing, that combine together to make clogging.

“I went into [making the club] expecting no one to know how to dance at all, so I’m starting from the lowest level that you can start from,” Kucharek said. “I’m teaching them basic steps and some little dances to learn what clogging is like. That’s kind of what the meetings are.”

As of right now, Kucharek said she is the only one teaching clogging and she doesn’t believe that there’s anyone else on campus that knows how to clog but is hoping to teach other students so when she graduates there are others to step in to teach.

With her being a freshman in the art and design major, that gives her some time to do so.

“Eventually I hope to have more than one class,” Kucharek said. “Right now, since everyone is a beginner, it’s just one class. But I hope the class can expand to have more beginners as well as intermediate cloggers, and I hope to have performances on campus in the future. I also had the idea of maybe eventually taking my group to a clogging convention.”

Students who participate will only need to bring clean tennis shoes and water.

“I saw the posters around, and I thought it was for people that had already done it before, like specific students, but anyone can join,” said Marisa Hoover, a member of the Double Step Cloggers. “I just wanted to learn something new. I’ve never danced before.”

Hoover said it was the uniqueness of the club that drew her eye, having heard of double step clogging before. She had always wanted to learn how to dance but never really had the opportunity. She described clogging as like tap dancing or an Irish jig.

“Lizzie is a good teacher,” Hoover said. “She starts you off with the basics. There’s something called the basics, and then there’s a double. We kept it stationary, then we gradually moved forward and then added more steps together to make a dance.”

Despite only going to a couple of the meetings so far, Hoover said that she’s interested in continuing this club throughout her time at NMU, specifically interested in seeing how she will improve.

If students are interested in attending meetings, the Double Step Cloggers meets from 5 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays on the second floor of the Northern Center.