American Footworks (formerly known as American Rhythm) is a folk dance ensemble for youth in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, USA. Our repertoire reflects our diverse heritage, ranging from Charleston to Cowboy, Southern Waltz to Lindy Swing, as well as the numerous forms of clogging. Clogging is a uniquely American percussive dance form, a cross-pollination of various early European immigrant, Native American and African Slave percussive dance forms with roots primarily in the southern Appalachian Mountain region. What was once an improvisational individual display in the South has become a national and international movement, with its growth incorporating elements of tap, French Canadian and Irish step-dancing, jazz and hip hop. Today it is one of America's most entertaining, competitive and exciting dance genres.
Among our 20 elite dancers (ages 15 - 28) are some of the country's best cloggers, but we also train our dancers in regional and national folk dances to present a well-rounded and varied historical review of the traditional dance styles of the United States.
Our artistic director, Gary Larsen, has a Master's degree from UCLA and a PhD in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick in Ireland, and literally wrote the book dance history, which he teaches at Brigham Young University - Idaho. He wrote his dissertation on clogging, its history, and its transformative stages through the last three centuries. Our medleys reflect our decades of research and choreographic experience, for shows that are both historically insightful and highly entertaining.
Our experience includes:
2011-2019 host team for our local festival, Idaho Summerfest
2012: Festival Folklorique de Rouergue in Rodez, France, and Barcelona, Spain
2013: FolkFaro and Viana do Castelo in Portugal
2015: FFIR again and Confolens
2016: Cross Cultural Folklore Festival in Surabaya and the Erau Adat Festival on Kalimantan, Indonesia
2018: Four festivals in Italy, in Cupramontana, Ranica/Bergamo, Aviano and Sappada (Dolomite Alps)
2019: Sarran, Amelie-les-Bains, and Montoire festivals in France
2022: FolkMoncao in Portugal and Rodez and Plozevet, France
2023: Aviano and Sappada, Italy
2024: Poland (Grodzisk Mazowiecki), Switzerland (local performance and parade in Interlaken) and France (Port-sur-Saone, St. Priest La Marche and Mont Gargan)
2025: Novohrad Festival (Slovakia), performances for the US Embassy in Budapest, Sunny Beach Festival (Nessebar, Bulgaria), and Billingham International Folklore Festival in England
We travel with a live music, a high quality bluegrass band under the directorship of Catherine Larsen. Our full show is 75 minutes' worth of colorful dances and toe tapping musical numbers, representing the different eras and styles of American traditional dance and clogging. We are friendly and clean and energetic. We dance in parades and can teach many different kinds of dance workshops (clogging, tap dance, fad dances, traditional American folk dances, country swing and line dancing) for any age or ability. We just love meeting new people and dancing together!
Audiences both local and abroad appreciate our energy, enthusiasm, attitude, demanding technique and upbeat, wholesome appeal. We proudly share our talents and our culture with the world!
American Footworks (formerly known as American Rhythm) is a folk dance ensemble for youth in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, USA. Our repertoire reflects our diverse heritage, ranging from Charleston to Cowboy, Southern Waltz to Lindy Swing, as well as the numerous forms of clogging. Clogging is a uniquely American percussive dance form, a cross-pollination of various early European immigrant, Native American and African Slave percussive dance forms with roots primarily in the southern Appalachian Mountain region. What was once an improvisational individual display in the South has become a national and international movement, with its growth incorporating elements of tap, French Canadian and Irish step-dancing, jazz and hip hop. Today it is one of America's most entertaining, competitive and exciting dance genres.
