The Show Must Go On!

After you've traveled thousands and thousands of miles to attend a festival, you don't let a little rain stand in the way of your show.
The rains came down and down again in Timisoara today, but "the show must go on!" With the audience huddled under umbrellas, several countries put on a great show tonight. Due to the rain the audience was fairly subdued most of the evening. But when Clog America took the stage, people got excited.
The audience clapped along, and little kids even got up and started to dance the do-si-do in the rain.
The stage is a large shell, with amazing acoustics. The taps of the clogging shoes resonate and echo loudly, creating a thunderous sound combined with the pouring rain outside. This video doesn't do it justice, but here's the last few seconds of "precision" tonight.

Ukrainian Dancers

We have all fallen in love with the tiny Ukrainian dancers. The grownup dancers are awesome people too, but we can't help but love their adorable little people.

When in Romania...

Georgian Dancers

We have the unique and enjoyable privilege of traveling the world to perform and entertain. We represent the United States, and teach about our heritage and culture through song and dance. We are also, in turn, educated and entertained through song and dance by the representatives from other countries. While attending these festivals can be a lot of fun, we go home having learned so much more than a textbook or newspaper could have ever taught us. We learn about our host countries, host families, and the cultures of the other countries represented in dance.
This little video of a Georgian dance shares a lot about their history. Without knowing anything else about their culture, you can see how the strength and power of the men was valued and how the women prized the strong warriors.

Clog America Performs Rawhide in Baile Herculane

Forgive the quality of this video. It was only taken on my little handheld camera, and not by professionals. Nor was it edited. It's just a small taste of the show to share with our families back home! Enjoy!

The International Spirit of Friendship

Caden, Emily, and Josh in costume with some cute little dancers from Ukraine

One thing that has really struck me on this tour is the international spirit of friendship. In Belgrade we saw it with the generosity of the host families. They opened up their homes, invited us in, cooked for us, drove us around, and helped with all sorts of problems. They weren't paid for this. In fact, some of them probably spent a good deal of money to host and feed us. But they did it anyway out of a spirit of friendship that stems from the common language of dance and performance.
As dancers there is a common ground and understanding amongst everyone. We all understand the hard work, sore feet, time, and effort that is required to travel and perform. Not only does the story our dancing tell share a message and the history of our country matter, but the friendships and respect built among the teams matters too. It's not just about the 20 minute show we put on. There is much more to these tours than that. Increased understanding and appreciation for other cultures is good for everyone.

Sunday, July 6, Tour History: Amy Dayton and Cat Larsen

Standing on the rooftop of the Belgrade Chapel

1. What was today's location, weather, and landscape?
Belgrade, lakeside park, volleyball arena, and LDS chapel.

2. What was today's most delicious/interesting/gross food?
Delicious sausage and chicken hot off the grill at the Talija BBQ by the lake.

3. Where and for whom did Club America perform?
We sang "Love One Another" at the Belgrade 1st Branch, and Cat and Amy performed every trick in their bag for the nursery children (who all spoke Serbian).

4. What was today's funniest overheard comment?
"My purse fringe touched the ground in the squatty potty."

5. What act of kindness did you observe today?
Miranda carried Cat's guitar to the lake beach. Everyone's kind notes in Amy's birthday book, and her surprise birthday party.

6. What was today's funniest performance moment?
Clog America-USA-Volleyball Team-Pep Club's performance to the Serbian team's glares.

7. What was some wisdom gleaned from Miriam?
If you pay for everyone's drinks and leave a big tip in Serbia, everyone is happy and gets to sit in the padded chairs under the umbrellas.

8. What word best describes today?
Spirited.
1. We felt the Spirit in church.
2. The high spirited USA cheering section at the volleyball game.
3. The cool lake water lifted our spirits.

9. Describe today's miracle.
The whole group not getting separated en route to the lake park (walk, bus, walk, walk through park). Thank heaven for Miranda as our lighthouse!

10. What cultural a-ha moment did you experience today?
Serbians love coming to the lake and enjoying each other's company (talking, playing sports, eating, swimming), and being transported by shopping cart.
See- Lots of families enjoying themselves in the park.
Touch- The germy toys in the nursery
Hear- USA, USA, USA!
Smell- grilled meat on the BBQ grill
Taste- Birthday Starburst candy

Tour History, July 4, Abby and Miranda Bradshaw

1. What is today's location, weather, landscape?
Orphanage, home for disabled persons.
Weather is HOT! but when you are in the shade it's fine.
Landscape- city.

2. What was today's most interesting/delicious/gross food?
Chicken with curry. Delicious- stuffed pepper that Lola fed us!

3. Where and for whom did Clog America perform?
The orphans, disabled people.

4. What was today's funniest overheard comment?
"Wow the band was on time, in-tune, and played every song at the perfect speed." Just kidding, no one said that.

5. What act of kindness did you observe today?
Rita (videographer) gave up her seat on the bus for an elderly Serbian woman.

6. What was today's funniest performance moment?
Josh couldn't find his "bad guy" coat during the Frontier Medley. So he turned his cowboy hat sideways and marched with a crazy angry face, like, "I'm going to eat you all."

7. What was some wisdom gleaned from Miriam?
(Stay in a spa.)

8. What word best describes today?
Walking, sweat

9. Describe today's miracle.
A man without strings on his guitar played with the band and truly believed he was a rock star. And he sounded great!

10. What cultural a-ha moment did you experience today?
See-  Bombed out building from the Serbian war. Traffic lights go red-yellow- and then green when lighting up and directing traffic
Hear- Bluegrass music
Smell- Smoke
Taste- honey from the Serbian mountains. SO GOOD!

Austin and the Gnome Meet the Ambassador

The U.S. Ambassador to Serbia was kind and fun enough to pose with Austin and his gnome at the Residence!

Caden gets the full European experience in just one night

We are staying with host families for the first leg of our trip to Serbia. Our host families have been very kind and generous. This is Caden's first trip to Europe. If you've ever been to Europe, you'll understand why we say he got the full European experience in one night. (We all got a good laugh.)

We've made it to Belgrade

We've made it to Belgrade!

The members of Klub Talija have been very generous and kind. We are staying in club member homes around Belgrade for the first few days. What a fun way to get to know them and the Serbian lifestyle. 

We had a great dinner and afternoon at the Klub Talija clubhouse. It's a floating restaurant on a river, with a beautiful dock and scenery. 

Be sure to check twitter.com/clogamerica and instagram.com/clogamerica for more updates and pictures!

Tour History by Jen Garrard and Amber Henrie, July 1 and 2

1. What is today's location, weather, and landscape?
SLC airport, airplane, more airplane, Detroit airport, airplane, Paris airport, airplane, Belgrade, Talija clubhouse on the water with a groovy bridge in the distance, and then off to host families.
Weather: Jen: Hot. Amber: Perfection.

2. What was today's interesting/delicious/gross food?
Airplane chicken that was slabs of slimy meat.
And yummy tomatoes, cheese, cucumbers, beef, sausage, "hot" green peppers that Josh and David ate.

3. Where did Clog America perform?
n/a

4. What was today's funniest overheard comment?
After josh and David ate peppers, Josh's wasn't that hot, but David's was really hot. David said, "I'm so relieved! I thought I'd become a hot sissy." (hot food sissy)

5. What act of kindness did you observe today?
Host families hosting us for 5 days, great dinner provided, excellent boys carrying heavy bags. A stranger helped Jen with her carryon in the first airplane- there is kindness everywhere.

6. What was today's funniest performance moment?
Clapping for the music video.

7. What was some wisdom gleaned from Dennis?
Dennis isn't shy when he meets/remeets someone. He hugged Jen and kissed her multiple times.

8. What word best describes today?
Tired, travel worn, lost luggage, but also glad to be here!

9. What was the worst injury?
Erin's blister (the social media person), and she fell asleep standing up.
Alyssa's mental injury from losing her luggage.

10. What cultural a-ha moment did you experience today?
Serbia has delicious tomatoes.
Serbian language does not sound anything like any language I know of.
The plane fed us food!
The man sitting next to Emily on the plane wore a shirt that said, "sex instructor, 1st lesson free."
Always wear your wedding ring- our guide winked at Amber when he met her.
Amber says European's smell good. Jen disagrees. 

FIFA World Cup - Korea

North Carolina- Charleston

Poland 2012

 Our group shown outside the home of this dear Polish family who fed us all a sit down dinner inside their home. 

In Germany- Hoedown

Serbian-American Night, July 5, 2014

Sold!

 In China- during assembly at a school...Adam Keller singing "Sold"

You can make a difference in the life of an orphan!

Clog America needs your help!

Clog America will tour Romania and Serbia in July. While we travel, we make it a point to visit different charitable organizations, and make a difference where we can, not just through dance and music, but through love and giving.

This year we will be visit Zdrinka Pavlovic, an orphanage in Serbia for 35-40 disabled or abandoned children. We are collecting various items to help the orphanage better serve their children. 

During the month of May, flooding caused widespread devastation in Belgrade, Serbia. Our help in this area is needed now more than ever! Your donations can help bring aid to those left homeless by these floods, and can help us bring aid to the orphanage that originally inspired this humanitarian project. Keep reading for more details. Every dollar helps!

Our goal is to raise enough money to provide the children with as many of the following items as possible:
Hygiene kits
Pajamas
Clothes for young adults
Underwear for ages 6-18
Crayons
Jump Ropes
Small Blankets (I know some of you are quilters out there! How about a small twin sized quilt or bedspread for an orphanage?) 
Soccer Balls
Sock Puppets
Bedding size 90 x 190cm
Mattress
Bed
Dishwasher
Deep Fryer


A percentage of the money raised will go towards the items listed above, and towards the relief efforts to help those affected by the floods in Belgrade. We are accepting physical donations of the above items, as well as monetary donations.

You can contribute towards these efforts on the GoFundMe page - http://www.gofundme.com/7aih94 .