When you make it to the national level of any type of competition, you know there’s something special about the competitors. Whether it’s a competition for a sport, music, dance, or something else, the competitors are at the top of their game.

Well, Morgan and Madison Mallum are the epitome of this game, competed in the 2013 Clogging Champions of America – Showdown of Champions in Knoxville, Tennessee, together and showed just what the sport is all about.

Madison and Morgan are not only dancing partners but sisters as well. The sisters are triplets with their brother Monroe, also a clog dancer, rounding out the triplets.

Although its origins are actually in Ireland, the modern dance enjoyed by many Americans has taken on a life of its own, and even the music is more country-Western than Irish these days, and the old wooden shoes have been dropped.

Morgan and Madison took to the Irish-American dance style so thoroughly that they’ve been doing it ever since, going on to win regional and national awards over the years, and even joining the national championship clogging team.

When these young ladies stood on the stage, their backs to the audience, their hands at their sides, we didn’t know what to expect, and neither did the audience.

When Madison and Morgan turned around and started dancing, the audience immediately started cheering and screaming in response to their very unconventional clogging steps.

Clogging is a type of dance that started in the Appalachian Mountains in the mid-1700s. It’s a foot-tapping type of dance, but it’s not the same as tap dancing, which started in NYC. Traditionally, clogging is done more flat-footed than tap dancing, and cloggers wear different shoes than tappers.

The pair performed a duet to the fast-paced “Hit the Ground Runnin’”, by country superstar Keith Urban, at the Showdown of Champions in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Wearing white dance pants, matching plaid shirts and the all-important clogging shoes, they took to the stage for a dance that was to leave the judges speechless.

The music starts and right out of the gate, it’s high energy and big smiles, as they quickly turn around and strike a country dance pose… and then their feet get to work and their duet takes off as they work together, holding hands and twirling each other around.

The pair performed a duet to the fast-paced “Hit the Ground Runnin’”, by country superstar Keith Urban, at the Showdown of Champions in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Wearing white dance pants, matching plaid shirts, and the all-important clogging shoes, they took to the stage for a dance that was to leave the judges speechless.

Watch their amazing performance below:

What a great performance!

Source: AWM