Several years ago Sarah got it into her head that she wanted to do a clog routine in a two-person dancing animal costume. Inspired by a video on Tony Barrand's morris, sword and clog dance site (Ermintrude's Waltz by the Tankerton Steppers) and more recently, Wallop the Clog Dancing Horse (video), we decided to build a costume for the Saturday concert performance at the 2016 Northeast Squeeze-In in Becket, MA. (Click here to skip the build story and go straight to the video.)

		Bill decided that a pvc skeleton would be lighter and also provided the ability for both dancers to stand upright. The first challenge was to bend the PVC pieces into something vaguely body-shaped. He finds that a pot of boiling pasta water works perfectly.
The frame starts to take shape through trial and error and with a little assistance from the Rascals. Carved styrofoam shapes the head and butt.
Screening from the garage fills out the body and provides ventilation. A wood base holds the removable head. Check out the start of the hinged mouth.
		A $2 thriftshopped life vest provides webbing and buckles for the dancer's harness straps and the decorative "halter" that helps hold the head on.
		First rehearsal at Peggy's barn!
Are you OK back there?
Sarah is fitting the cover and painting the mouth. The ears are leather and fit into pvc plugs in the foam. The eyes are styrofoam half-balls with giant store-bought googly eyes glued on top.
Showing off our wood shoes. The diamond shape in the front is an inset panel of fabric from an old dance dress that is thin enough to see through. The blue "blanket" is also a translucent window so the back person can see out. The mane and tail are spiral cut quilting cotton sewn onto a piece of webbing and pinned to the head and rump.
Time to go to the Squeeze-In! The cover comes off and the skeleton is tied to the roof of the car. We rubber-banded the mouth closed, but could see through the sun roof that one rubber band wasn't going to do the job. The mouth flapped comically for miles until we could pull over and add reinforcements.
Here are videos!
Winnie the Hoofer and the Bunkhouse Squeezers! Northeast Squeeze-In 2016		Winnie the Hoofer at the 2016 Phoenixville Firebird Festival