| January/February 2009 Feature Team: Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers |
BRTC is committed to the performance and preservation of clogging as
a traditional art form. We teach clogging lessons in Loudoun County,
Virginia, in a renovated barn at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It is a community where tradition and family is very important and
BRTC tries to maintain that atmosphere. Many of our dancers are
family groups. BRTC accepts students ages 6-101.
The first year that BRTC existed and performed in Loudoun County was
1997. At that time, there were 12 dancers in the group. In the spring
of 2002, we incorporated as a nonprofit organization with the
Commonwealth of Virginia. At present we have approximately 60
dancers; 25 or so are performers and 13 are part of BRTC's Team
Lightning.
BRTC designs each and every performance to reflect the multicultural
heritage of clogging and presents both traditional and contemporary
routines. We dance to a variety of music that helps us accentuate the
diverse roots of our clogging heritage. We also share a brief history of
clogging at each performance.
In our efforts to educate the community about clogging as an art form,
we showcase clogging that incorporates a variety of styles of music,
types of dances (traditional/progressive), and steps – taking into
account the need to provide an entertaining program. Great care is
taken in planning each new performance routine with this balance as a
guide. Our instructors, Mary Smith and Joyce Guthrie, choreograph
most of our performance routines. Each dance is choreographed with
the audience in mind, as we aim to make a routine as much fun to
watch as it is to dance. Our current repertoire includes bluegrass,
Irish, country, techno-pop, gospel, patriotic and oldies music and an
acappella routine. Traditional (couples dancing/“figures” to bluegrass
music) and progressive clogging (line dances to contemporary music)
are both taught in class and demonstrated in our performances.
BRTC does not have a room full of trophies or ribbons to “prove” our
artistic quality. That is not part of our clogging heritage. What we do
have is a group of people who enjoy dancing with BRTC, and contented
event organizers who invite us back. We'd love to be known for our
precision, but we're happy to be known as a traditional clogging group
that is full of fun and friendship!
a traditional art form. We teach clogging lessons in Loudoun County,
Virginia, in a renovated barn at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It is a community where tradition and family is very important and
BRTC tries to maintain that atmosphere. Many of our dancers are
family groups. BRTC accepts students ages 6-101.
The first year that BRTC existed and performed in Loudoun County was
1997. At that time, there were 12 dancers in the group. In the spring
of 2002, we incorporated as a nonprofit organization with the
Commonwealth of Virginia. At present we have approximately 60
dancers; 25 or so are performers and 13 are part of BRTC's Team
Lightning.
BRTC designs each and every performance to reflect the multicultural
heritage of clogging and presents both traditional and contemporary
routines. We dance to a variety of music that helps us accentuate the
diverse roots of our clogging heritage. We also share a brief history of
clogging at each performance.
In our efforts to educate the community about clogging as an art form,
we showcase clogging that incorporates a variety of styles of music,
types of dances (traditional/progressive), and steps – taking into
account the need to provide an entertaining program. Great care is
taken in planning each new performance routine with this balance as a
guide. Our instructors, Mary Smith and Joyce Guthrie, choreograph
most of our performance routines. Each dance is choreographed with
the audience in mind, as we aim to make a routine as much fun to
watch as it is to dance. Our current repertoire includes bluegrass,
Irish, country, techno-pop, gospel, patriotic and oldies music and an
acappella routine. Traditional (couples dancing/“figures” to bluegrass
music) and progressive clogging (line dances to contemporary music)
are both taught in class and demonstrated in our performances.
BRTC does not have a room full of trophies or ribbons to “prove” our
artistic quality. That is not part of our clogging heritage. What we do
have is a group of people who enjoy dancing with BRTC, and contented
event organizers who invite us back. We'd love to be known for our
precision, but we're happy to be known as a traditional clogging group
that is full of fun and friendship!
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Mary Smith Instructor (See below) |
Welcome
Cloggers!
Cloggers!
| Visit their website! www.BlueRidgeThunderCloggers.org |
| Joyce Guthrie Assistant Instructor (See below) |
| Mary Smith BRTC Instructor |
Mary is a native of the plains of rural
northeastern Montana. The roots of
clogging lie deep in her heritage as her
grandparents include natives of Ireland
and the mountains of southwestern
Virginia. Mary moved to Austin, Texas,
in the early 1980’s upon college
graduation, and it was there that she
took a class in beginning clog dancing.
She got on stage for the first time as a
performer in the spring on 1988 and by
1990 was teaching the beginner lessons
for her group, the Clickey Cloggers. At
this time, she also became the director
of the group’s exhibition team and
began choreographing routines. She
continued in that capacity until a job
change brought her to the Washington,
D.C. area in the fall of 1995. She was no
longer clogging with a group but
returned to Texas twice a year to teach
at clogging workshops.
In June of 1997, Mary was approached
by a member of a local clogging group
whose instructor was moving. She was
asked to fill the instructor’s shoes. The
group reorganized and the Blue Ridge
Thunder Cloggers were born.
northeastern Montana. The roots of
clogging lie deep in her heritage as her
grandparents include natives of Ireland
and the mountains of southwestern
Virginia. Mary moved to Austin, Texas,
in the early 1980’s upon college
graduation, and it was there that she
took a class in beginning clog dancing.
She got on stage for the first time as a
performer in the spring on 1988 and by
1990 was teaching the beginner lessons
for her group, the Clickey Cloggers. At
this time, she also became the director
of the group’s exhibition team and
began choreographing routines. She
continued in that capacity until a job
change brought her to the Washington,
D.C. area in the fall of 1995. She was no
longer clogging with a group but
returned to Texas twice a year to teach
at clogging workshops.
In June of 1997, Mary was approached
by a member of a local clogging group
whose instructor was moving. She was
asked to fill the instructor’s shoes. The
group reorganized and the Blue Ridge
Thunder Cloggers were born.
| Joyce Guthrie BRTC President and Assistant Instructor |
“My only regret is that I didn’t find clogging
earlier in life!” The mother of seven children -
three accomplished cloggers - Joyce has been
dancing for 11 years. She dances and teaches
with Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers. She loves
choreography and recently produced a line of
clogging T-shirts and posters under the
trademark of iClog.
earlier in life!” The mother of seven children -
three accomplished cloggers - Joyce has been
dancing for 11 years. She dances and teaches
with Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers. She loves
choreography and recently produced a line of
clogging T-shirts and posters under the
trademark of iClog.
