Appalachian Flatfooting & Clogging Academy

Before I tell you all about this comprehensive new program that will transform your dancing, let’s talk about who it’s really for:

You’re someone who loves Appalachian music, dance, and culture, and you’re ready for an accessible, thorough, and FUN course that contains EVERYTHING (yes, everything!) you need  to become a great dancer, at your own schedule, pace, and location.

Whether you're...

→ A beginner who’s always wanted to learn more about the style but hasn’t had access to the right teacher or community

→ Someone who’s had some classes here and there but wants to level up so you can feel comfortable dancing at jams and concerts without looking like a durn fool!

→ Someone who knows a bunch of steps but needs some extra support and a proven formula for putting it all together to improvise with fluency

→Someone who wants to learn the style but doesn't have huge blocks of time to devote to it and needs the lessons delivered in manageable chunks that will fit into your busy schedule

→ An experienced dancer in another genre who’s always wanted to learn some clogging and flatfooting.

→ A clogger or flatfooter who’s hit a wall in your dancing that you’re ready to move past

→ A performer or musician who regularly finds yourself in jam sessions and attending festivals where you want to make real “music with your feet” or even showcase your dancing onstage as part of your set

You’re in the right place and I’m going to tell you exactly how Appalachian Flatfooting & Clogging Academy will give you the tools, inspiration, and unparalleled support on your journey to become the dancer you’ve dreamed of being!

If we haven’t met at an old-time jam session before…

Hey, I’m Carla --- banjo picker, singer, die-hard Kentucky mountain dancer, mama to three delightfully weird and musical young’uns, and chief cornbread-maker in my household. 

I’ve been told I’m annoyingly enthusiastic, but I just love sharing the traditions of my family and community with folks far and wide!

Let me share a bit about why I do what I do...

As a kid growing up in Eastern Kentucky, I faced a lot of stigma, shame, and embarrassment about my accent, my culture, and my people. Like so many Appalachians, I internalized the media stereotypes and narrative about what it meant to be from the mountains (aka a hillbilly) and I felt that if I wanted to “make something of myself” I would need to separate from my place and people.

But also, I was surrounded by talented, creative, resourceful, hard-working people who taught me more than I could ever type on this page. I soaked up the music, the stir-offs, the hymns, the family reunions,  the gardening, the quilting, the canning, the soap-making, and all of the incredible culture around me. Including the DANCING!

When I went away to college, I began to understand the misrepresentation my culture experienced, and the way our region had been exploited, economically and culturally. I realized how, for centuries, folks who weren’t from here had created the stories told about us AND taught about our culture to others, on our behalf.

A passion was born within me then, to spend my life sharing the beauty, richness, and dignity of my home and to encourage others from here to do the same. I’ve used my art as a platform to share MY Appalachia and my Kentucky, and now I’m stepping up to offer a dance course that is fully informed by this place, this people, and this music. 

It's an honor and a privilege to teach, and here are a few reasons why I feel confident that I can be a great teacher for you:

→ I’m an 8th-generation Kentuckian from a musical family, and I’m seriously stoked to share that heritage with my students. 

→Since I’m a musician, I bring musical knowledge and awareness to my dancing and teaching, to help you get inside the fiddle tunes and crush your improv game.

→I have a MA in Education and all the detailed attention to pedagogy and thoughtfully-structured teaching practices that come with that.

→I have 30 years of experience teaching mountain music and dance, so I’ve learned the teaching techniques that work best for this material. 

→I spent 3 years as a consultant designing digital courses for kids at our Kentucky PBS station, so I know how to deliver digital content in an engaging format. (I even won an industry award for one of the courses I designed!)

Now, while the fiddler rosins up her bow, let me tell you more about what’s shaking inside the Academy...

By the end of this program,

you will have…

• Solidified your muscle memory for all the foundational steps, so they feel natural and automatic in your body

• Learned TONS of versatile steps

  (Instead of just the same 3 steps over and over)

• Mastered a formula for improvising like a boss with fiddle and banjo tunes

• Explored a process for diving deeper into the steps so that you can create unlimited combinations

• Developed your own stylistic elements to personalize your dancing
  

  (Even if you're a complete beginner!)

• Gained a massive toolkit of steps, stretches, dance-worthy tunes, practice routines, and historical and cultural tidbits to keep you dancing for years to come!

  (And best of all, all this material is yours FOR LIFE!)

"I like how, as a dancer and string-band musician, you understand how to adjust steps for improvisational settings and to perform with a band. And you’re just such a nice and accessible teacher!

Your dance classes have seriously brought me so much joy! I can't wait until we can gather again and I can show off my new moves--I'm going to tear up every bar from Juneau to Fairbanks!"

Annie B. Alaska, musician/performer

What’s Inside

Appalachian Flatfooting & Clogging Academy

Module 1

Foundations

Here’s why it pays to learn from someone who’s gone before you: I know exactly where most students get stuck in the learning process! In this module we're going to make sure you have all the background you need to succeed in the course and on the dance floor.

We’ll start at the beginning with cultural and historical tidbits and background knowledge about the style.

You’re also going to get a complete road map for the course, plus ALL the information you need to get started, like tips about dance floors and dance boards, the best, most dance-able tunes, and info about the good shoes and where to find them.

We’ll set you up for success with a thorough review of clogging basics, flatfooting basics, chugs, slides, and other building blocks to make sure that you know and have the muscle memory to rock the foundational steps, which is what will allow you to CRUSH YOUR IMPROV GAME.

Module Highlights:

• Flatfooting & Clogging Basic Steps
• Chugs & Slides (single and double foot)
• Walking Step with practice tips
• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 2

Heels & Toes

In this module, we’ll explore steps that utilize the heels (scuffs, rocks, and drops) and toes (touches, brushes, and flaps), and ways to transition from side to side between steps. 

The module also features some popular steps that showcase various combinations of these movements to liven up your dancing and help you think creatively about putting elements together!

Module Highlights:

• Brushes, touches, and crosses with heel drops
• Pitty Pats and variations
• Charleston, Rocking Chair, and Cowboy steps
• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 3

Shuffles & Slides

This module focuses on the steps that really add some pizzazz to your dancing, whether you love clogging or flatfooting or both (like me)! We’ll learn steps with syncopations, slides in every direction, and some smooth moves to use for transitions and endings of tunes. 

These are the steps that will make you the coolest dancer on the floor, as other dancers watch and wonder, “How do you DO that?”

• Back-step  & Side Slides
• Barnyard Slides
• Flea Flickers
• Samantha, Turkey, Felix, and Marvin steps
• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 4

All About the Legs

Of course ALL dancing is about the legs, but in this module we’ll focus on those steps that make the crowd go wild, and make onlookers wonder if you have any joints! 

The moves in this module will ensure that you have a few tricks to pull out when you need a sprinkle of “wow” in your dancing!

Module Highlights:

• Fancy Step & Fancy Ankles
• Old Fashioned Step
• Kentucky Loop & Wagon Wheels
• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 5

Smacks & Chugs

In this key module, you’ll learn the building blocks to master the arts of chugging on one foot and two, finding your “chugging sweet spot," and using smacks to kick things up a notch.

We'll also address some of the ways to modify chug-oriented steps for those times when you want to coddle your knees.

Module Highlights:

• Smack-Heels (with and without chugs)
• Eddies
• Clogging Basic with chugs
• Dudleys (aka Indigenous)

• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 6

Moving Steps

With moving steps, we add energy and life to our freestyling and improv sequences. Here, you’ll learn steps full of turns, jumps, and lively rhythms for those moments that need extra punch when you’re dancing a tune.

And if you ever decide to play with choreography, these are also some of the steps that are most fun to do with other dancers!

Module Highlights:

• The Lone Ranger

• The GGC Jump

• Earls and Triple Earl Turns

• Dudley Turns

• The Sideways Step

• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 7

Bits and Pieces

This module is where you’ll learn some of my best secrets for pulling all of your new knowledge together to improvise with fluency and grace. 

We'll start by learning how to include sequences that work perfectly with a variety of fiddle tunes in your dancing. We’ll break some tunes down line-by-line to see the anatomy of improv in action, and then we’ll learn some ways to end a tune in perfect time with the music!

We’ll also discuss how you can practice your freestyling with some strategies for developing your “improv muscles”.

Module Highlights:

• Steps that emphasize the beginning of the fiddle line
  

• Steps that emphasize the ending of the fiddle line
• The Darlin Boy
• The Punch Step
• Granny Does Your Dog Bite
• Have You Ever Seen the Devil
• The Front Cross
• Tags & Endings

• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

Module 8

All Together Now

Yay! In this exciting module you'll get three mini-routines to practice which incorporate many of the steps we’ve been working on. It’s a great way to really solidify that muscle memory on your path to becoming a better improviser and offers yet another (concise) way to practice the course material.

Module Highlights:

• Soldier's Joy Mini-Routine
  

• Martha Campbell Mini-Routine
• Hop High Ladies Mini-Routine

• Practice sequence videos with PDF cheat sheet for easy reference

"I've taken a few flat footing workshops and had impromptu lessons over the years but never quite got it until I attended a workshop with Carla. She broke it down to simple steps for us and then helped us string those steps together so I could actually dance."