Updated: Posted January 15, 2008
They came. They saw. They clogged.
By: Trisha Pflantz - Missouri Clogging Council News Editor
Missouri -- More than 100 cloggers from across the Midwest gathered Oct. 27, 2007 at St. Charles Community College for the Missouri Clogging Council’s annual workshop.
“Clogging with the Stars” more than lived up to its billing. The workshop featured Mike Curtis and Delohn Collins, two members of the five-man clogging group All That!, which placed in the finals of the first season of “America’s Got Talent.” Eager fans surrounded Curtis and Collins throughout the day, posing for pictures with their clogging idols or asking for autographs.
“It was really amazing to see them actually in person,” said Weston Thomas, 13, after attending a challenge course with Curtis and Collins. “I got to see them on TV. They are such amazing cloggers.”
The workshop was just as rewarding for the instructors, Curtis and Collins said.
“We don’t get to a lot of workshops these days,” said Curtis, 32, who performs with All That! six times a week at the Carolina Opry in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “This is what we grew up doing, and we miss it. These people have been so appreciative when we have talked to them.”
Curtis and Collins got top billing, but several other talented clogging instructors from across the country also led classes. Pat Dennis brought a contingent of dancers from Pat’s Clogging Studios in Springfield, MO. Robert Kennedy, of Thunder and Lightning Cloggers, represented Illinois. Karen Wilkinson and two of her children came from their home in Texas. Kathey Wilson traveled from Arkansas.
Closer to home, MCC vice-president Kelly Condie of St. Peters led a session while also helping her mother, MCC president Dianne Stockdale, run the day’s events.
The hard work paid off for those who attended.
“We’ve had a blast,” said Karri Myers, one of the co-leaders of the Miami County Cloggers from Paola, Kan.
Myers and fellow group leader Joyce Geiger agreed that Curtis and Collins had been the main attraction.
“If it had not been for the boys, we wouldn't have come because of the distance,” Geiger said. “The (All That!) guys were really good teachers. I thought they might be ‘zip, zip, zip, next step,’ but they were really patient.”
Attendees also had the pleasure of not only participating in abundant door prizes that ranged from free buffet lunches, massages and car washes, but also a generous choice of raffle prizes featuring St. Louis Cardinals tickets, a St. Louis RAMS autographed football, pre-paid VISA cards, Six Flags tickets and many, many more!
Asked how the Missouri Clogging Council would top this event next year, MCC president Dianne Stockdale just smiled and said, "You'll have to wait and see."
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