routine to compete at the 1999 Spring Fling in Pigeon Forge, TN. She was amazed
by the groups and individuals at the competition and knew that one day she wanted
to do that too.
In 2001, she traveled to the Spring Fling again and decided to try her hand in the
freestyle solo category and placed third. In 2003 and 2005, she placed first in the
individual category at the Radford University Showcase and Competition. During
early 2005, Dorothy decided that she wanted to start competing more so she made
plans for May of 2005 to travel to Columbus, Ohio to observe the Midwest Clogging
Championships. While there she decided to enter the freestyle solo category and
placed second. She also noticed a small team from Kentucky called Critical Impact.
They only had five members but Dorothy couldn’t take her eyes off of them when
they were on stage. Seeing this small team on stage blowing everyone planted the
seed for Dorothy to found Sundance Express.
In 2001, Dorothy met somebody who was a staple in preparing her for her clogging
future. Lisa Johnson, a clogging instructor from Augusta County, found a teaching
position with the Little Switzerland Cloggers. Lisa led the LSC to compete in 2001 at
the Virginia Clog Attack. LSC, including Dorothy, competed and won first place in the
Line Dance and Hoedown Category and took the title of Grand Champion Novice
Team.
Lisa brought another level of clogging to LSC and to Dorothy. Lisa and Dorothy
became friends but joke about how they butted heads in the beginning. When Lisa
made the hard decision to leave LSC in 2003, Dorothy stepped up in her place to
lead her long time group.
By 2005, Dorothy had attended college and gotten married. At that time, she was
working at the Blue Grass Valley Bank in her hometown of Monterey, Virginia. She
decided one day that the 9-5 schedule of her present job just wasn’t going to do it
for her. So in January 2006, Dorothy started making plans to open a studio. By April,
she said good-bye to her job at the bank and made plans to open the doors to The
Sundance Studio in an old barn. The space was perfect…. almost. The pros: a huge
barn with plenty of room and an old dance floor and studio mirrors donated by a
friend. The cons: no bathroom, no running water, thin walls, and minimal heat - only
a few electric heaters and a tiny wood stove in the corner to keep warm. She worked
through the summer to clean the years of dirt from the old barn. On September 7,
2006, she held her first class at the studio. Two private lessons with two boys, her
newly found cousins, named Graham and Parke Kershner. A few weeks later she
picked up another student, Gussie Young. Combining these new students with long-
time friend and team member, Ashley Waggoner, the five new found friends pulled
together to form Sundance Express in October 2006 with Dorothy as the instructor
and choreographer. The team debuted with “Magic Carpet Ride” at the 2006
Radford University Clogging Showcase. The team competes in the American
Clogging Hall of Fame (ACHF) competitive circuit and attended and placed at the
2007 ACHF World Championships in Maggie Valley, N.C. The team also attended
the 2008 and 2009 Championships.
Dorothy attended the American Clogging Hall of Fame judges training in June 2008
at the Stompin’ Grounds in Maggie Valley. She is also the founder of VirginiaClog.
com, a website devoted to spreading the word of clogging and to bring Virginia
cloggers together. Dorothy’s goal is to play a part in promoting clogging in Virginia
and to encourage other cloggers to continue to spur the growth of clogging in
Virginia.
Dorothy held the first Sundance Showdown, an ACHF sanctioned clogging
competition, in Monterey, Virginia on September 27, 2008. Six teams attended the
competition making it, too our knowledge, the largest first year clogging competition
in the state of Virginia.
The Radford University Clogging Event holds a near and dear spot in Dorothy’s
heart. She had attended the workshop for many, many years and, in 2009, Christina
Nobili, the director of the RU Clogging Event and long-time friend, asked Dorothy to
help co-direct the event. Knowing what an important staple this event was in her
professional career, Dorothy knew she had to help Christina in any way possible to
help keep the event going.
Fall 2009 marked the beginning of another dream, a productions company. Dorothy
and her dance partner, Graham Kershner, had been performing at The Homestead
in Hot Springs, Virginia and The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV
through another productions company. Dorothy wanted to take the duet to the next
level so after extensive promotion and marketing, in Fall 2009, Sundance
Productions was born.
Today, Dorothy competes up and down the east coast alongside of her team,
Sundance Express, leads and performs with her long time group, the Little
Switzerland Cloggers, owns and operates the Sundance Studio and Productions
Company in Monterey, Virginia, teaches at clogging workshops and spends any
“free-time” in the studio choreographing new routines.
“I love clogging and I just hope that I can do as much for the dance as it has done
for me. I tell everyone that being a clogger means that you are part of a huge, caring
and loving family. Cloggers stick together and are there for each other no matter
what. I love my clogging family, I love my students and I thank God everyday that I
am able to do what I am doing and for the wonderful people I am blessed to know.
My message to everyone is: Follow your dreams! They just might come true. Mine
did!”
Dorothy now leads her two teams Sundance Express and the Little Switzerland
Cloggers and also competes with the Mountain Heritage Cloggers lead by her friend,
Lisa Johnson. She owns and operates The Sundance Studio in Monterey, Virginia
where she teaches…. what else…. clogging! She says that she would not be where
she is today without her amazing students, her wonderful family, her always
supportive mother, Crystal, and her loving and supportive husband, Robby.
by the groups and individuals at the competition and knew that one day she wanted
to do that too.
In 2001, she traveled to the Spring Fling again and decided to try her hand in the
freestyle solo category and placed third. In 2003 and 2005, she placed first in the
individual category at the Radford University Showcase and Competition. During
early 2005, Dorothy decided that she wanted to start competing more so she made
plans for May of 2005 to travel to Columbus, Ohio to observe the Midwest Clogging
Championships. While there she decided to enter the freestyle solo category and
placed second. She also noticed a small team from Kentucky called Critical Impact.
They only had five members but Dorothy couldn’t take her eyes off of them when
they were on stage. Seeing this small team on stage blowing everyone planted the
seed for Dorothy to found Sundance Express.
In 2001, Dorothy met somebody who was a staple in preparing her for her clogging
future. Lisa Johnson, a clogging instructor from Augusta County, found a teaching
position with the Little Switzerland Cloggers. Lisa led the LSC to compete in 2001 at
the Virginia Clog Attack. LSC, including Dorothy, competed and won first place in the
Line Dance and Hoedown Category and took the title of Grand Champion Novice
Team.
Lisa brought another level of clogging to LSC and to Dorothy. Lisa and Dorothy
became friends but joke about how they butted heads in the beginning. When Lisa
made the hard decision to leave LSC in 2003, Dorothy stepped up in her place to
lead her long time group.
By 2005, Dorothy had attended college and gotten married. At that time, she was
working at the Blue Grass Valley Bank in her hometown of Monterey, Virginia. She
decided one day that the 9-5 schedule of her present job just wasn’t going to do it
for her. So in January 2006, Dorothy started making plans to open a studio. By April,
she said good-bye to her job at the bank and made plans to open the doors to The
Sundance Studio in an old barn. The space was perfect…. almost. The pros: a huge
barn with plenty of room and an old dance floor and studio mirrors donated by a
friend. The cons: no bathroom, no running water, thin walls, and minimal heat - only
a few electric heaters and a tiny wood stove in the corner to keep warm. She worked
through the summer to clean the years of dirt from the old barn. On September 7,
2006, she held her first class at the studio. Two private lessons with two boys, her
newly found cousins, named Graham and Parke Kershner. A few weeks later she
picked up another student, Gussie Young. Combining these new students with long-
time friend and team member, Ashley Waggoner, the five new found friends pulled
together to form Sundance Express in October 2006 with Dorothy as the instructor
and choreographer. The team debuted with “Magic Carpet Ride” at the 2006
Radford University Clogging Showcase. The team competes in the American
Clogging Hall of Fame (ACHF) competitive circuit and attended and placed at the
2007 ACHF World Championships in Maggie Valley, N.C. The team also attended
the 2008 and 2009 Championships.
Dorothy attended the American Clogging Hall of Fame judges training in June 2008
at the Stompin’ Grounds in Maggie Valley. She is also the founder of VirginiaClog.
com, a website devoted to spreading the word of clogging and to bring Virginia
cloggers together. Dorothy’s goal is to play a part in promoting clogging in Virginia
and to encourage other cloggers to continue to spur the growth of clogging in
Virginia.
Dorothy held the first Sundance Showdown, an ACHF sanctioned clogging
competition, in Monterey, Virginia on September 27, 2008. Six teams attended the
competition making it, too our knowledge, the largest first year clogging competition
in the state of Virginia.
The Radford University Clogging Event holds a near and dear spot in Dorothy’s
heart. She had attended the workshop for many, many years and, in 2009, Christina
Nobili, the director of the RU Clogging Event and long-time friend, asked Dorothy to
help co-direct the event. Knowing what an important staple this event was in her
professional career, Dorothy knew she had to help Christina in any way possible to
help keep the event going.
Fall 2009 marked the beginning of another dream, a productions company. Dorothy
and her dance partner, Graham Kershner, had been performing at The Homestead
in Hot Springs, Virginia and The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV
through another productions company. Dorothy wanted to take the duet to the next
level so after extensive promotion and marketing, in Fall 2009, Sundance
Productions was born.
Today, Dorothy competes up and down the east coast alongside of her team,
Sundance Express, leads and performs with her long time group, the Little
Switzerland Cloggers, owns and operates the Sundance Studio and Productions
Company in Monterey, Virginia, teaches at clogging workshops and spends any
“free-time” in the studio choreographing new routines.
“I love clogging and I just hope that I can do as much for the dance as it has done
for me. I tell everyone that being a clogger means that you are part of a huge, caring
and loving family. Cloggers stick together and are there for each other no matter
what. I love my clogging family, I love my students and I thank God everyday that I
am able to do what I am doing and for the wonderful people I am blessed to know.
My message to everyone is: Follow your dreams! They just might come true. Mine
did!”
Dorothy now leads her two teams Sundance Express and the Little Switzerland
Cloggers and also competes with the Mountain Heritage Cloggers lead by her friend,
Lisa Johnson. She owns and operates The Sundance Studio in Monterey, Virginia
where she teaches…. what else…. clogging! She says that she would not be where
she is today without her amazing students, her wonderful family, her always
supportive mother, Crystal, and her loving and supportive husband, Robby.
Born in Staunton, Virginia on August 1,
1984, Dorothy was brought home to
her family’s farm on Meadowdale Road
in Highland County, Virginia. She
attended Highland High School and
graduated in 2002. She then attended
Blue Ridge Community College to
obtain her associates degree in
Business Management.
Dorothy’s clogging career started
when she was 5 years old with the
Little Switzerland Cloggers in Highland
County performing at local festivals
and events. She has been with her
Little Switzerland Cloggers family ever
since.
At 15 years old, she got her first taste
of competitive clogging in when Sherri
West of the Tennessee Hoedowners
held a workshop to teach the Little
Switzerland Cloggers an Exhibition
1984, Dorothy was brought home to
her family’s farm on Meadowdale Road
in Highland County, Virginia. She
attended Highland High School and
graduated in 2002. She then attended
Blue Ridge Community College to
obtain her associates degree in
Business Management.
Dorothy’s clogging career started
when she was 5 years old with the
Little Switzerland Cloggers in Highland
County performing at local festivals
and events. She has been with her
Little Switzerland Cloggers family ever
since.
At 15 years old, she got her first taste
of competitive clogging in when Sherri
West of the Tennessee Hoedowners
held a workshop to teach the Little
Switzerland Cloggers an Exhibition
 |  |  |  |
