About Sam
I first saw clogging for the first time in Alabama when I was
15. A clogging club came and performed at my parents
square dance club. I then informed my mom and dad that I
wanted to learn how to clog. A couple of months later,
Kevin Sellew began offering classes at the local junior college
and thus began my clogging career.
I danced with Kevin for a couple of years and then the
teaching and choreography bug bit me. I told Kevin that I
wanted to learn how to teach clogging. He began teaching
me how to cue, breakdown steps, and choreograph.
Kevin’s organization was growing, so he asked me to teach
one of his clubs. It was in Bayou LaBatre (pronounced bi-u
la bat-tree). I walked in, set up the equipment then the
people began coming, and coming, and coming … when the
classes began, I turned around there were 75 people on the
floor, waiting to learn from me!
I taught for several years in and around the Mobile, AL area
then I moved to Columbus, GA. I found one club there, 6
people and no instructor. The first night there, they learned
I was an instructor and asked me to teach a dance. From
then on, I was their instructor. We merged with another
group and became The Tanglefoot Cloggers.
I was with them for 8 years and during this time, I became
active in the Georgia Clogging Leaders Association (GCLA). I
held several offices including President and workshop
chairman for several of our workshops.
During this time in the GCLA I began teaching for
workshops; statewide and regional. The first major
workshop I taught as was the Jacksonville Jamboree. When
I stepped on stage, I looked down and there were 500
people on the floor, waiting to learn the dance I
choreographed! Talk about stage fright! In the crowd were
other instructors Diane Wells, Claudia Collier, Scotty Bilz,
Chip Woodall, Jeff Parrott, etc….
When I moved to Michigan, I had been teaching for about 4
years every Monday, Tuesday & Thursday for 3 hours each
night plus at least one workshop each month and I decided
that I needed a sabbatical. So I took one … three years. My
roommate, Mike, and I were walking around the Michigan
State Fair and saw a clogging group performing, the
Sourwood Mountain Cloggers! Kathy Fletcher invited me to
join them and begin clogging again.
While dancing with Kathy, she received a phone call from
Roger Dzgola who wanted to retire and was looking for an
instructor to take over the Country Note Cloggers. Knowing
that I wanted to teach again, she called me and asked me if I
was interested and the rest, as they say, is history!
15. A clogging club came and performed at my parents
square dance club. I then informed my mom and dad that I
wanted to learn how to clog. A couple of months later,
Kevin Sellew began offering classes at the local junior college
and thus began my clogging career.
I danced with Kevin for a couple of years and then the
teaching and choreography bug bit me. I told Kevin that I
wanted to learn how to teach clogging. He began teaching
me how to cue, breakdown steps, and choreograph.
Kevin’s organization was growing, so he asked me to teach
one of his clubs. It was in Bayou LaBatre (pronounced bi-u
la bat-tree). I walked in, set up the equipment then the
people began coming, and coming, and coming … when the
classes began, I turned around there were 75 people on the
floor, waiting to learn from me!
I taught for several years in and around the Mobile, AL area
then I moved to Columbus, GA. I found one club there, 6
people and no instructor. The first night there, they learned
I was an instructor and asked me to teach a dance. From
then on, I was their instructor. We merged with another
group and became The Tanglefoot Cloggers.
I was with them for 8 years and during this time, I became
active in the Georgia Clogging Leaders Association (GCLA). I
held several offices including President and workshop
chairman for several of our workshops.
During this time in the GCLA I began teaching for
workshops; statewide and regional. The first major
workshop I taught as was the Jacksonville Jamboree. When
I stepped on stage, I looked down and there were 500
people on the floor, waiting to learn the dance I
choreographed! Talk about stage fright! In the crowd were
other instructors Diane Wells, Claudia Collier, Scotty Bilz,
Chip Woodall, Jeff Parrott, etc….
When I moved to Michigan, I had been teaching for about 4
years every Monday, Tuesday & Thursday for 3 hours each
night plus at least one workshop each month and I decided
that I needed a sabbatical. So I took one … three years. My
roommate, Mike, and I were walking around the Michigan
State Fair and saw a clogging group performing, the
Sourwood Mountain Cloggers! Kathy Fletcher invited me to
join them and begin clogging again.
While dancing with Kathy, she received a phone call from
Roger Dzgola who wanted to retire and was looking for an
instructor to take over the Country Note Cloggers. Knowing
that I wanted to teach again, she called me and asked me if I
was interested and the rest, as they say, is history!
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