Album Notes

"Clogger Evie Ladin set the house afire" Dance Magazine

Clogging DVD taught by Evie Ladin of the Stairwell Sisters
http://www.stairwellsisters.com

music by Suzy's Floozies
Suzy Thompson - fiddle
Maxine Gerber - banjo
Kate Brislin - guitar

Old-time music, clogging, square dancing is happening right now, again. The depth of Appalachian hardship resonates in an urban environment. Folks are tearing up the dance floors to the driving trance-rhythms of old-time fiddle and banjo. Learn how to dance!

Southern Appalachian flatfoot clogging is a step dance style developed in the mountains in the Southeastern United States. A unique mixture of English, Irish African and Native American percussive dance, the style later contributed to the birth of tap dance, when performers moved North and West during the Jazz Age. American Clogging is danced in tap shoes, in a variety of styles all over the country. Flatfoot clogging is an older style.

This 45 minute video is designed to make you feel as if you are actually in class, with fine Old-Time stringband music, and the energy of a room full of dancers. Evie introduces a variety of basic steps, building sequentially so you continue to add to your repertoire while reviewing at the same time. You will also learn some strategies for freestyling - helping you combine your favorite steps. Evie’s fluid technique gets you dancing easily.

Evie Ladin grew up with traditional American music and dance, clogging and playing clawhammer banjo at music festivals all over the East Coast with her sister Abby. Her main influences during this time were the Green Grass Cloggers of North Carolina, and the New Lost City Ramblers and Highwoods stringbands. For ten years she toured nationally with the music and dance ensemble Rhythm In Shoes, performing and teaching tap dance, clogging, step dancing, and body percussion. Based in Oakland, California, Evie tours as a versatile dancer, musician and vocalist with her husband Keith Terry and his world music ensemble Crosspulse (http://www.crosspulse.com), and the all-gal old-time teardown The Stairwell Sisters (http://www.stairwellsisters.com). Nationally, Evie performs and teaches workshops in percussive dance and clawhammer banjo.

Contact: evie@stairwellsisters.com