Mary Smith
Purcellville, VA
Mary Smith is a native of the plains of rural northeastern Montana. The roots of clogging lie deep in her heritage as her grandparents include natives of Ireland and the mountains of southwestern Virginia. Mary moved to Austin, Texas, in the early 1980s upon college graduation, and it was there she took a class in beginning clog dancing. She got on the stage for the first
time as a performer in the spring of 1988 And by 1990 was teaching the beginner lessons of the group, the Clickety Cloggers. At this time she also became the director of the group’s exhibition team and began choreographing routines. She continues in this capacity until a job change brought to the Washington, DC, area in the fall of 1995. She was no longer clogging with a group, but returned to Texas twice a year to teach at clogging workshops.
In June of 1997 Mary was approached by a member of a local clogging group, whose instructor was moving, and was asked to fill the instructor’s shoes. The group re-organized and the Blue Ridge Thunder Cloggers were born.
Mary has also done Irish dancing in the Washington, DC area. This is one of the many dance forms that influenced early clog
dancing. So, whether she is clogging or Irish dancing, as she puts it, she is “Having way too much fun!”