Meet our ELVIS team

South Florida Cloggers has many levels of dance instruction. Becky rolls out a new class of performers each year.

But the team that performs in Daytona each year is selected/committed in June and practices for 2 months.

Its like putting up Christmas lights... we work on one little bit at a time not really sure how it will look in the end

But, when we put it all together, it looks awesome.

No one can imagine the bonding each dancer and their families have with each other by summer's end. We were tight.

Meet our Elvis team....

(left) Our fearless leader, Becky. She is the lead instructor, choreographer, cheerleader, friend, mom, and basically our ROCK. Her mom, husband, and daughter are as much a part of this team as we all are. Rock Step Studio is a family in every way.

(right) Holly. She is an advanced team member. She has the sweetest smile and most beautiful hair. She and her mom, Liana, are the backbone of our team.

(left) Olivia1 - started clogging two years ago, left for a bit, then rejoined the team. (we missed her, what can I say?) She raises the cutest chickens! She enjoys the exercise and is a member of the Intermediate show team.

(right) Lindsay - she and her dad, Ted, attend just about every event and rarely miss a practice. At 11 years old, she started clogging more than 2 years ago and is on the intermediate show team. She is such a sweet girl.

(left) Michele (me) - I started clogging 2 1/2 years ago, while in anesthesia school, as a way of spending time with my older kids. Now that I'm done with school, I'm hooked. Balancing work, clogging and 4 kids= tough but completely worth it!!

(right) Jessica - this girl is a trooper! Can I share that she had a foot injury two weeks before this event. Yet, she forced her foot into the shoe for Elvis! She is also a very good drummer! (love her)

(left) Erica - how cute is this kid? Erica, her mom, Robin, and her sister, Emilia are all dancers with the team. Dancing for more than a year, she is on the intermediate show team. She is as sweet as she is cute.

(right) Samantha - Sammy is one of the reasons I love this team so much. She is my personal good luck charm and near me in each performance or I am lost. Her smile is honest and her heart is pure. She is on the int. plus team.

(left) Jessica - this child lives next door to my family and is the reason we started clogging. At 13, she is TOTALLY into One Direction. She's been dancing for almost 3 years and is on the Int Plus team.

(right) Mia - also lives across the street from our family and has been dancing for 2 years and is on the Intermediate Show team She is a bright girl that brings the cuteness factor to our shows.

(left) Skylar - this girl is a natural dancer and she has the most infectious laugh. She has been clogging for several years and is on the advanced team. Interestingly, Her family sponsors foreign exchange students from Asia; proof that they are not only talented, but caring as well.

(right) Olivia2 - my oldest & on the Int Plus team. She is a Directioner; lives for that band. She started out with hip hop but the lure of clogging drew her in. She's a straight A student with a great sense of humor.

(left) Bri - a HUGE dancer for us, she is another reason I love this team. Always smiling, she is the most natural advanced dancer. She has choreographed at least one song for our routine and I'm sure she has more up her sleeve. Her mom also clogged for a bit.

(right) Meredith - my second child. She is a gifted dancer, learns challenging routines with ease. Her cuteness earns her a spot in everyone's hearts. She is also in love with the band One Direction.

(left) Olivia3 - this little one is the powerhouse of our whole team. She has been clogging for 2 years, but the music genes run hard in this family. (she is the first cousin of Bri above) our comedian, she is a force to be reckoned with, for sure.

(right) Katrina - as a member of the advanced team, Katrina has been clogging for a few years. She works hard for our team and she (with her mom) are always cheerful and smiling.

(left) Stephanie - this girl is the bomb. Her younger brother is also on our team. She was cheer leading for a bit, I'm not sure if she still is, but the 2 schedules made your head spin.

(Right) Lora - she is our # 2 and we wouldn't be a team without her. She cuts our dance mix music, teaches the little cloggers class and she is Becky's right hand man.

Finally... Our ELVIS is Vinnie. Just the fact that his naturally blonde hair is painted black and he was willing to put up with all us girls for the summer of practice means he is a TROOPER! (he is with Mia and olivia3)

So... That's it. That's us.

Our team has a total of 48 cloggers now... All at different levels. I hope to introduce them all to you as I continue to add posts.

Thanks for reading meeting us.

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Daytona (day 2) the big day!

The last post highlighted the 2-day trip to Daytona that our clogging team took over the summer. (it is a crowded clogging convention)

After Friday night's bbq dinner, dance party, and an evening dip in the hotel pool, all the cloggers get up for an early breakfast and a day of clogging

Our Saturday Outfits were matching (of course) and we spent some time taking the group shots that we've gotten good at doing spur-of-the-moment.

All of us, together before the day begins

So fresh and full of energy...

We are SUCH suckers for the cheesy photo-op moment, aren't we?

This pic was difficult because we were sitting on a rail of a stairwell. Our right legs were dangling over the floor below. Talk about don't look over the edge... Big drop down.

Wasn't the safest group shot, but it made for a cute photo and I, for one, like this one better than the outdoor shot dodging thorns. (see yesterday's post for that one)

Instructional workshops were all day Saturday. Jessie, Sammy, Stephanie, and olivia2 were paying attention to the teacher. Good girls.

Me? Well... I took a few classes. But the summer of practice took a toll on my knees (obvious here)

I didn't see this shot of myself; it was buried in vacation photos.

Really, what was I thinking?

I may have to demote myself... Or at least stand AWAY from the cameras. ;)

Classes go until 4pm.

No time for dinner... Had to go get into our costumes and practice.

The view from our room... The storm rolling in was ominous.

The Daytona Hikton's band shell... Home to cheer competition

And our view from our room.

Also with the rain looming



We grabbed a quick snack... And set about getting dressed for Saturday's night performance.

Next post.... Meet our ELVIS-inspired team.

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Daytona 2012 (why we do it)

So, you may ask us where do we learn the dances. The answer is that Becky choreographs our original dances but a lot of inspiration comes fom workshops.Did you know that there are clogging workshops?

Well, there are lots of them but the biggest one near us is in Daytona each summer.

Daytona 2012 was in August and we spent the whole summer (literally) getting ready.

This year of dance music was 3 Elvis songs streamed together into a 5 minute mix. The Elvis theme was evident in our Elvis inspired outfits but I'll save that for another post

Here is our group at our final rehearsal before we went up (in full dress)

Oh... We had it going on, didn't we?

Basically, the weekend is a two day event. A Friday arrival to the Daytona Hilton is check-in, dinner, and a dance party) and Saturday is a day full of clogging classes followed by one fantastic evening of performances.

Our group wears matching outfits the WHOLE weekend... Power in numbers, I suppose. But I must admit we look awesome when we arrive.

Our Friday starts out with a group shot. Gotta get it....

I mean, is this a fantastic bunch of kids, or what?

(Had to get the stairs involved for two....)

Plus, what walk to a nearby restaurant is complete without passing a landscaped area and attempting another group shot. At least we tried....

That BIG bush in the front was really thorny. As cute as it is, it isn't our best group shot... At least olivia3 (front and left) we having a ball. This rest of us were dodging prickly thorns.

Dinner was at The Hog Heaven. A BBQ restaurant across the street. (this is Olivia3's mother. Leighann. The two clearly share the CUTENESS genes.

We basically took over the place. Each booth is us too, plus the tables behind me.

These shots are just half of our tables that evening.

Four families were in these two booths alone. We love each other, ;)

Our instructor, Becky, with Olivia1 and Kelly.

Kelly used to clog with us, we are actively working on her return.

I have no idea why the $$$ was flowing that night, but I'm happy to the the girls excited about it.(Lindsay and Olivia3)

At least they are $20's.

Holly















A table shot from the other side of the room.

We celebrated a few birthdays while we were there. (Olivia3, Carmen, and Bri)

Finally, a picture of Lora alone.

Jessica, olivia2, olivia3, and Meredith leaving for the short walk back

This is the Friday night dance party. Just a 3 hour dance class, really.

The are hundreds of photos of this weekend but I'm trying to tell the story in a few short posts.

I'm hoping I do a good job.

Until next time....

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More Hard Rock photos

As our team continues to practice for our weekend shows and our upcoming Disney day (I did mention that we are going to Disney, right?), I thought I'd add a few more pics from this weekend.

Completely stolen from Facebook, but good photos are good photos.

First... Allow me to introduce Holly and her mom, Liana. Holly is one of the advanced team members. Her mom wears many hats for us as a team, but her greatest call to fame is that she is our unofficial, official photographer.

I LOVED this shot of Lindsey and Stephanie. And that Lindsey is waiting to be picked up. ( the child has a few years to go before THAT happens, people)

There are a few sister acts in our group. Here is the older sister, Erica and her dad John. She's the one from the water all thingie in another post

A very, very, very rare photo smile from our Vinnie. (not so rare, he smiled on the group bike thing)

He is with his mom, Doreen.

Mia getting a hand ( or foot) from her Nana, Stacy.

The talented genes run deep with this family, Stacy is quite a good singer; you should be there for her karaoke.

Alyssa and her mom, Beth, get into helping put shoes on.

A shot of the crowd, from off stage.

A shot FROM the stage. We should do this at every performance.

I love this one because it shows you what WE see

Of course, the audience doesn't usually keep their hands up like that for the whole thing, but you get the picture.

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Cajun festival @ Hard Rock (11-11-12)

Today's performance was at the Hard Rock Casino - a Cajun festival

Olivia3, Meredith, Jessie, Mia and Paige sat themselves on the Cycle Party. It is a 10 person powered vehicle. It was a big hit with the kids.

They had an outdoor festival with lots of crawfish and gumbo food trucks. Great crowd -we always enoy a crowd that cheers on the dancers.

Olivia 3.

Meredith

Jessie.

Mia

Vinnie.

Taliah (rapunzel)

Group shot on the Cycle Party

Bri, Stephanie, Olivia1 and Kelly.

My oldest, Olivia2, forgot her shoes! (it wasn't as if we didn't ASK if we all had our stuff when we left the house.... Just saying')

She offered to sit out.... No

She offered to wear just socks.... No

Becky had an extra pair of shoes... Yes. Too bad she wears a size 10 shoe and Becky wears a size 8.

My Cinderella squeezing herself into the tiny shoe...

and the painful results she had at the end of our performance. Poor kid.

Sammy

We are nothing without the family support.
Here is Sierra and her mom Eileen. (I love it when the parents wear the colors we are wearing)

Group shot.

Action shot. We didn't see (at least I didn't see) the very large dance floor to the left of this stage. But we squeezed ourselves on this stage area.

Bri, me, and Olivia1

OMG... We were SO close to the port-a-potties.... Couldn't resist this shot! Paige was not enjoying the stench.

Caught this one of Erica trying to stand up in the water-ball-thingies.

Our founding father, John & Carmen (bri's mom) getting on a Cajun style groove

these three amigos.... Leaving the building. End of a long day.

Until next time!!

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