Information: Rebecca Stout, teacher of flat-foot clog dance.

Los Angeles-based Appalachian flatfoot dance instructor Rebecca Stout began clogging as a child in Cordele, Georgia, as part of the community mountain-style clogging group The Dixieland Cloggers. She went on to spend the next three decades developing and fine-tuning her unique "Tennessee Shuffle" style of free-form flatfoot and buck dance, inspired by friends, relations, masters, and mentors throughout Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Today, Rebecca teaches and performs traditional Appalachian dance with a focus on dance as a percussive instrument. She encourages students to develop their own personal style built on a firm foundation of Appalachian Step Percussion Services (ASPS) Flatfoot 101 basics.

It wasn’t until she moved to Southern California in 2003 that she realized her calling as a teacher. "People had been suggesting I teach flatfoot for years, but I didn’t think of it as a unique skill while living in the southeast. It’s so common there and so many folks are familiar with it that it just seemed like old hat. But when I moved out west, I realized what a special gift I was given to have grown up immersed in such deep culture. Now, I feel it’s my legacy and responsibility to keep this tradition alive by passing it on to people wherever go."

And so, while she currently sings, writes and performs for a variety of groups and projects – including Los Angeles-based, Eastern-European women’s choir Nevenka; silky-smooth, lounge-pop ensemble Vermouth; her own music projects including Hendersonville Song Company, Baby Stout and the occasional musical theater project, Rebecca gives percussive dance its own spotlight as a serious art form. "It’s not just a trick anymore; it’s my heritage, and I’m just so proud and excited to share it with the world."