Press release from Mars Hill University:
Fresh off their 29th national championship performance, Mars Hill University’s Bailey Mountain Cloggers are heading to the Windy City to showcase their dance skills for an international audience. Fifteen members of the team will be part of the American Clogging All-Stars group which will perform in the 2021 Chicago Thanksgiving Parade next Thursday.
In addition to the Bailey Mountain contingent, the American Clogging All-Stars will include another 13 dancers from the All That! ACA Team, JM Studios, and PowerTaps dance teams. Members of the Bailey Mountain Cloggers participating are:
Courtney Baswell of Columbia, South Carolina
Bailey Clayton of Unionville, Virginia
Travis Davis (alumnus) of Mars Hill, North Carolina
Tykasia Davis of Union, South Carolina
Lauren Freeman of Morristown, Tennessee
Olivia Heim of Asheville, North Carolina
Sammy Locklear of Laurinburg, North Carolina
Dallas Moffat (assistant director) of Asheville, North Carolina
Morgan Murphy (alumna) of Mars Hill, North Carolina
Danielle Plimpton (managing director) of Mars Hill, North Carolina
Riley Rickard of Woodstock, Georgia
Enrique Rodriguez of Burlington, North Carolina
Keyshawn Sanders of Union, South Carolina
Rachel Sealy of Fairmont, North Carolina
Christina Starck of Spartanburg, South CarolinaThis is the 88th year of the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade, which makes its way down State Street. The parade begins Thursday, November 25, 2021, at 8 a.m., Central Standard Time (9 a.m, for the Mars Hill area). It will be livestreamed via Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/events/s/chicago-thanksgiving-parade-li/415111063445406/ and on the VPOD-TV Roku channel (https://channelstore.roku.com/details/80db5d5166c1ee97c3b6ef96b36101de/vpod-television).
The Bailey Mountain Cloggers were organized in 1974 by students at what was then known as Mars Hill College, and were influenced by an older championship team, the Bailey Mountain Square Dance Team, which began performing in 1950. The Bailey Mountain name is derived from the mountain adjacent to the college campus. Being one of a few college-based performing clog teams in the nation, with art performance grants and college credit courses, the Bailey Mountain Cloggers serve as ambassadors of goodwill for the college and the dance traditions of the Southern Mountains. During their history, the Bailey Mountain Cloggers have performed throughout the United States and internationally in countries including Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, Austria, and Ireland. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers dance company has established a national and international reputation for American clog dance excellence.
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