Jeff Driggs grew up in West Virginia, the third of six sons born to Phil and Nancy Driggs. The Driggs’ were regulars at the many square dances held around the region. Jeff began calling western style square dancing as a teenager in the early 70’s and became one of the youngest callers to lead a club in his area. He also began visiting the barn dances, where he had the opportunity to learn from many of Appalachia’s best western-style and old time square dance callers.Jeff began clogging in 1979 while in college, when he and his square dance partner began weekend visits to the many old time music halls in the hollows of Southern West Virginia. A self-taught dancer, he learned from watching old time masters like the late D. Ray White, and modern cloggers like Tony Burgess and Jamie Bullins. The West Virginia style he developed early on was often referred to as “back-stepping,” a combination of flatfooting (a low to the floor dance style punctuated by heel skuffs and pitter patter on the ball of the foot) and Appalachian style clogging which is recognized by its constant drag-slide motion on the flat of the foot with the heel keeping time. Jeff was offered the opportunity to dance with a local team and learned the terminology and techniques of precision clogging. The team performed locally and on the road with the Hee Haw Road show, performing at local venues with the likes of Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl and opening in concert shows for Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels and others. At an open-mic teaching session at Fontana, North Carolina in 1983, Jeff and his friend from North Carolina, Jamie Bullins, shared some steps they had created and he caught the eye of workshop organizers Bobbie and Dewey Paul of Ohio, who offered him a staff teaching spot the following year. Jeff spent the next year performing, dancing and choreographing in preparation for his first workshop. Jeff’s skill as a cuer and his humorous presentation style struck a chord with the dancers, and offers for more workshops began to come in. In 2009, workshops in North and South Dakota gave him the distinction of having taught in all fifty U.S. states. Jeff has also shared clogging throughout Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia and has received numerous awards and honors, both as a competitor and an instructor. Since beginning his clogging career, he has traveled more than 1,000 weekends and logged over 2 million air miles! As a performer, Jeff made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, after winning the U.S. male clogging title. He has danced on that hallowed stage many times throughout the years, and in shows with country music artists such as Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Ricky Skaggs and others. His routines are taught and danced worldwide, and his choreography has been performed in international parades and festivals, bowl game halftime shows, theme parks and more. Jeff has written several books on clogging and old time square dancing, written a stage musical on the history of clogging that was developed for production in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and has worked with the entertainment industry to include clogging in television shows, movies, and commercials.”

Andrew Perry is a clogging instructor from Dickinson Center, New York, which is at the very top of New York State. He has been clogging since 2006 and has been teaching since 2007. Andrew is currently living in Columbus, Ohio, having earned his PhD in Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University and having recently married the love of his life, Jessica Ohler (not Perry!). Being homeschooled, Andrew took his first clogging class as a fun alternative to physical education, but little did he know that he would fall in love with the dance form and pursue a career teaching clogging at workshops and conventions that would span the entire globe. Since that time, Andrew has taught at numerous regional, national, and international workshops and conventions throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. His clogging group, the Drew Crew Cloggers, has been active since 2009 and is composed of roughly 25 people. Andrew is also a proud board member of the Western New York Cloggers Association, which is an organization responsible for putting on multiple annual clogging events including the famous Nickel City Clogging Festival in Buffalo, NY every April. Andrew was humbled and honored to receive the WNYCA hall of fame award for his service to the organization over the years. Andrew is also proud to serve on the certified clogging instructor (CCI) steering committee through C.L.O.G. This is Andrew’s first time teaching in the great state of California, and he is thrilled to be included     in Possum Trot this year. See you on the dance floor!

Kellee Hanzel Ramirez is the product of a Square Dance Caller Father and a Clogging Instructor Mother. At age 9 she was the "lucky" kid whose parents came to school to teach folk dancing. Clogging just stuck!! At age 16 she taught at her first Clogging Convention tor tie Norke Convention for the Northern California Cloggers Association Inc (NCCA). At 19, became the youngest president of the NCCA and has held a board position ever since. She has been a featured Possum Trot instructor since way back when we were dancing at the fairgrounds. Kellee is a Certified Clogging Instructor and now is a mentor for up and coming instructors. In fact Kellee was the first recipient of the Marilynn Hanson CCI Scholarship through the National CLOG organization. She has had the privilege of teaching throughout the US, Australia and Canada. She has been a member of the Hillbilly Cloggers, The Southern Spectacular Cloggers Competition Team and is the founder and director of the Aftershock Cloggers. When not clogging, she teaches Zumba, works for the State of CA and enjoys traveling in the RV Husband and son, most likely on their way to Disneyland, but practicing for retirement.

I started tap dancing when I was around ten years old, and I've loved percussive dance ever since. I was introduced to clogging in 2009 when a tap dance festival I was attending offered a clogging workshop. I loved it right away, and clogging is now a huge part of my life. I'm on the board of the Northern California Cloggers Association (NCCA) and have lead three clogging groups around the Bay Area: The Lonely Juanas (in San Francisco), Mussel Rock Cloggers (in San Francisco), and Silicon Valley Stompers (in Mountain View). I've taught at workshops and conventions around California, as well as at the 2014 CLOG National Convention in Reno, Nevada. I became a Certified Clogging Instructor (CCI) in November 2016 after passing the written and practical tests at the 2016 CLOG National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. I love the positivity and friendliness of the clogging community, and I love to share my passion for clogging with other people!