Director Amanda Burns has formed the Appalfolks of America Cloggers, a troupe of 20.
Amanda Burns, owner of A1 Studios at 214 S. Lexington Ave. in Covington, has formed the Appalfolks of America Cloggers, a troupe of 17 girls and three boys.
As a board member of Appalfolks of America Assoc., Burns has been appointed as director of the youth clogging troupe.
Burns, a professional dance instructor who has owned A1 Studios since 2022, has 155 students enrolled in a variety of dance classes.
Concerning the new clogging group, she remarked, “We plan to participate in the Christmas Parade, and we can have our own shows.”
She also plans on having the troupe compete in clogging competitions and appear as guest performers on The Virginia Opry, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s official Opry, which Appalfolks founded in Clifton Forge on Oct. 17, 1992.
Burns, a 1998 graduate of Alleghany High School, said, “We have had three practices so far, and we are holding two practices per month.”
Appalfolks will fund the troupe’s purchase of T-Shirts and a banner for the troupe to display during parades. The banner and T-Shirts will feature a design of the logo of The Virginia Opry.
The Virginia Opry will open its 32nd performance season on Fri., March 31, at 7:30 p.m. on stage at The Historic Masonic Theatre, the stage where The Virginia Opry first performed in 1992. The troupe that made its debut with 10 members and one band now has 65 members and 12 bands.
“Cash Unchained at The Virginia Opry” features one of The Virginia Opry’s bands, and more than 250 advance tickets have been purchased for the tribute to The Man in Black at The Historic Masonic Theatre in Clifton Forge.
After graduating from AHS, Burns earned her B.A. degree in elementary education from Roanoke College in 2003.
She also earned her M.A. degree in reading from the University of Virginia in 2009 and served as a reading teacher at Jeter Watson Elementary School until 2022 where she now is employed as an early childhood special education teacher.
Her husband Randall Burns is a 1992 graduate of AHS, and he is a builder for Montana Homes. Amanda and Randall have two children, Lily Burns, 11; and Andrew Burns, nine. Lily is being home-schooled, and Andrew is in third grade at JWES.
Amanda’s A1 Studios has been such a success that she has filled classes for the summer and opened registration for her fall classes.
She is offering two free summer classes to introduce students to dance, and she will conduct two summer camps that require students to pay in order to enroll.
Ironically, Amanda purchased the A1 Studio building where Special Theatrical Artists Revue & Showcase (STARS), Appalfolks’ troupe of 30 performers who face intellectual challenges and/or physical disabilities, performed the troupe’s variety shows.
When Ian, the hurricane, brought rain to the Alleghany Highlands in Oct. of 2022, Amanda permitted The Virginia Opry to change its venue from the Jackson River Sports Complex’s River Rock Amphitheatre to her dance studio.
From Amanda’s generosity of providing her dance studio as an indoor facility that allowed The Virginia Opry’s “Keith Bryant Showcase” to be performed rather than be canceled due to the hurricane, the idea to form a clogging troupe was born.
Glen Shelton, also a Nashville recording artist, opened for Bryant, and during The Virginia Opry’s show, Bryant, a Nashville recording artist, invited Lily to sing a duet with him. Both performed flawlessly.
Appalfolks has authorized the reorganization of the Virginia Junior Opry that will enable Lily and students from grade one through high school to showcase their talent while developing their performance skills and self-esteem.
