Mom will have to fill in the historical gaps later, but for now I'll give you the Reader's Digest Version:
Cindy (Stirland) Metcalf is from a very musical family that performed often in their self-named Stirland Family Show. Mom grew up taking dance lessons in Vegas, performing in the Tigerettes, and singing and dancing in groups and clubs at Dixie College. Part of the reason she was so involved with performing arts is because my grandma was very musical and involved in town productions. Grandma's dream from childhood was to become a tap dancer and so part of that dream was given to my mom.
She won many contests like the Farm Bureau Talent Search and Gene Gilesnic {her show re-ran on TV for years after the LDS General Conference}. She began tapping early...and she was good, but it wasn't until she moved to California that she discovered clogging.
They used to call out steps in big rec centers like they call out square dancing. There was never instruction or directions, newcomers just had to 'pick it up. Mom caught on quick and when she moved back to SGU she brought the clogging bug with her. There wasn't much to be seen of clogging or tap in Southern Utah at the time so we would often travel to workshops and be amazed at how great other out-of-state dancers were. It was fun to bring new ideas back to SGU.
She began teaching out of Polly's studio and soon had Polly and the rest of Hurricane doing singles instead of shuffle steps. I have often heard people asking my grandma (Polly) if she taught Mom everything she knew but grandma was always very proud to tell them it was quite the opposite! My mom was able to bring tap dancing back to Hurricane and my Grandma whose dream of tapping lives on today {Grandma is still performing!!!}
Though she formed dance groups in her studio in 1980, the official name of All American Cloggers didn't exist until 1984. Before then, her students were The Kids of Zion followed by The Southern Utah Stompers.
...And the rest, my friends, is history!
