Rodney Sutton

Artist Biography

A resident of Buncombe County in Asheville North Carolina, Rodney Sutton is a flatfoot dancer, clogger, and dance caller who has taught and advocated for traditional percussive step dances since the 1970s. One of many several American step dances, flatfooting (also known as buckdancing) developed from the intermingling of English, Scottish, and Irish step dances with African American dance styles in Southern Appalachia. Accompanied by old time or bluegrass music, flatfooting and other mountain dances had been a staple of birthdays, holidays, wedding days, and other social gatherings for decades; in his youth, Sutton first attended such community dances where his father would play old time guitar, banjo, and piano.

Mentored by North Carolina Heritage Awardee Robert Dotson, Sutton has spent decades bearing, preserving, and passing down mountain dance traditions. In 1972, he joined the Green Grass Cloggers, with whom he has performed, developed workshops, and acted as director and booking coordinator. In 1979, co-founded the Fiddle Puppet Dancers (Footworks), contributing as a dancer, road manager, and booking agent for over ten years. In North Carolina alone, Sutton has taken a multitude of roles as an instructor, curriculum coordinator, event organizer, board member, and executive director in various folklife organizations and festivals, including Bluff Mountain Festival, Shindig on the Green, Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, and Swannanoa Gathering.

As the 2012 recipient of Asheville’s Folk Heritage Committee’s Sam Queen Award, Sutton has found no lack of motivation to keep his feet moving and hands busy. With the support of the Folk and Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship, Sutton intends to explore the roots of his flat foot style by learning from Sean-nós dancers in Ireland who share his passion for preserving, performing, and passing down their vibrant step-dance traditions.