Appalachian Flatfooting Workshop

Dancer Nic Gareiss (he/they) grew up at folk festivals in rural Michigan where he learned Appalachian, Irish, English, and Canadian step dance surrounded by fiddlers, banjo-players, and folk singers. This mix of traditional music, song, and movement has become the heart of Nic's creative work as a performer. Gareiss has been named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch," hailed by the New York Times for his "dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance," and called "the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. He has performed in seventeen countries and received the 2020 Michigan Heritage Award, the state's highest distinction bestowed on traditional artists.