For 26 years, many in the Big Horn Basin have had the luxury of either performing with or cheering on the Absaroka Mountain Thunder (AMT) Clogging group. The dancers brought electrifying energy, flashy footwork and dazzling dances to every stage they stepped on. 

Recently, owners and mother-daughter duo Cindy Bjornestad and Tara Shorb made the hard decision to step off the stage and ultimately close their studio. The two didn’t take the decision lightly. 

“We didn’t go into this year planning on it being our last,” Bjornestad said. “I think we both knew that at some point it would have to. We couldn’t do this forever. We just couldn’t sustain that. But we never anticipated the different directions that both of our lives went.”

With the decision coming at the last minute — the owners announced it to the dancers and families after the summer performance season — it took many of the dancers by surprise, including Shorb's own daughters. But in the end, the two had to make the choice for their family and for their health. 

Bjornestad and Shorb have been clogging for 38 years, respectively, traveling all around Wyoming and Montana in their early years. Before starting AMT in 2000, the two also taught in Meeteetse, Basin and Burlington, avoiding Powell as to not compete with the studio there at the time. 

When Bjorenstad and Shorb started AMT, it began as more recreational before turning into a competition team. The team then spent the next several years traveling to competitions in Missouri until 2019, and Montana and Utah through this last season. 

“Throughout the years, we’ve clocked about 10 months of the year [clogging],” Shorb said. “We first usually would come back in October. We would start working on our holiday performance material, and we performed locally, in Powell, Cody, and Red Lodge.” 

After the holiday season, AMT would jump straight into learning their competition material. Months and months of hard work earned them trophies at the Big Sky Games and the America on Stage Clog Nationals. 

Their seasons didn’t stop there. After a grueling competition season, dancers would then dedicate time preparing for their summer performances. Through the years, these included the Lovell Follies, July 3-4 in Cody, and the beloved Park County Fair. 

“Over the years we’ve seen a lot of success on the stage, but I would say our fondest memories and the hardest thing to leave is the kids and just their commitment,” Shorb said. “Just watching them grow and really kind of become family to us. Some of them we had from the time they were 5 till they were seniors in high school, so we grew very close to them.” 

For 26 years, the Big Horn Basin community has been cheering on the Absaroka Mountain Thunder cloggers, but all good things must come to an end. Clogging will forever run in the blood of any dancer who stepped through the AMT studio doors, and maybe one day there will be a revival. 

“We appreciate the community,” Bjornestad said. “I can’t even begin to name all the people that have supported us and helped us. There’s a lot of good people in this community that have done so much to see us be successful.”