Country Line Dancing dancing videos and lessons

Country line dancing is a social dance style in which a group of people dances a sequence of steps together, in unison. The dancers stand in a series of rows facing the same direction, usually at the center of a dance floor.

The origins of American country line dancing are disputed, but many believe the dance is related to traditional English and French social dance forms, from the English country-dances and the Morris Dances of the Elizabethan era to the contra dance (or contredanse) of 17th- and 18th-Century France. Country dancing came to the New World with the earliest colonists and continued to evolve. The traditional line dance (in which lines of men and women usually faced each other) long held sway in New England while the French quadrille (an ancestor of the square dance) was popular in the South.

The most recent renaissance of line dancing began in American discos and country-western dance clubs during the 1970’s. The most popular dances integrated various dance styles and featured rows of dancers all facing the same direction. Dances included the Electric Slide, the Bus Stop, and the Cowboy Charleston.

Starting in the 1980’s country music crossed over onto the American pop charts with tunes made for line dancing. In 1992 Brooks & Dunn had a hit with “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” The song had already been choreographed for line dance by Bill Bader, who based his dance on the original 1989 Asleep at the Wheel recording. In 1993 Billy Ray Cyrus had an even bigger hit with the single “Achy Breaky Heart.” The song’s popularity was fueled by the line dance created to promote it. Other line dance hits followed, and new dances were created. During this period country line dancing made its way to the United Kingdom, where it has remained extremely popular.

One of the benefits of line dancing is that you don’t need a partner. Everyone dances together, facing the same direction, in a series of straight lines. The dance is comprised of a sequence of moves that lasts for a defined number of beats, or a “count.” Dancers usually do a turn during the sequence. The number of turns in a dance is referred to as the number of “walls.” Dances can be “one-wall,” two-wall,” or “four-wall.”

Common steps include combinations like the Grapevine: step sideways with the lead foot, cross the other foot behind, and step out to the side again with the lead foot; the Weave (Extended Grapevine): continue the Grapevine by crossing in front and stepping out, then continue to alternate crosses to the front and to the rear. Individual moves include the Scuff, Stomp, Cross, Unwind, and Pivot, and more complex combination steps include the Camel Walk, the Applejack, the Wooly Bully, the Electric Kick, and the Jazz Box. Unless a hand gesture is part of the dance, all the moves are done with the feet. The rest of the dancer’s body is traditionally held in an upright but relaxed posture. Men dance with their thumbs hooked in their pockets or in their belt, and women usually hold their hands in a relaxed fist at hip or waist level.

These days, despite its unproven origins, line dancing to country music is often considered the traditional or pure form of the dance; but even in country-and-western clubs line dances are performed in a variety of styles and to many musical genres.