Line dancing is group dancing where individuals are in lines. Line dancing origniated with country-western music, but after being enjoyed by the country music set for a couple of decades it finally caught on with pop music lovers. A prime example is the “Macerena” craze that overtook popular culture in the late 1990′s and the early 2000′s and followed by the “L.A. Hustle”.
In the 1970′s line dances were performed exclusively to country-western music. Songs like “Cowboy Boogie”, “Tush Push” and “Bus Stop” were catapulted to the top of the charts and that popularity made them excellent songs for groups to use for line dancing. The hit country single, “Achy Breaky Heart” helped line dancing jump from country music to pop music just as the song did.
Line dancing avoids the greatest pitfall with group dancing, the lack of enough males or females for partner dancing. Ballroom dancing and traditional country dancing need to have partners of the opposite sex, but there is no guarantee that there will be enough willing partners or even potential partners present for the dance to be successful. Line dancing became popular in every dance club including salsa clubs.
The dancing usually has several basic steps that the group performs in unison. The most famous line dance was the Electric Slide which gained popularity in almost every culture and has even been depicted in several films: “The Best Man” from 2000 and at least eight other movies and three TV shows. The steps for the Electric slide are eight counts of stepping to the right side with the right foot, then step to the back of the right foot with the left foot, step to the right side again with the right foot then step to the right with the left foot tapping the right foot. Reverse these steps in count 5 through 8. Steps 8 through 16 consist of stepping backward with the right foot and then stepping back with the left foot. Step back with right foot and step back with the left foot, tapping the left foot in front of the right foot. Step forward with the left foot and then step forward with the right foot. Then step forward with the left foot and step forward with the right foot tapping it behind the left foot. The remainder of the dance is changing directions and repeating the same steps.
Line dancing is a fun social way to share an activity with other people that you know and those that you don’t know. Everyone enjoys these dances because there’s no pairing up and everyone can participate. It’s a phenomenon which has grown in popularity and enjoyed at almost every party or group social event where dancing is encouraged.
Photos attributed to RaubDaub on flickr.com