Line Dancing

Historically many folk dances are danced in unison in a line with everyone performing the same steps at the same time Usually they all face in the same direction. The absence of physical contact between participants is one of the characteristics of country western line dance.

In truth,it is a twentieth century invention. It's appearance coincides with the time of Rock and Roll's popularity. This was the heyday of novelty dances such as the Stroll and the Madison. The Hustle performed to disco music was extremely popular. Next came a distinctive form called the Bus Stop.

The film industry helped popularize this genre. "Grease" featured a Hand Jive. "Urban Cowboy" in the early 1980's was influential in a trend towards country clubs. The dances had names such as Cotton Eyed Joe, Two Step, Waltz,and Swing.

In the early days dances were choreographed to all types of music. Some were accompanied by Big Band music while others were performed as folk dances to country music or to bring a change of mood at parties. The titles could be confusing. For instance, the "Cowboy Charleston" was not a country dance and "Wild,Wild, West" was a Merengue or Paso Doble party dance. The"Macarena" was a very popular party dance.

Country music and line dance became closely associated with each other when Billy Ray Cyrus composed "Achy Breaky Heart" in 1992.Melanie Greenwood's dance was created to promote the song. This was the point at which choreographing to country music exploded world wide.In many countries, especially in continental Europe the US military helped to spread the dance into the local communities. The UK has a strong country music heritage and proved very receptive to this form of dance.

Line Dancing is learned and performed in country western bars, social clubs and ballrooms around the world. It eliminates the problem of male/female imbalance that occurs in Ballroom, Swing and Salsa dancing clubs. It is sometimes featured along with other types of country western dance, such as Two Step, as well as western style variants of the Waltz, Polka and Swing. Incorporating unusual or unfamiliar step sequences, body movements and hand gestures can make the dance more complex. Special versions of the dance may be created to go with specific versions of songs.

As line dance spreads throughout the world each country adds its own unique elements thus helping to keep it's development alive and healthy.