Kaye Caulkins
I was surprised; I admit it. Until I joined the SaddleBrooke Line Dance Club, I thought line dancing was just dressing up in cowboy boots and Stetson hats while dancing to country music. Boy, was I wrong. I have since learned that it takes many forms including waltz, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, tango, samba, folk music, reggae, charleston, and pretty much any music genre you can think of. And to my further surprise, many of the YouTube videos we use to help us learn dances are taught in both English and Chinese. Sometimes a video may be in German, sometimes in French, and sometimes in another language.
While we know that the popularity of line dancing really took off in the 1970s with the disco craze, I can’t help but think that Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, which became wildly popular about the same time, helped to contribute. With the internet at my fingertips, I started doing some research.
If you look back at the history of most of the world’s cultures, some form of line dancing manifests itself in their respective folk dances. Think about the hula, the Horah, and the Greek kalamatianós, which goes way back to antiquity, and those Irish jigs. My favorite is the frightening Maori line dance the New Zealand National Rugby Team uses to intimidate their opponents just before the start of each match.
Today, you can find a place to line dance almost anywhere in the world. I stumbled upon an online website called the World Line Dance Newsletter. It gave me an insight into the tremendous popularity of this art form and the hundreds of dances available to learn. Our fun little club here in SaddleBrooke has about 75 dances in its lineup. So, if you want to keep your mind-body connection exercised and improve your balance and stamina, there may be no better way than to learn to line dance.
The SaddleBrooke Line Dance Club (SBLDC) is happy to announce the time has finally arrived when we can welcome new members to the club.
If you would like to join the SBLDC, check out our website at www.sbldc.weebly.com or contact Kay Caulkins by email at [email protected]. Members enjoy a flexible choice of line dance lessons and workshop sessions with no pre-bookings required for the bargain membership fee of $10 per year! Why miss all the fun? Sign up now!