The way we and still are? were…
As Linedancer celebrates 100 issues, Harry Seddon looks back at what’s changed on the dancefl oor – and what hasn’t.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was, ‘”Yee-Haw!” The dress was Western and the music Country. So what was it that attracted us to Line dancing 100 Linedancer magazines ago? Undoubtedly those who had previously attended Country music venues were attracted by the music, and possibly the dress, (after all, they’d been dancing in lines long before the explosion
in popularity of Line dancing). Most of us had Line danced previously, but we didn’t know it; remember Macarena, Agadoo, The Birdie Song, The Slosh? It was Line dancing, Jim, but not as we knew it!
So what did attract us to Line dancing? I suggest that it was the dancing, the availability of classes, a dance form that did not require a partner, an activity suitable for all ages and physical ability, the fun, undoubtedly the hype, and yes, the music.
So what has changed with the passing of the years? Well the dancing is still there. It’s not the same; some saying this is a good thing, others wishing it was, ‘like the old days’. However, I do wonder how many people would still be dancing eight years on? If we had not moved on from Electric Slide, Flying 8s, Birchwood Stroll and so on, I for one would have packed up years ago. Yet these dances are still around and still very useful for absolute beginners, which is what a lot of us were eight years ago. Yes the dancing has changed, but maybe not as much as we initially think. What about the availability of classes? Clearly there are nowhere near as many
as there used to be when Line dancing popularity was at its height. (The very fi rst class I attended saw about 120 of us crowd into a school gymnasium). As the initial surge of enthusiasm subsided, so did the number of people attending classes and socials, and those instructors who had, jumped on the band wagon, packed up their Billy Ray Cyrus CDs and went home. However, those instructors who had got into it because they loved line dancing stayed, and even today most people are not too far away from a class, as a look through Stompin’ Ground will testify.
So not too much change there then, fewer classes, but still plenty of choice to suit all tastes. We still dance in lines and without a partner, so absolutely no change there, and all the reasons that not needing a partner to dance with which attracted us then, are still just as valid today.
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