A type of country and western dancing in which dancers line up in a row without partners and follow a choreographed pattern of steps to music.
(Discuss)A line dance is a formation dance in which a group of people dance in a line formation or in lines, and they all execute the same [[dance e line dances that may be considered a variation of circle dances, where people are joined by hands in chain, e.g., the Dabke dance of Middle East. In fact, with small numbers of dancers most circle dances, such as hora, may be danced in a line formation, rather than in a circle.
Modern social line dancing
Description
In a small group there may be only one line, but usually there are several parallel lines, one behind the other. A dance teacher, or more experienced dancer, will usually perform on a stage or in the center of the first line.
In this parallel line formation, the dancers dance in a synchronized manner, but independently of each other.
Although line dances can be fairly simple, as with the 18 count 4 wall beginner "Electric Slide"; The inclusion of unusual or unfamiliar sequences of steps also make a dance more challenging. "Phrased" line dances are written to go with specific versions of songs. These phrased dances require dancers to be more conscious of the music and not simply repeat the same sequence of steps for an entire song. There may, for example, be two sets of lines where the dancers face in directly towards each other. In these "contra" line dances, the dancers will dance with the others in the facing lines. The dancers often weave in and out, exchanging places, or dance up to each other, and make momentary contact, such as a hand clap, or a swing, or take hold in Promenade position for a few counts, and then move on.
These contact maneuvers are more likely in the variation where line dancing takes place in two concentric rings which are facing each other, such as a Barn Dance or Indian Outlaw.
Two dancers (usually partners) can dance together in what is known as a cape dance, where the male partner stands next to the female and holds her corresponding hands - one arm over her shoulder, like cape.
Music
Line dancing has had a cowboy image, and it was danced predominantly to country-western music.
History
Line dance is sometimes thought of as originating in the Wild West. Many folk dances are danced in unison in lines, usually single lines, and often with a connection between dancers. The absence of a physical connection between dancers is a distinguishing feature of country western line dance. There have been line dances during the heyday of many modern popular music styles, including swing, rock and roll, and disco.
Line dancing's current popularity grew out of the disco period, when the country-western dance and music communities continued to explore and develop this form of dancing.
Billy Ray Cyrus' 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart, helped catapult western line dancing back into the musical mainstream's public consciousness, and in 1998, the band Steps created further interest with the techno dance song "5,6,7,8".
Line dancing is a popular recreation activity and is practiced and learned in country-western dance bars, social clubs, dance clubs and ballrooms worldwide. It is sometimes combined on dance programs with other forms of country-western dance, such as two-step, shuffle, and western promenade dances, as well as western-style variants of the waltz, polka and swing.
Two popular dances that technically classify as line dances are the Nutbush (performed to Nutbush City Limits by Tina Turner) and the Macarena.The chicken dance is another line dance for little children.
Line dancing in the late 1990s, and so far through the 2000s, has changed in some line dance clubs with the main bulk of the dancing done to pop music.
Line dancing is now seen not just as a form of dance but also as good exercise and as a good social scene.
Competition
The main organisation for line dance competition is Masters in Line (www.mastersinline.com). The Masters consist of three notable line dancers, Rachael McEnaney, Robert Fowler and Paul McAdam. Normally competitions run over a number of days, featuring line dance workshops, socials and demonstrations from the Masters themselves as well as the competing.
Terms
Basic
A basic is one repetition of the main dance from the first count to the last not including any tags or bridges.
Variation
Dancers who have progressed beyond beginner status will often replace a section of a dance (say 8 beats) with a compatible set of steps which is called a variation. This is often required in competitive line dancing.
Count
A dance will have a number of counts, for example a 64-count dance. This is the number of beats of music it would take to complete one sequence of the dance. This is not necessarily the same number of steps in the dance as steps can be performed on an and count between two beats, or sometimes a step holds over more than one beat.
Restart
A restart is a point at which the basic dance sequence is interrupted and the dance routine is started again from the beginning.
Step
A dance is made up of a number of movements called steps. Each step is given a name so teachers can tell dancers to perform this step when teaching a dance.
Step descriptions
These descriptions are for the typical way they are danced; eg Step right to right, step left behind right, step right to right and touch left next to right. eg Step left to front, step right beside left, step left to front. eg Step left infront of (over) right, step right to right, step left behind right, step right to right.
Tag / Bridge
A tag or bridge is an extra set of steps not part of the main dance sequence that are inserted into one or more sequences to ensure the dance fits with the music.
Wall
Each dance can be described to consist of a number of walls. A dance may contain many turns, to either the left or the right: quarter turns (90 degrees), half-turns (180 degrees), , three-quarter turns (270 degrees), and full turns (360 degrees), . A four wall line dance is one in which at the end of the whole routine of dance moves, the dancers will have turned effectively through 90 degrees, so that they would face all four walls in turn during four repetitions of the routine.
Step sheet
Describes the dance step sequence.
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