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Archive for the ‘Group Dancing’ Category

Line Dancing to me is all about FUN! Your out with your friends and the music starts and you jump up to a place in the line and you begin to move to the beat and the steps of the other people in the line. It is also great exercise as you move back and forth, stomping, clapping and shaking your bootie. The formal definition of Line Dancing can be found, of course, on wiki: Although line dancing is associated with country-western music and dance, it has a similarities to folk dancing. Many folk dances are danced in unison in a single, nonlinear “line”, and often with a connection between dancers. The absence of a physical connection between dancers is, however, a distinguishing feature of country western line dance. Line dances have accompanied many popular music styles since the early 1970s including pop, swing, rock and roll, disco, latin (Salsa Suelta), and Jazz.

Popular Line Dances:
The Time Warp, Poco-Poco ,Electric Slide, Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart), Cha Cha Slide, The Hustle, Cupid Shuffle, Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Achy Breaky Heart, Alley Cat, Macarena, Chicken Dance, Cotton Eye Joe, Soulja Boy, Copperhead Road, Catfish, Charleston, Tennessee Twister, Pensacola Slide, Power Jam, Blue Boy, Cripple Creek, Jose Cuervo ’97, Booty Call, Mustang Sally, Wild Wild West, Cruisin’, Tulsa Shuffle, Cleveland Shuffle, Play Something Country, Good Time (as seen on the Alan Jackson video for the song Good Time), Hoedown Throwdown.

Some of the ones that I love to watch besides the Boot-Scoot-Boogie is Michael Jackson’s Thriller. You just have to watch the video to enjoy it as well as participate in it.
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Here is one of my favorite songs “Achy Breaky Heart” and the country line dancing troup!
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If you want to See something that really looks like fun to participate in check out Alan Jackson’s Good Time Video:

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Do you remember in Middle School in the Gym with all the girls grouped together to learn how to do social dancing?  I always believed it was because the weather was crappy outside and that was on the list of things we were to learn that semester.  Kind of like Health one semester, team sports another.  There we were all grouped out in 5 or 6 girls to a circle and were told we had to learn how to “Swing Your Partner” or the Virginia Reel.  I can’t remember exactly what all we had to do but mostly it was embarrassing.  When I think back on it, it is still embarrassing but I would hope that today’s teenagers are still getting to do them.  Square Dancing is great exercise even if the music is kind of corny and the moves are as well.  Dancing teaches us coordination and cooperation as well as a little bit about our culture.

From the About website:

“Folk dance is a form of dance developed by a group of people that reflects the traditional life of the people of a certain country or region. Folk dancing originated in the 18th century to distinguish dance forms of common people from those of the upper classes. The steps of folk dances are passed through generations, rarely being changed. Folk dancing is usually associated with social activities, although some folk dances are performed competitively.

Many children’s games are traditional folk dances, such as “The Farmer in the Dell” and “London Bridge.” Today, popular folk dances include square dancing, clogging, contra dancing, highland dancing and Irish jigs.”

So if your teenager comes home complaining about the dumb square dancing he or she had to do in GYM that day call up the school and tell them THANK YOU!  It may seem kind of silly but it is a great way to get kids to interact together in a positive way as well as learn a little something about our culture.

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