Life's A Dance Line Dancing

Why Line Dancing?

You don't need a partner to do line dancing - although we don't mind if you bring them too!
It is very easy to learn. You'll soon be dancing even if you've never danced before. If it's your first evening and is a New Beginner class or a social event for non-dancers, I guarantee you'll be dancing within 5 minutes of starting to learn a your first line dance!
It is a good form of general keep-fit and as much (or as little) exercise as you want to put into it. It is now recommended by many doctors for gentle heart and lung exercise, for keeping you supple and exercising those muscles. This is particularly beneficial if you do no other form of exercise. You can put as much or as little energy into your dancing as you like - and remember to smile while you dance!
Also it is excellent for exercising your memory when learning the dances as well as exercise for your legs. The dances aren't long at all but learning a new dance and brushing up on old ones and reviewing recent ones all help.
It is the second most popular recreation in the UK only beaten by Bingo with 1 in 25 of the population line dancing (according to figures given on BBC Radio 4 in February 2002)
Because it is so popular (and just look at some of the links below for lists of line dancing venues and clubs in the UK) the dances we learn will be done at other clubs nationwide too. So when you go on holiday abroad or visit another part of the UK, you can almost certainly find a class near you. And you'll probably already know some of the dances they will be doing.
There are always new line dances being written to a new country album or a great dance track in the pop charts. On most evenings you'll learn one or two new ones and everyone is at the same stage when it comes to learning a new dance. Your instructor will choose a new beginner dance and a new beginner/intermediate dance to learn each evening. But we'll also be able to enjoy a good dance to our old familiar favourites.
Beginner dances take only 5 minutes to teach before we are actually dancing them to music.
Line dance to great music! We use anything from soul, R&B, country, new country and country rock, rock, pop, from jive from the 50s to this week's pop and album chart-toppers together with music from around world including Irish, Latin, salsa ... and more!
... oh yes ... and did I say it's great fun!!!
Come and meet with others in your locality and maybe make some new friends too. If you are new, do go up to someone you don't know and say hello and introduce yourself. I'll be available in the 8pm break on Thursdays to meet and greet you all.
Line dancing has proved to be something all ages can enjoy from 12 onwards with no upper age limit! I remember one lady who had two crutches and yet she still managed to do a few grapevines and join in.

New to Line Dancing and want to learn?

Try a Beginner's class to start with and expect to spend a few weeks getting used to the style of dance and getting in some practice.
A Beginner's Class will include dances for those who have done no line dancing before and want to learn both the basic steps (such as the grapevine, the shuffle and the pivot turn) and some great dances that everyone can do right from the first evening.
Each week, expect to

learn one dance new to everyone (newcomers and older-hands alike),
review dances taught in the last few weeks so you'll be able to learn them if you missed a week
and there will also be a reminder for older and more familiar dances that have been taught and reviewed before.

When you start line dancing....

Don't expect to be able to do ALL the dances on your first evening! Do one or two (ask the instructor which ones are best tackling if you are new). Sit out and watch. You can learn a lot from watching others.
Wear the right shoes, ones that have some "slip" on a wooden floor. You can't dance in trainers unless the dance floor is very slippery!! Wear shoes with a smooth sole or a leather sole.
Remember to drink something during the evening as all forms of exercise, including dancing, will make you warm. If the venue does not have a bar, take something to drink. Non-alcoholic drinks are better for quenching your thirst and even just plain water tastes great when you are warm.
Come back a second week and it'll seem more familiar. It usually takes a few weeks just to get used to line dancing and to get those brain cells into gear too - especially the ones that tell your feet what to do! But by then you'll know the names of some steps. Learning the names of dances takes a few more weeks!!

Absolute Beginners progress to Beginners pretty quickly. If you start attending a Beginner's class, don't expect to learn everydance in your first few evenings!

Many people are happy to attend just the Beginner's Hour because the dances are easy to learn, not difficult, so you can soon enjoy dancing them to the music.

Beginners-Intermediates, sometimes called Improvers or a Step Further is a continuation of the Beginners hour and includes some more dances progressing to the next level up from Beginner. This part of the evening is especially f or those at beginner/intermediate and intermediate level dancers - which is the level the vast majority of line dancers are at. Dances beyond Intermediate level (Intermediate/Advanced or Advanced) are quite rare.

Is there a class where I live?

There is a search page to find line dance classes at Linedancer magazine.
Also try DanceWeb and click on "Line"!
Country Dance UK has a large list of Line Dance clubs and venues to search.

Links to Line Dance News, Events, Mechandise

A truly great site is Bill Bader's with links to many line dancing web pages in many countries as well as line dancing news and collections of dances and music.
The Yahoo group "Line Dance UK" is a useful newsgroup and bulletin board for asking questions, finding out about hot new dances and events in the UK, etc. especially if you are a line dance teacher: Subscribe to LDUK
The Linedancer Magazine is a monthly magazine of new dances, news, events, reports on competitions and charity events with lots of useful information on line dance CDs, clothing, etc. Well worth sibscribign too (it's delivered to your door) if you've caught the line dancing bug!

Step Sheet Links for Dance Scripts

The Line Dancer Magazine's site is excellent for the steps of dances from the very latest to the most popular classic dances, or to find a dance to fit a particular music track or artist. There is a search page to find a line dance class near you, news, views and other events. I would recommend that you subscribe to the Linedancer magazine too as it is a great read and is posted to your door each month anywhere in the world.
Another excellent source of line dance scripts is The KickIt Linedance Archive

A Beats-Per-Minute Timer

I've written a little Beats Per Minute timer that you might find useful too if you want to find the speed of a piece of music. I use it find the BPM to tracks on a CD which makes it so much easier to choose alternative tracks to a dance or find a slower track for teaching.
It is a web page that will work on any browser (make sure JavaScript or Scripting is enabled in your preferences). If you save the page it will work offline too.

More details?

I left Guildford in 2002 and now live near Bolton. I don't have a regular class that I teach (but watch this space!) but do run lots of fun evenings for parties, schools, church and charity events, etc especially for those who haven't line danced before. Including line dancing in such an event has the advantage that you don't need an equal number of men and women as in other types of dance and it's so simple to learn that I'll have you on the floor and dancing your first dance within 5 minutes!

Please email (details below) for rates and availability in the Bolton/Chorley/Manchester area.

Life's a Dance LINE DANCING