where women celebrate their ageless authenticity
Letter L — Laying it on the line for a fun night with friends.
I’ve been a sunny Southern California girl most of my life, but my family and I relocated to Texas for work for three years. While there, I experienced many Texas traditions, but two activities never made the list: buying cowboy boots or going line dancing.
With my “L” column looming, and the good fortune of an adventurous husband and friends, I proposed the idea of going line dancing. They were enthusiastically IN! I googled “best cowboy bars near me” and Cowboy Country in Long Beach, Calif., popped up. With a mechanical bull, live music, and two free line dancing lessons offered, I figured I had struck gold.
Full disclosure: I am not a complete rookie when it comes to line dancing. When I was in 4th grade, I somehow let my mom sign me up for Sunday afternoon square dancing classes at our local community center. I remember donning white pleather go-go boots and do-si-doing and promenading all the way home.
At the end of the class, we formed lines and performed the “Alligator Stomp.” One of the instructors casually remarked, “you’re pretty good at this.” It was the one and only time I’ve been complimented for my dance moves, so I’ll bask in that adolescent win.
Before I ventured into Cowboy Country, I figured I should at least look the part. So, I went on the hunt for some western wear. Because it might be the only time I ever wore it, I wasn’t looking to pay full pop. At the local second-hand shop, I found some cool boots with fringe. Wrong size. Then I found cowboy boots with a stiletto heel. Um…no. No luck on the boot front, but I scored a plaid shirt with corduroy and little straps on the shirt sleeves. Perfect!
We arrived about 6 pm so we could eat before the dance lessons, and we were impressed with the venue. It was huge, with numerous dance floors, a big bar to belly up to, and a diverse crowd that ranged from 20-80 years old. We were less impressed with the animatronic skeleton band with glowing red eyes dressed as pilgrims. As one friend commented, “That’s even creepier than the Chuck E. Cheese band.”
Fortunately, the music early in the evening came from a DJ. At the designated time, he introduced our dance instructor, Kimberly. Kimberly has been teaching line dancing for 33 years and says she’ll stop doing it “the minute it becomes work.” When asked for the benefits of line dancing, she had several thoughts:
My group watched the first lesson, which was a couples’ dance called the Denver Cha Cha. The dance floor was crowded, and Kimberly’s instructions included, “Take small steps or it will look like we’re playing bumper cars out here.” “Gentlemen, if you try to go over your partner’s head, you will break something on her.”
Needless to say, people were turning in all different directions at first, but generally got the hang of it by the end of the 30-minute lesson. Then Kimberly enthusiastically shared “the two favorite words in line dancing instruction: The End!”
Soon, it was our turn. One friend took a deep breath and said, “Gotta be sure my self-esteem can handle being yelled at for 30 minutes.” And off to the floor we went.
Kimberly (who didn’t yell) shared the steps to “The Bar Song” dance in groups of eight counts. Then we started from the top. Then we moved on. There was a box step, a grapevine turn, a scuff, a stomp, hips swaying and lots of claps. Just when we were kind of getting it, the DJ put the music on (which was about 100 times faster), and mayhem ensued.
But, just like the previous dance, by the end, we were kind of getting it. Kimberly’s advice, “Don’t look at your feet and don’t look at your neighbor’s feet, because they know less than you do.” Nope. I knew less than everyone.
My philosophy on dancing has always been that it doesn’t matter how bad you are. You just need to position yourself next to the person who dances worse than you do. Sadly, I was that person. My friends were good, but I think I broke some toes. I definitely did not hold my line or turn at the right spot, and my clapping was only occasionally on point.
But did I have fun? Yes!
Would I go back? Sure. But the hard part about line dancing is that there’s a different dance for every song. Kimberly recommended going to Copperknob.co.uk to get printouts of the steps for each dance. I checked out the site and quickly determined I could never be that committed.
I’ll be happy to revisit Cowboy Country, hang out, take a lesson or two, and wait for those magic words, “The End.” Oh, and I have no plans to buy cowboy boots.
We all got to join in. (Please note: This adventure was fully paid for, this is not a promotion or partnership)
Fourn-Yay: It was a fun evening out with friends, trying something new. If you like dancing, want to meet new people, and aren’t afraid of breaking toes, go for it.
Fourn-Nay: It’s confirmed…I’m terrible at dancing and I would never have the patience or desire to learn each dance to go with the specific songs. I don’t know that I would go out of my way to go line dancing again, but if others were going, I’d be happy to tag along.
Not in step with Line Dancing… Other L activities worth exploring: Learning a language, following a labyrinth, and perhaps lawn bowling.
