Line Dance: Refried Dreams (aka Chicken Fried)

Update (6/30/10): I contacted Danielle, the line dance instructor at Ned Devine's, and she graciously corrected the name and steps for me. The actual name of the dance is "Refried Dreams" (which I've fixed in the title and below) and the step sheet is available on her web site, linedance4you.com.

A bunch of folks who usually dance at Ned Devine's in Centreville, VA were at Cancun Cantina this weekend, because the band that was playing there (Rebelicious) comes from the Centreville area. (Note: Ned Devine's only has country events on Tuesdays.)

These dancers did a really cool line dance to the song Chicken Fried by The Zac Brown Band. It's simple, but a lot of fun and some of the young guys were adding a lot of very athletic, very aggressive kicks and boot scoots. The dance has a very fast tempo and looks far more interesting than anything else I've seen done to this song.

I think this dance is proof that line dances don't have to be complicated to be really enjoyable.

I couldn't find a step sheet or video for the dance, so I'm going to attempt to write it up here before I forget it. I'm not sure where it starts and I may have slightly garbled the transition to the toe struts, but I'm pretty sure I've got the correct number of beats.

It's a little hard to keep the beat toward the end of the song, when the musicians slow down during the bridge, but up to that point it flows really well.

Line Dance: Refried Dreams
Choreographer: Unknown; as danced at Ned Devine's in Centreville, VA
Description: 32-count, 4-wall line dance
Music: Chicken Fried by The Zac Brown Band (86 bpm; dance at 172 bpm)
Refried Dreams by Tim McGraw (126 bpm)

1-8 Two right side touches, two left side touches

1 Touch to right side with right toe
2 Touch right toe next to left foot
3 Touch to right side with right toe
4 Touch right toe next to left foot

5 Touch to left side with left toe
6 Touch left toe next to right foot
7 Touch to left side with left toe
8 Touch left toe next to right foot

9-12 Grapevine left

9 Step left with left foot
10 Cross right foot behind left foot
11 Step left with left foot
12 Slight hitch with right foot

13-16 Grapevine right with 1/4 turn right & scuff

13 Step right with right foot
10 Cross left foot behind right foot
11 Step right with right foot
12 Step with left foot while turning 90 degrees right & scuff left foot next to right

17-20 Three steps back (L-R-L), tap

17 Step back with left foot
18 Step back with right foot
19 Step back with left foot
20 Slight hitch with right foot

21-24 Kick-ball-change, Stomp right (2x)

21 & 22 Kick right foot forward, step down on right, step down on left
23-24 Stomp right foot next to left two times

25-32 Toe Struts

25-26 Touch right toe forward, step on right foot
27-28 Touch left toe forward, step on left foot
29-30 Touch right toe forward, step on right foot
31-32 Touch left foot forward, step on left foot

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Fast As You Line Dance

Here's a line dance that is done at Cancun Cantina West in Hagerstown, MD that I call Fast As You because it's the only song I've ever seen it danced to.

It seems to be a twist on The Hitchhiker but what makes it cool is the way they slap the floor in front and behind. It's particularly impressive when it's being done by 40-50 dancers.



In this video a lot of the dancers are clearly learning it for the first time but it still gives a flavor for the dance. I don't do the dance myself because, alas, my knees don't bend that way.



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Line Dance: Crazy Legs

I like this video of Crazy Legs, a pretty cool line dance that's usually done to the club mix version of Cotton Eye Joe by Swedish hip-hop country band Rednex.



I'm not sure where the video was taken, but the dancers are all competition caliber. Their moves are smooth but also executed crisply, and some of them add jumps and flourishes. This is an unusually vigorous way to do this line dance. It's worth watching it at the higher 480p resolution.

The song they're dancing to is hard to find. It's called Everybody Gonfi Gon (I'm not sure why, since the only lyrics in the song seem to be "Everybody do-si-do") by an Italian group called 2 Cowboys. At Cancun Cantina, it's usually danced as a Swamp Thang.

Here's a link to the step sheet.


Related:

• Line Dancing 101 (11/15/08)

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Red High Heels Line Dance

The version of the Red High Heels line dance as done at Cancun Cantina in Hanover, MD is a little different than the one choreographed by Moses Bourassa and Barbara Frechette, which is what you find if you do a search on the Internet.

I think what's danced at The Cantina is a simplified adaptation of this "official" version, because the way the kick-ball-changes at the beginning of the dance travel to the right is unusual and distinctive. It may have come to The Cantina by way of The Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown, OH.

Since it's impossible to find step sheets or videos for this variation on the dance, here's a short clip to give a flavor for how it's performed, annotated with a step sheet:





Red High Heels
Beginner Line Dance: 20-count, 4 Wall
Choreographer: Unknown
Song: Lookin' for a Good Time by Lady Antebellum (122 bpm)
Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler (118 bpm)
Kerosene by Miranda Lambert (128 bpm)

1&2 Kick-ball-change, traveling to the right
3&4 Kick-ball-change, traveling to the right
5&6 Turn 90 degrees left
7&8 Step-behind-step
9&10 Turn Right 360 degrees
11&12 Left shuffle
13&14 Right foot forward, hold count
15&16 Turn Right 180 degrees
17&18 Left shuffle
19&20 Walk right-left

Related Posts:

• Line Dancing 101 (11/15/08)

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Country Dancing in Portland, OR

Last month I made my first trip to Portland, Oregon in years. With more time and mobility on this trip, I found the time to go country dancing at a couple of interesting clubs and along the way, I unexpectedly ran into an old friend.


The Clubs
In researching country dance clubs on the Internet prior to my trip, I found four clubs listed, all within a half hour of central Portland:

• Bushwhackers (8200 SW Tonka St, Tualatin, OR 97062, 503-692-3982)
• Duke's Country Bar & Grill (14601 SE Division St, Portland, OR, 503-760-1400)
• Ponderosa Inn & Cascade Grill (10210 N Vancouver Way, Portland, OR 97211, 503-345-0300 Ext. 4459)
• Outlaws Bar and Grill (722 E Burnside St, Portland, OR) - closed

However, Outlaws Bar and Grill has apparently closed and reopened as Bossanova and I was told that Ponderosa is really just a truck stop, so I tried Bushwhacker's and Duke's Country Bar & Grill. Bushwhacker's is just west of the city while Duke's is on Portland's east side. The atmosphere at Duke's is much more lively, but the level of dancing is a lot higher at Bushwhacker's.

Bushwhackers in Tualatin, OR
I first went to Bushwhackers on a Wednesday night, where they were teaching intermediate level two-step lessons. There was a pretty good-sized crowd there when I walked in at 7:30 pm, but virtually everyone was in their 40's or older. This may have been because it was an intermediate (not beginner) level class.


The dancers were solid but with a sedate style, and after the two-step lesson the open dancing was a mix of two-steps, waltzes, and swing (both east coast and west coast). No one came in after the lessons were done and I left about 9:30.

The floor is fairly large (I'd estimate about 50' x 70' or 3500 sq. ft.) and has a perfect surface -- silky smooth without being slippery. A railing runs around most of the edge.


The instructor, Randy Shott, was very good, and though I was originally going to sit out the lessons I jumped in when they rotated partners and a lady needed a partner. Although in a sense the moves he was teaching were simple, I had trouble with them because I'm not used to turning to my left, and I didn't have a strong sense of the lead.

At several points he discussed proper footwork; how to maintain frame; and how the lady should "spot" during a turn (look at a point down line of dance, or reverse line of dance, and only whip her head around when forced to by the turn).

He taught us how to:

• take the lady through a full outside turn (to the right) from the closed position;
• wrap the lady to the left with three half turns;
• unwrap the lady to her left;
• perform a hand change and using the man's right hand turn the lady to her left, ending facing reverse line of dance in a cape or sweetheart position;
• and finally, wheel as a couple to the left and get back to closed dance position with a free spin of the lady to her left (with a small prep move in front of the free spin).

(When I looked him up I found that Randy is a former Masters Division competitor -- the highest level in C&W competition, comprised of people who've been national champions multiple times -- who used to teach full time in California, and who helps sponsor the Portland Dance Festival.)

The big surprise was when a lady came up to me and said, "You look like..."

As soon as I heard her voice I said, "Barbara!"

I had met Barbara years ago in Germany, and she credits me with really launching her into country dancing. She's a German who had moved back to Germany for a while after living in the US, then moved back to Seattle and then Portland.

Duke's Country Bar & Grill in Portland, OR
Although Barbara had warned me that the floor is small at Duke's and there aren't too many serious dancers there, I went to Duke's on the east side of Portland after work on Friday. The floor was smaller but still reasonably large by East Coast standards, probably about 25' x 35'. There was a mechanical bull in the corner that several people rode.


As I'd been told, the level of dancing was pretty low, but it was pretty fun (though quite loud). The crowd was very young and mostly female, and they danced almost exclusively line dances. One youthful couple though stood out from the crowd, as they danced some fairly advanced west coast swing and couples dances with competition styling.

It was a lively atmosphere and I would have stayed a little longer if I hadn't been with some non-dancers. (I felt guilty about dragging them out there even though they were pretty laid back about the whole thing.)


I danced some line dances, trying to pick up a few of their dances there (including one peculiar one where they virtually walk in a semi-circle). They also danced some familiar line dances (Swamp Thang, though I'm not used to doing it in contra lines; Slappin' Leather; Tush Push; Watermelon Crawl; and Cotton-Eyed Joe).



The Bottom Line
I may try Bushwhackers again if I get the opportunity. I know pretty well that a club can change dramatically from night to night and Barbara told me that Thursdays would be ideal for me (lots of line dances and lots of good couples dancers), but I was committed to some other events that night.

Duke's has a very young, attractive crowd and is very line dance-oriented. If the Friday night that I went is typical it's probably best-suited if you're in the mood for a really loud, energetic environment and either want to line dance or else come with a good partner for two-stepping and swing. I had fun there because of the atmosphere.

Getting There
The two clubs are about half an hour apart if traffic is light. From Portland's airport (PDX):

• Bushwhackers (less than a mile west of Exit 289 of I-5 S): Take I-205 South to I-84 West, and then to I-5 South for about 12 miles to Exit 289 (Sherwood/Tualatin). Turn right at SW Nyberg St. to go west a short distance, then do a quick jog by turning left onto SW Martinazzi Ave., right onto SW Warm Springs St., and then a right onto SW Tonka St.

• Duke's (about 10 miles southeast of the airport): Take I-205 South to Exit 19 (Division Street). Turn left to go east on SW Division Street. The club is about 2.5 miles on the left, between SE 145th Ave and SE 148th Ave.

Related:

• A Quick Trip To Portland, OR (6/5/09)
• My First Video: Multnomah Falls, Oregon (6/6/09)
  
• Country Dancing in Portland, OR (6/7/09)
• Dining in Portland, Oregon (6/9/09)
• Waterfalls: Columbia River Gorge, OR

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DC-MD-VA Country Bands Calendar

As an experiment, I decided to create a public on-line Google calendar that consolidates the band schedules for the three major Country (C&W) dancing clubs in the DC-MD-VA area (Washington D.C. and its suburbs):

• Cancun Cantina (CC), 7501 Old Telegraph Rd, Hanover, MD 21076 [schedule]
• Cancun Cantina West (CCW), 901 Dual Highway, Hagerstown, MD 21740 [schedule]
• Nick's Night Club (N), 642 S. Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304 [schedule]

The cool thing is that I can synchronize this to iCal, the calendar program on my MacBook, so changes to one calendar automatically show up on the other. I haven't been able to figure out how to get them on my iPhone yet, though.



Notes:

• Direct link to the calendar (opens the full-size consolidated calendar by itself in a new window)
• Clicking the downward triangle in the upper righthand corner (next to the Week/Month/Agenda tabs) lets you select which of the four separate calendars you want to view.
• Clicking on an individual entry gives you a pop-up window with options for a map and to add the entry to your own calendar.
• Check the club web sites for line dancing and two-stepping lessons.

Related:

• My Favorite Country Bars (11/6/08)
• Line Dancing 101: How To Line Dance (11/15/08)
  

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The Salt Lick Barbecue & Chuy's Tex-Mex in Austin, TX

I flew quickly in and out of Austin, TX this week, where I had a chance to try a couple of local restaurants: a new location of The Salt Lick, a well-known pit barbecue establishment, and Chuy's, an Austin-based Tex-Mex chain with about a dozen locations in Texas. Both are worth trying if you want to get a little local Texas flavor.


Since I was in the north part of town, I went to the Round Rock locations for each.

The Salt Lick: Pit Barbecue
For many years, if you wanted to eat at the The Salt Lick, you had to be motivated to do it. The original location in Driftwood, TX is in the Texas Hill Country southwest of Austin, about 20 miles outside of Austin in a very rural area.

Family patriarch Thurman Roberts Sr. decided to open a barbecue restaurant in 1969 to bring in income, and dug a barbecue pit on the family farm in Driftwood. His Hawaiian-born wife Hisako helped create a somewhat unique sauce with a hint of Asian influence and The Salt Lick eventually began to attract customers who would drive a good distance to eat there.

In recent years they opened locations in Las Vegas, Austin's Bergstrom Airport (now closed) and, last fall, in Round Rock.


The Round Rock restaurant is in a corner of the parking lot for Dell Diamond, the minor league stadium named for the city's major employer, Dell Computer. The Salt Lick's building has an upscale pseudo-rancher style.



The Barbecue
I got the combination platter in order to sample the ribs, sausage, and beef brisket. The sausage was the best -- tender to the bite and with enough spices to make it worth eating even without the sauce -- while the brisket and ribs were good but not extraordinary. The sauce was unusual, with the original brown sauce tasting a bit like a teriyaki on top of a vinegar base and the spicier yellow sauce having something of a mustard flavor.



Surprisingly, I really liked the bread they served which had a pillowy, slightly sweet, fresh potato roll character, and was glad to accept when they offered me seconds. I also liked the blueberry cobbler a la mode, which was very country in style and was loaded with large plump, juicy blueberries.



The other sides -- barbecue beans, potato salad, and cole slaw -- were just average. They were neither bad, nor good enough to rave about.

Chuy's Tex-Mex
Chuy's is a small chain that started in Austin, and they have a quirky character that extends to their food. Most Mexican restaurant chains are pretty similar, but the food at Chuy's has an unusual bias toward very strong flavors, which may not appeal to everyone.



I forgot to take pictures of the food, but this trend of bold tastes started with the salsa, which was more like a very spicy pico de gallo with fresh tomatoes and very heavy use of lime juice.

The entrees were served in very large portions and I found my blue corn tortilla chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce to be very flavorful. The tortillas were thick, very good, and had a strong corn flavor, while the tomatillo sauce used fresh cilantro and had a nice bite to it without being overwhelmingly spicy.


I also got a steak Taco al Carbon on the side, which was fajita meat and grilled onions served in a fluffy flour tortilla. The tortilla was soft and fresh, while the grilled meat was nicely marinated if a little dry.

Unusually for Texas, they also served a lot of dishes with green chiles and also offered a pretty broad range of sauces in addition to the tomatillo, ranging from a red chile sauce with ground sirloin (what they called Tex-Mex) to a fire-roasted green chile sauce.

Finally, the decor was an eclectic fusion of a 1950's styling with strong, warm oranges and reds. There was an Elvis theme to the menu, which puzzled my dining party.


(It turns out that the original Chuy's was decorated with the $20 in the pocket of one of the owners. He returned with some black velvet paintings of Elvis and Stevie Wonder and Elvis fans began bringing in their own memorabilia.)

The Verdict
I've always found the areas around Austin and San Antonio to have excellent food, much better than around Houston and Dallas, with an often distinctly local character. These cities and the Hill Country around them somehow seem to breed places that serve great barbecue, Texas favorites such as chicken fried steak, and Tex-Mex.

The Tex-Mex in particular here at the intersection of the Anglo and Hispanic cultures is my idea of the ideal Mexican cuisine: a combination of strong flavors, fresh high-quality ingredients, and just enough spiciness to give the food some bite without overwhelming your palate with the heat. 

The Mexican food in the rest of the US (even in much of Texas) is somewhat homogenized in comparison, and I just don't like "authentic" Mexican which seems lacking in flavor and tends to use what I consider lower quality meat, cheese, and tortillas.

Though I liked both restaurants, there's so much choice here that the next time in the area I'll probably sample other places. But I wouldn't be surprised if I returned to either Chuy's or The Salt Lick either. The service at both locations was simultaneously very efficient and very friendly.


As an aside, I'd also like to visit some of the local dancehalls in the surrounding Texas Hill Country, less for the dancing than because it has a remarkably high concentration of legendary country music venues such as Gruene Hall, Coupland Inn, Luckenbach Dance Hall, Floore's Country Store, and Club 21 of Uhland, TX. For dancing it looks like I'd be better off going to Graham Central Station (Pflugerville) or Midnight Rodeo in either Austin or San Antonio.

The Travel
Travel in January can be interesting. I knew enough to prepare for the worst in Austin, which coming from Maryland wasn't too hard. The temperature plummeted while we were there and Austin got socked by a nasty ice storm on the day we left (in fact, my original flight was cancelled). It's very flat through Texas all the way north through the Great Plains and into Canada, so you can get very sudden and drastic weather changes there.

I had hoped to eat at Cousin's Barbecue in DFW Airport on my way to Austin (I finally caught it on the way home), but barely had time to catch my connecting flight after the plane's nose gear on my inbound flight didn't extend during the first approach.

The pilot aborted landing and on the second try he got on the PA to explain all of this, and tell us that this would be the reason we might notice the emergency vehicles they had requested on the runway. When the flight attendants advised us to review the emergency procedures (I was sitting in an exit row), it was the first time I've ever read them with the idea that I might need to actually use them in the next 30 minutes. 

We landed smoothly and the passengers spontaneously applauded, which just goes to show how a little perceived danger really focuses the mind.

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Phoenix: Country Dancing and Dining

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy, and included a very quick trip to Phoenix, AZ. After four trips scattered over 5 years, I finally started to get a sense of how the area is laid out, especially with regard to two of my interests: food and country dancing.


The Phoenix Metropolitan Area
The Phoenix region is surprisingly large, filling a valley ("The Valley of the Sun") of about 500 square miles with over 4 million people. I never made it out to the West Valley, but have only been to the new downtown and communities in the central and eastern areas.

Moving from west to east:

• What is now Phoenix's downtown has glittering high-rises and sports stadiums, but is oddly sterile. When I visited 4 years ago no one seemed to live there and it was hard to even find a place to eat after the workday.
• The older part of central Phoenix has more of a 1950's feel to it, and is the area just north and west of the airport. This is where The Fry Bread House is situated.
• Scottsdale is a very upscale town running north-south for about 20 miles along Scottsdale Road. Historic Old Town Scottsdale has a lot of nice restaurants, hotels, and art galleries. Scottsdale is where the most interesting restaurants are located.
• Just south of Scottsdale is Tempe, the home of Arizona State University, which is a cleaned-up college town and makes for a nice stroll.
• Finally, Chandler (south and east of Tempe) was formerly an ostrich-ranching center but now is the home of a lot of high-tech companies with a lot of new suburban buildings. It's dominated by national shopping and restaurant chains.

The Quest for Food
Some eating establishments worth mentioning:

1. Cowboy Ciao (Scottsdale) was by far the most interesting restaurant I tried. Located just north of Old Town, they had a creative take on almost every dish, and while the results were mixed I appreciated the effort.


We shared small portions of their signature dish, a pan of sauteed mushrooms; braised pork belly; buffalo carpaccio; blue cheese cheesecake; and chocolate chip cookies with bacon.


The pickled cucumber salad that accompanied the pork belly was excellent, and one of the mushrooms was really good, tasting like shitake that had been placed in a tangy marinade. The cheesecake wasn't quite so successful, as the blue cheese was simply too strong, but the homemade five-spice ice cream it came with was terrific with a delicate blend of spice and sweetness.


The rhubarb soda was also...different. Very dry and slightly bitter.

It's worth going back to this restaurant just to see what they've done with other dishes; the Stetson salad with smoked salmon comes highly recommended.

2. The Fry Bread House (Phoenix) is run by the Tohono O’oadham Indian tribe. Fry Bread is basically just flour and lard, and has been blamed for obesity and other health problems on the reservations where at one time they couldn't afford much else.

But I wanted to try something distinctive to the area so I had one drizzled with honey and another with chocolate. They were interesting but not necessarily decadently good.

3. Patsy Grimaldi's (Chandler) was a slight disappointment. This is an outpost of the New York City chain that claims to have been the first pizzeria in NYC. The toppings were decent, but the crust was a little too dry and reminiscent of flatbread or crackers.


I'm probably a little spoiled after having one of Two Amy's pizzas in Washington DC last month, but Grimaldi's also wasn't too similar to the good pizzas I've had in New York.

4. My Big Fat Greek Restaurant (Chandler) was bland. This local chain has a gleaming modern building and they serve flaming saganaki cheese, but the Greek food they serve in large quantities is somewhat pedestrian.

Country Dancing in Phoenix
Unfortunately, the only night I was free to go dancing was Thursday night, which I would find is a slow night in the area. But I did talk to a couple of locals who gave me the rundown on when and where to dance.

1. Graham Central Station (Tempe) is really the only place to dance if you want to do the Texas Two-Step. Like all of the GCS locations they have several varied clubs under one roof, but the country portion, called Rocking Rodeo, features a huge wooden dance floor (about 60 x 90 feet).


There weren't too many people there that night, but I talked to a guy named Steve who kept doing the Tush Push and he said that they're much more crowded on Wednesday (Ladies Night), Friday, and Saturday. Steve also told me that Rocking Rodeo once occupied the entire club, with a dance floor about 3 times the current size.

A couple of girls warned me that they were "terrible" dancers, but after dancing a waltz and two-step with one I could see she has the potential to be very good. It's a shame that many guys leave a girl with the impression that mistakes are her fault, when 90% of the time it's all dependent on the male lead.

My experience with GCS in other locations has been pretty hit-or-miss (the alternate-format clubs take the focus off the country dancing), but it doesn't appear there's any other real option in Phoenix so I'll give it another shot the next time I'm in town.

2. Earlier that evening I went to Whiskey River Saloon (Phoenix), which is on the north side of town. The dance floor there was tiny, but there were a lot of older couples (mostly 50's and 60's) dancing there.


An older gentleman named Rich seemed to be very knowledgeable and explained some things that had been puzzling me.

Apparently, unique to the Phoenix area is a dance that they call the Arizona Two-Step, which is an adaptation of the Two-Step to very small dance floors. It has a similar rhythm, but is more of a hand dance that moves side-to-side in place.

In practice, the Arizona Two-Step looks like a cross between an East Coast Swing and what I think of as the "real" Two-Step, which in Arizona is called the Progressive (or Texas) Two-Step. (A Texas Two-Step "progresses" in a counter-clockwise circle around the dance floor, and is danced in the "closed" position, where the man cradles the lady in his right arm.)

According to Rich, the only place to do a Texas Two-Step is GCS, which is also the best place for singles. He said all of the other clubs are small like Whiskey River, mentioning a place called Roman's in Phoenix and a couple of places in Chandler.

Future Trips
So the next time I'm in Phoenix, I'll have to set aside a Wednesday or weekend night to go dancing at Graham Central Station, and go back to Cowboy Ciao for dinner.

I've also thought about going to Cafe Forte or Medizona in Scottsdale for lunch or dinner. I'd like to try Binkley's in Cave Creek but not only does it sound very expensive but reservations might be impossible to get on short notice. The Horny Toad Barbecue Restaurant in Cave Creek was also recommended to me, but it sounds like a tourist trap.

I'd also like to explore some other areas, perhaps Glendale in the West Valley or Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Scottsdale.

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Line Dancing 101

My "How to Line Dance" Guide

I love all forms of C&W (Country & Western) dancing. When I lived in Texas, I learned the major couples dances: two-step, polka, waltz, and jitterbug (a fast form of East Coast Swing).

But after I moved to the East Coast I quickly realized that if I was going to enjoy myself I would also need to learn line dances, because the venues were a lot smaller and on some songs there wasn't really room to do anything else.

Since I didn't have any ethical or legal objections to line dancing (unlike others I know from Texas ☺) I've since learned -- or more likely, forgotten -- something like 200 line dances.

Here's a quick line dancing primer:

The Fundamentals
Since you don't need a partner for line dancing (ignoring circle dances for now), it removes the complication of having to learn how to lead and follow. So line dancing largely consists of memorizing a sequence of steps in a pattern that typically repeats after something like 32 or more counts (beats).

The patterns often end facing a different direction ("wall"), so the number of times when the dance starts facing a new direction makes it a 1-wall, 2-wall, or 4-wall dance. A dance that rotates 90 degrees each time would eventually face all four walls of a room.

Five-Six-Seven-Eight
It helps to view the line dance as made up of little blocks that are reused from one dance to another, and many of these blocks will be familiar if you've ever taken aerobics. For example, instead of having to remember a four-step sequence to the right:

step with right foot to the side
step left foot behind right
step right foot to the side
touch or hitch left foot next to right

...you would simply remember this as a "grapevine right." (And there's a corresponding "grapevine left" that simply reverses direction.)

Most line dances (and the building blocks that make them up) change every four or eight counts. That's because that's where the music breaks for most country (and rock) songs, which are typically in 2/4 or 4/4 time. In musical terms that means the measures or bars are typically two or four beats long. From the Connexions web site:

In practical terms what you'll notice is that for many songs the music seems to change every eight beats, which is why you'll hear instructors start a dance by counting out, "five-six-seven-eight." By starting the dance where the music breaks naturally, the dance will feel like it's in sync with the song.

Step Sheets
When trying to learn line dances, step sheets are very helpful. As the name implies these are step-by-step instructions for line dances, usually with one step per count (beat). Fortunately, what was probably the most complete collection of line dance step sheets on the web, Patti Brown's Dancing Deep in the Heart of Texas, now seems to be back up, and KickIt seems to still be live.

The Beats
Tempo, or beats per minute (bpm), is pretty important in any kind of dancing. It's the number of beats per minute that usually dictates which dance to do to a given song. If the song is too slow or too fast it won't be fun, either because it's hard to keep up with the music or it feels like it's dragging.

This is fairly subjective and generally more important for couples dancing. I dance at Cancun Cantina, where line dances mostly range between 100-140 bpm, but this varies a lot from club to club. As a point of reference, here are some typical tempos for couples dancing:

70-100 bpm: Slow dancing (or if counted double-time, a Two-Step)
100-140 bpm: West Coast Swing
135-210 bpm: Two-Step (a comfortable range is about 160-170 bpm, but some of the most fun ones are faster, around 180-210 bpm)
135-200 bpm: East Coast Swing (faster ones are more of a jitterbug)
180-240 bpm: Polka

On the Dance Floor
Then there's the matter of floor etiquette. For everyone to dance on the same floor and have an enjoyable time, it helps to understand some conventions, especially in the Eastern US where floors are smaller and also shared between couples and line dancers.

A C&W dance floor is kind of like a race track or highway, with couples dancers moving in a counter-clockwise circle. If the floor is big enough, there will be concentric "lanes," with the fast lane on the outside and slower dancers in toward the center. So line dancers should try to stay in the center, as should more stationary couples dancers such as swing or ballroom.

When you run into someone on the floor during a dance -- as you inevitably will -- just smile and apologize.

Some Line Dances
So now that you're ready to get out on the dance floor, here are some dances to try. I don't know why, by the way, some of the dances have suggestive names. They're typically not nearly as salacious as the names might imply and it creates a dilemma if you're trying to teach them to kids.

Easy Beginner Dances:

• Down & Dirty (Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine by The Kentucky Headhunters or Strokin' by Clarence Carter)
• Safe Sex (Fast As You by Dwight Yoakam or Whoomp! There It Is by Tag Team) - simple but fun; it helps if you recognize that the pattern forms an upside down, backwards "L" shape, or the left half of a "T"
• Booty Call (Booty Call by Dazz/Atomic Dog) - OK, you may have done this one already
• Cut A Rug (Roll Back the Rug by Scooter Lee) [video]
• Sleazy Slide (That's How Country Boys Roll by Billy Currington)
• Cupid Shuffle (Cupid Shuffle by Cupid) [video] [how-to video]

Classics (performed coast to coast):

• Tush Push (The Girl's Gone Wild by Travis Tritt) [video] [video]
• Slappin' Leather (T-R-O-U-B-L-E by Travis Tritt) [video]
• Cotton-Eyed Joe (Cotton-Eyed Joe by Isaac Payton Sweat [traditional] or Rednex [hip hop]) - like a line dance done with a partner, moving in a circle [video]
• Watermelon Crawl (Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd) [video]
  

Beginner Dances (DC-MD-VA area):

• Bartender's Stomp (Baby Likes To Rock It by The Tractors) [video] [video]
• Canadian Stomp (Pickin' Wildflowers by Keith Anderson, Redneck Yacht Club by Craig Morgan, Cowboy by Kid Rock, or Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain) [video]
• Cool Dance a.k.a. Progressive Cowboy a.k.a. A Kool Dance (All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down by The Mavericks or Cheaper to Keep Her by Kevin Fowler)
• Copperhead Road (Copperhead Road by Steve Earle) - I do the easy 32-count version using cross-kicks for counts 9-16 [start 24 beats before the lyrics; see this video (which differs from our version because we turn to the right)] which gets fun when the music speeds up; but others do the 24-count Kentucky Chug version [cool French video]
• Country Walkin' (HotLittleCutiePieSexyThang by LoCash Cowboys) [video]
• D.H.S.S. (Yee Haw by Jake Owen, Hicktown by Jason Aldean, or Drunker Than Me by Trent Tomlinson; choreographed to Coffee by Supersister) [video]
• Dizzy (Dizzy by Scooter Lee) [video]
• Fishin' (Pray for the Fish by Randy Travis)
• Ghost Train (Ghost Train by Australia's Tornado) [video] [video]
• God Blessed Texas (God Blessed Texas by Little Texas)
• Got To Be Funky (She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy by Kenny Chesney, or Got To Be Funky by Maurice John Vaughn) - actually similar to and not too much harder than Booty Call [video] [video] [video]
• Jive Walkin' (Slam Dunk Da Funk by Five) [video]
  
• Refried Dreams a.k.a. Chicken Fried (Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band or Refried Dreams by Tim MacGraw) - simple dance but very fun if down with style and athleticism
• Ski Bumpus (Boot Scootin' Boogie by Brooks & Dunn) [video] - danced contra at Cancun Cantina (in two or more opposite lines facing each other)
• Zjozzy's Funk (Bacco Perbacco by Zucchero) [video]

Beginner/Intermediate Dances (DC-MD-VA area):

• All Shook Up (All Shook Up by Billy Joel) - note that on this version of the song you should start 16 beats into the song, when the back-up singers start; then on the 4th and 6th times through, you start at count 17 (with the right toe to the side) [this video is close to how we do it]
• Apple Jack (Dance [Club Mix] by Twister Alley, Sin Wagon by The Dixie Chicks, or any other frenetic polka beat) - 18-count line dance is simple but it can be tricky getting the feel of how to shift weight in the Apple Jacks at the beginning [video]
• Askin' Questions (Askin' Questions by Brady Seals) [video] [video]
• Bar Room Romeo (I Brake for Brunettes by Rhett Akins, I Like It, I Love It by Tim McGraw, or Pound Sign (#?*!) by Kevin Fowler) [video]
• Black Dresses (Daddy's Money by Ricochet or Black Dresses by Steve Kolander) [video from the choreographer Michael Barr]
• Cowboy Casanova (Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood or Here Comes Summer by LoCash Cowboys) [video] - 48-count 4-wall choreographed by Lisa Capelle
• Cowboy Hip-Hop (Gonna Make You Sweat - Everybody Dance Now by C+C Music Factory or Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy [Dance Remix] by Big & Rich)
• Cowboy Rhythm (Thump Factor by Smokin' Armadillos) [video] [video] - I learned this one from a couple who dance at Colorado Cafe in Watchung, NJ
• Crazy Legs (Cotton Eye Joe Club Mix by Rednex, Everybody Gonfi Gon by 2 Cowboys) [video]
• Cripple Creek (Cripple Creek by Jim Rast and Knee Deep) [video] - this is also danced contra at Cancun Cantina
• Dancing Feet (High On Love by Patty Loveless or Patient Heart by Bekka & Billy)
• Flying Eights (Fishin' in the Dark by Emerson Drive or Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
• Four On The Floor (Four On The Floor by Lee Brice) [video]
• Leather and Lace (She Bangs by Ricky Martin) - Roz Morgan version
• Linda Lu (Linda Lu by Ricky Van Shelton) - don't get confused and use a different version of the song, this is the fun one [video]
  
• Mambo Shuffle (Father Sun by Wynnona Judd or Poker Face by Lady Gaga) [video]
• Men in Black (You Walked In by Lonestar) [strange sideways video]
• Metamorphosized (Total Eclipse of the Heart by Nicki French)
• Pot of Gold (Dance Above the Rainbow by Ronan Hardiman) [video]
• Red High Heels (Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler or Kerosene by Miranda Lambert) [video] - this version danced at Cancun Cantina seems to be a slightly different variation
• Swamp Thang (Swamp Thing by The Grid) [video]
• Uno, Dos, Tres (Maria Spanglish Radio Edit by Ricky Martin or I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) by Pitbull) [video] [video]
• Zydeco Lady (Cherry Bomb by John Mellencamp or Gravity Storm by Jimmy Buffett)

Advanced Dances (typically club specific):

• All Jacked Up (All Jacked Up by Gretchen Wilson) - very physically demanding dance; I'm told it's from the Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown, OH
• Baby Com' On (Baby Come On by Chris Anderson and DJ Robbie) [video] [video]
• The Beast (Something In The Water by The Cheap Seats) [video1] [video2] [video3] - all in the videos here are truly great dancers, but the guy in video3 is amazing
• Big Doggin' (Big Doggin' Around by Neal McCoy)
  
• Buff Dance (Buff Little Girls by Pete Andrew)
• Cha Cha Loco (Man! I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain)
  
• Chill Factor (Last Night by Chris Anderson & DJ Robbie) [video][video] [video - Chill Factor, then Baby Com' On]
• Funk-N-Gruvin (Loosen Up My Strings by Clint Black)
  
• Hold Your Horses (Hold Your Horses by E-Type) [video] [video]
• Humpty (5, 6, 7, 8 by Steps)
  
• Kickin' The Blues (Daddy Laid The Blues On Me by Bobbie Cryner)
• Kick N Rock (Wild and Free by Rednex - this is a psychotically fast song; or Play Something Country by Brooks & Dunn - fun if done with attitude and a bit of bounce)
• Swing Time Boogie (Swing City by Roger Brown) [video]
  
• Wild Wild West (Wild Wild West by Will Smith) [video]
  

Related:

• My Favorite Country Bars (11/6/08)
  
• DC-MD-VA Country Bands Calendar

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Line Dance: Four on the Floor

I saw a slick new line dance last night at the Cantina. It's called "Four on the Floor" and some girls were dancing it to the song Keep Your Hands to Yourself, which is usually a little dull (slow) to dance to.

I found a YouTube video demonstrating it:



Note that the couple in this video is very good (they might be the choreographers, Michelle Ziminski and Matt Thomson). They've got that spring to their steps that makes them look like they're floating over the floor. The song is Four on the Floor by Lee Brice. 

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Four on the Floor
Choreographers: Matt Thomson & Michelle Ziminski
Level: Intermediate 48-count Line Dance (one tag/restart)
Song: Four on the Floor by Lee Brice (120 bpm), start with lyrics

1-8  Step, wizard step, wizard, rock, recover, coaster step
1,2& R step forward diagonally right (1), L lock step behind R (2), R step forward diagonally right (&)
3,4& L step forward diagonally left (3), R lock step behind L (4), L step forward diagonally left (&)
5,6 R rock forward (5), recover to L (6)
7&8 R step back (7), L step next to R (&), R step forward (8)

9-16  1/4 turn, cross shuffle, 3/4 funky turn
1,2 L step forward (1), pivot 1/4 right shifting weight to R (2) 3:00
3&4 L step across R (3), R step to right side (&), L step across R (4)
5,6 R step to right side (5), L step to left side turning 1/4 left (6) 12:00
7,8 R step to right side turning 1/4 left (7), L step to left side turning 1/4 left (8) 6:00

17-24  Cross rock, 1/4 shuffle, 1/2 turn, left shuffle forward
1,2 R rock across L (1), recover to L (2)
3&4 R step to right side (3), L step next to R (&), R step to right side turning 1/4 right (4) 9:00
5,6 L step forward (5), pivot 1/2 right shifting weight to R (6) 3:00
7&8 L step forward (7), R step next to L (&), L step forward (8)

25-32  Kick ball cross, heel jack, heel jack, stomp, stomp
1&2 R kick forward (1), R step ball of foot slightly back (&), L step across R (2)
&3&4 R step to right side (&), L heel touch forward diagonally left (3), L step home (&), R step
across L (4)
&5&6 L step to left side (&), R heel touch forward diagonally right (5), R step home (&), L step
across R (6)
7,8 R stomp to right side (7), L stomp to left side (8)

33-40  Behind and in front, rock, recover, behind and in front, right shuffle, hitch turn
1&2 R step behind L (1), L step to left side (&), R step across L (2)
3,4 L rock to left side (3), recover to R (4)
5&6 L step behind R (5), R step to right side (&), L step across R (6)
7&8& R step to right side (7), L step next to R (&), R step to right side (8), hitch L knee while
making 1/2 turn over left shoulder (&) 9:00

41-48  Left shuffle, side touches, forward touches, stomp, stomp
1&2 L step to left side (1), R step next to L (&), L step to left side (2)
3&4& R toe touch to right side (3), R step next to L (&), L toe touch to left side (4), L step next to R (&)
5&6& R heel touch forward (5), R step next to L (&), L heel touch forward (6), L step next to R (&)
7,8 R stomp forward (7), L stomp forward (8)

Start again and enjoy!

Tag/restart
At wall 5, dance through the fourth set of 8. Repeat the fourth set of 8, then restart dance from beginning (omit fifth and sixth sets of 8 for this wall, i.e., omit counts 33-48). You will be facing 3:00 when this happens.

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Related:

• Line Dancing 101: How To Line Dance
  

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