Country Dancing Research Paper

Superior Essays
Country Line Dancing is the American Cowboy
Country line dancing is a form of dance in which groups of people no matter their size, age or gender dance in lines while executing the same movements. The costumes associated with this dance are of a western style. The idea of the “American Cowboy” is often paralleled with line dancing. The sex of the “American Cowboy” is male and has the gender identity relating to masculinity; this figure is often highly romanticized. Although this dance is acceptable for anyone to participate in it mirrors the ideas of American masculinity, mainly with a focus on cowboy characteristics. Country Line dancing was not originally a western dance it actually originated in Europe as folk dancing. (Group) Over time folk dancing was whitewashed into the western American culture. The most well known form of line dance today is country line dancing. The rise of country line dancing came about after the disco era and often associated with country music such as Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” and Brooks and Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” (Group) Line dancing is connected to the music because the dancers rely on the beat to execute the steps. Country line dancing is a form of social dance. A social dance is a participatory or recreational dance performed by those who dance for their own enjoyment rather than for onlookers. (Cohen-Stratyner 123) Line dancing can take place anywhere; such as in a home, churches, dance halls, studios, and clubs among other places. (Mason) Nancy Sheppard, owner of a Satin 'n Denim dance studio, explains about those who participate in line dancing in the following, “My students come from all walks of life. And they are warmer and more accepting of every way of life than any other dance group I've experienced. Country-western is a dance style that transcends culture and status. Once you put on your country clothes, nobody knows what you do for a living. And nobody cares. There's probably a lot of stress release just in that factor.” (Spilner) Sheppard references putting on country clothes, many of those who line dance want that country feel so they wear clothing associated with country ideas. The clothing is comfortable; it is mainly jeans that are worn by both sexes. Footwear is usually cowboy boots, but they are not a necessity, smooth-soled shoes are fine. Dancers can be as casual as they want or can dress in full country gear that may consist of, a cowboy hat, fancy shirt, bolo tie and silver belt buckle. The casual comfortable outfit communicates masculinity; this can be shown throughout history in that males have been able to wear comfortable clothes such as pants where as women have had to wear corsets and hoop skirts. The clothing paired with this dance exhibits masculinity and this comfortable clothing allows individuals to move more freely. Line dancing is open to anyone willing to have a good time.
…show more content…
Line dancing needs no partner, as it is a friendly form of dance. In Jill Williams Article Keep Fit to a Fiddle, she describes an instance on the dance floor “‘Here, lemme help you’, shouts a younger man to an older gent who is apparently confused about which way he’s supposed to be turning.” (77) She later goes on to discuss how all folks are represented from young and old, to couples, and to guys and girls without partners. (Williams) From the comfortable costumes and the inviting atmosphere of line dancing the “American Cowboy” is present throughout. The individual feels welcomed to be there and becomes more open to the experiences. The dress associated with this style of dance is parallel to a cowboy from the boots to the hat. A cowboy is romanticized, he is considered kind, honorable and friendly to all. The movements of line dancing portray masculinity. Spilner describes the body in the Country Western 101 article as follow, “Men stand with their thumbs in their belt loops or pockets. Women place their hands on their hips or use them expressively. The upper body is held straight. All the work is from the waist down.” A majority of the steps focus on the weight distribution of each foot. The movements are structured, aligned and there is some flow but not too much in order that it will

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    All of the performers would be considered amateurs in the dance discipline, most having only a year of dance experience from their public high school. This dance was a sassy, slower performance; using the dancers long lines to appear as a sexier routine. To make the dance more appealing numerous lifts were added and the technique of fall and recover was a common technique. The dance as a whole was a good attempt of having inexperienced dancers performing rather simple…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brooks And Dunn Influence

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A major key aspect that is associated with the band is the starting of the line dancing phenomenon, the dance that spread across the nation like wild fire (Huey). They enjoyed using the rock culture in their country songs and because they were a bid influence on other bands, many artists began to insert…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Bassetti explains that there are certain stereotypes that are placed on man dancers. His article examines, how can the idea of males dancing be socially normalized. During his 3 yearlong study, Bassetti takes various dance classes, performs, and observers dance, to understand the culture of male dance. Through antidotes, he explains how dance must be viewed in order for male in dancing to be more acceptable. This article is beneficial to the paper because it not only states some of the negative body image issue males have, but also gives insight on how the negative stigmas of male dancing can be changed.…

    • 1298 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This began in the 1870’s in the Western Great Basin. The purpose of this dance was for believers to perform this dance so they can be reunited with their ancestors. This was considered a push and pull episode. According to Albanese, “When the old religions seemed to fail as the white pushed the Indians out of their lands, new religious prophets arose to proclaim rites and ceremonies that would work to end white ascendancy and to restore Indians to harmonic with the earth, and themselves. ”(Albanese,…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lindy Hop Video Summary

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I also thought Lindy Hop was a type of dance that only allowed a man and a woman dancing together but I think I could be wrong about this. After viewing this video, I learned that movements in Lindy Hop are incredibly fast and I think it could be stressful sometimes because a dancer…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The way this dance was, you had to enter the ballroom floor with a specific way of stepping to the beat using your heels, but also like ice skating in a way. Dancing wasn’t as easy as it is now, well for some people. Some other types of dances were Jigs and reels, which as I mentioned before enslaved people and lower class white people would use these methods of dancing, but so did the Virginians. When you would dance “Jigs” it required to only dance with one person and partner, for the “Reels” you could have as much as six people dancing. When it came to teaching and learning the dance, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    These dances share the social aspect of their performance, but differ in origins and style. Social and Cultural Origins Lindy Hop is a form of swing dancing developed in Harlem, New York during the 1920s. This dance originated from within the African African community with European…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Each culture has a number of things that is thought to be exclusively theirs. Dancing specifically is something that makes a culture more easily identified. When you see a particular dance or think of it you, without delay associate it with a specific culture or group of people. For instance, when you hear hip-hop dance you immediately think of African Americans right? Let’s take this same idea and apply it to stepping or step dancing, what group of people or culture do you associate it with?…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The average person might look at b-boying and b-girling and call it ”breakdancing” at first look, which for a second, it does look like, still do not be fooled, it isn’t. This skillful fight like dancing comes from plenty…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Riverdance Evaluation

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I decided to watch The Best of Riverdance for my investigational response. The video I watched included 18 best of Riverdance performances. Riverdance is considered a stage show featuring Irish step dancing and Irish music. The first original piece referred to as “Riverdance” was performed in 1994 at the Eurovision Song Contest in Ireland.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    They each originated in several different places, such as Germany, Austria, and New York. Nobody would look at dance as a sport, but in competition, it’s considered a dance sport. During World War I, they considered dancing the oldest form to approach. Germany and Austria forbade ballroom dancing during World War I. People…

    • 1603 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parade Field Critique

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fort Campbell’s Division Parade Field was a sea of blankets and lawn chairs; people adorned in red, white, and blue chirped merrily in the spirit of Independence Day. The alluring aroma of deep-fried carnival treats saturated the thick humid air; a constant reminder of the festival that served as the audience’s backdrop. The dense crowd of a thousand consisted of older veterans proudly wearing their decorated hats, parents attending to their children’s needs, and teenagers chattering around the stage waiting for Tristan McIntosh and her band to play. Just after eight o’clock the announcer introduced the performers; Tristan who was wearing metallic leggings and a patriotic top took confident strides across the stage and the concert was on its way. She performed…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Evolution Of Jazz Dance

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Jazz dance is often recognized as an American creation, but the actual fact is that jazz is from African American culture. This type of dance came about during the late 1800s. Jazz Dance is an exciting dance that is full of rhythm, beat, and enjoyment. The first official American "jazz dancer" was Joe Frisco around the year 1910, which performed in vaudeville; however its origins trace much further back than this, with many moves being created by the slaves as a much desirable physical and emotional opening. Jazz dance has become one of the most widespread dance styles in the past years, mainly due to its fame on television shows, movies, music videos and commercials.…

    • 173 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    This style of dance was not only popular in America, but it also spread to many different countries as well. The music of this time also played a very big role in breakdancing, especially with the help of DJ Kool Herc, who founded the name and music style of…

    • 1901 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The best dancers in performances and parties I have been to have consistently been the people who look like they are having the most fun or enjoying themselves the most, likely because they are dancing for themselves rather than to impress the audience. Another observation of dance in American society is that it is seen as non-masculine. As someone who grew up in a culture where everyone from the youngest babe to the most grey-haired elder dances, this boggles my mind. I think that this also points towards self-consciousness, fear of derision, and a lack of comfort in one’s skin. In Shaka, I’ve been the only male member of the group for almost my entire time at Yale; it has been difficult to get men to join, maybe because Polynesian dance like hula are primarily portrayed in the media with female dancers even though men have performed hula and other Polynesian dance for…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays