What are the boundaries? I am reminded of the old joke... when is a tractor, not a tractor? (When it turns into a field!) At the moment, I have a new "Absolute Beginner" class in Thornbury (welcome, everyone - it's been so popular I've had to make two classes, and i'm so grateful to you all for booking!) but how is that different from the Beginner class I have in Frampton Cotterell and Iron Acton? It used to be that there were fewer categories of line dance - Beginner, Interm

This week, we participated in two events "out in the community" - dancing out in the real world, and both of these were SO much fun! Last Saturday, we came together and performed a flash mob dance as part of the International Line Dance Flash Mob Community - dancers, all around the world, dancing the same dance on the same day. I've seen videos of dancers in Tasmania, Ontario (Canada), Latvia, Glasgow, and many other places, all having the time of their lives! And so did we

This week, my Wednesday improver class had so much fun learning a "barn dance" style dance called Cheeseburger - be sure to check out the video on our Facebook page! Couple practicing partner steps in line dancing I included this classic dance (see the steps here) because I wanted my dancers to know the concept of the "partner dance track". If you think about athletics venues, there's a big arena with a wide track around the outside, and a rectangle space in the middle, and

This week, I'm thinking with a smile about our dancers (recent new joiners) who will be getting married next weekend; and also an older couple who met at Laughter in Line - and have been living together for quite a few years now, even though they've now found a dance class closer to home. I've been musing about how friendships form, and how important it is in modern life; I saw a post on another group which said... "I'm lonely. I have a job, a home, a telly and a cat, but h

This week, we have been dancing our first "in contra" dance - and now you know why the club is called "Laughter in Line"! What is contra line dancing? It's a bit like a contra-flow on a motorway... you can do it, but it feels weird! Every second row turns around, so that instead of moving together, you'll be moving "against" the dancer in front of you. Here are my tips for contra line dancing... Find someone who has their back to you, and follow their feet. Don't look at

Something that's causing debate in line dance circles is artificially generated music - AI music; dances written to tracks that were created by a computer. I've been thinking about this a lot and there are definite arguments on both sides of the question. So I thought I would try to lay out the main arguments, both for and against, and try to explain what conclusion I've come to. If you have a view, I'd be very pleased if you would add your comments below - I want this to b

This week, I have had the enormous pleasure of going out, line dancing with my friends, to both live music and videos (a new one on me, but quite fun!) Thank you, to all of my dancers who came out to have fun too. At the second event, I saw several of you who've moved on to other clubs to do your line dancing, and here's the thing I want to say to you: I really don't mind! A couple of times (a long time ago) I've seen ex-dancers of mine, out at the shops or wherever, who ha

This week, I want to talk to you about refunds - to give you more information, and some do's and don'ts. The vast majority of our bookings work smoothly - you book, you turn up, everybody's happy. But sometimes, something happens and you can't attend. Now what? The website says that we don't give refunds, and that's the default position - and it's there because sometimes I just can't give a refund, for instance sometimes the website back-end is down and there's really noth

Sometimes you'll hear me say: "No tags, no restarts, no monkey business!" in this week's blog post, I thought I'd give you an explanation about what these terms mean. Years ago, line dance choreographers would just write a set of steps, and that would be that - and if it didn't necessarily "line up" accurately all the way through, nobody seemed to mind. For example, the popular dance "Commitment" from back-in-the-day has a move called "Elvis knees" that is danced when the l

It's something I hear so often: I've got a sore foot! And I often ask - is it worse when you get out of bed in the morning? So often the answer is, "Yes! How did you know?" (Short answer - mine does that too!) Plantar fasciitis is a common foot condition that causes sharp pain in the heel and bottom of the foot. Many people experience this discomfort, especially after long periods of standing or walking. Understanding what causes plantar fasciitis and how to manage it can

My answer's no - and this is why! I am often asked to "do an hour" - teach a few line dances for an event or community group, outside of my normal teaching commitments. I've been asked to do this by, Community groups like the Women's Institute, Red Hats, Scouts, Guides, Brownies, charities who do great work (e.g., with disabled people,) homes for elderly folk, organisers of school fetes, and many more very worthy groups and organisations. Corporate events, events at golf clu

This week, I want to draw together the information from the last three posts (the line dance rhythms, the list of dances "that every line dancer knows", and what to expect on a night out) and try to give you a plan, for those of you who want to enjoy line dancing on a night out. Like a roadmap - in a way, to take you from your first class to being a confident night-out dancer. There are some dances choreographed to a particular piece of music, that will only fit that music.

You'll hear me mention that there's a list of dances that "every line dancer knows" - and I try to teach them to you, as you progress with learning new steps, mixed in with more modern dances. But what are these dances, and why do I teach them to you? Line dancing has always been popular, but it had a big heyday in the 1990s; back then, there were fewer dances and choreographers, no internet to speak of, and some dances seemed to just "take off". These tend to be the ones t

One of the joys of line dancing is - it's not just an exercise class. If you find you like country music - there's so much more fun to be had! Did you know, there are local country music clubs, which host live music and dancing, once a month, in local halls? Our local club is called Sundown in Nashville and it's on a Saturday night in Whitminster village hall - just off M5 Junction 13. It's run by Carol and Colin Spiers. I took the picture above last time I was there, j

As you progress from “absolute beginner “ week-one dances, you’ll notice I will start to include different rhythms in your dancing. So I thought you’d appreciate an overview of the four main line dance rhythms - so you will recognise them when you encounter them! “One-step”. This is where we start, there’s one step to one beat. A grapevine is a good example: “vine, 2, 3, touch”. Nice and steady. “Two-step” is similar, but the timing is “slow, slow, quick-quick slow.” Ribbon

I'm always happy to hear requests from my dancers - and that's lucky, because I get a lot of them! This week, for instance, I've had nine different requests across all my classes, either in person or through some other means (and I always ask for them in a written form, because they will have fallen out of my brain within moments.) Requests are valuable to me because they tell me what you like - the level, style, music that you are enjoying and want more of. And I do try t

Safety is important, right? And I am sure you know I do risk assessments, know where the first aid kit is, and so on - you will have heard me do the "if there's ever a fire, the fire exits are HERE and HERE and the gathering place is in the car park..." Keeping us safe on the dance floor is also why I wrote our Line Dance Etiquette page (if you haven't read that one yet, hop over there as soon as you've read this post, please. It's really important!) But there's one rule I

Probably the most common question I'm asked: What shoes should I wear? To start line dancing, you don't need special shoes, but I do have some Do's and Don'ts to advise you. Do wear something low and sensible, that supports your foot . Do make sure you can move comfortably in your shoes. Try standing with your weight on the balls of your feet and swivel your heels - your feet should move easily. If they feel "stuck" to the floor, try to find a different pair of shoes. If yo

Years ago, teachers would bring paper copies of dance scripts to class, sometimes photocopied from Line Dancer (paper) magazine. If you wanted to hear the music, you had to buy the CD (“Line Dance Fever” was a popular series!) It’s so different now, the wonders of the internet make life so much easier! And yet… there are so many sites out there… where to start? Dancers, here are my top tips for you: Join our mailing list . I normally email you once a week and there's usuall

So, you've taken the plunge and come to your first line dance class. You are loving the relaxed feel and you've mastered your first grapevine (Yesssss! Well done!) But you sometimes find you've "got onto the wrong foot" and you can't seem to ... "get it". Hmmm! What's going on? I see this so often with beginner dancers - and this is my advice: Think about where your weight is! You'll hear me say things like, "Weight's on left" as I'm teaching you the steps, and you'll al