Get in line

Not just for cowboys and girls, line dancing can be a fabulous way to keep fit, make new friends and have fun. Katherine Bletcher learns some fancy footwork in Norfolk and finds she’s hooked. Yeehaw!

‘Oh to be in England,’ I breathe to my companions as we drive past fields of fragrant lavender and grass verges crowded with wild flowers. Norfolk is putting on a classic British show.

As we pull into our destination, the public hall in the village of Heacham on the north-west coast, I am struck by the timelessness of the red brick building, the wooden beams and the… hang on, are those cowgirls going in? ‘We’re looking for some line dancers,’ calls photographer Mark. ‘You’ve come to the right place,’ is the chorus back.

Of course, they’re not cowgirls, they’re just a few of the very enthusiastic members of the Heacham line-dancing group. The Victorian hall is adorned with Americana, and country and western music and shouts of laughter echo off the high ceilings. ‘Oh yes, we like a laugh,’ confirms Yvonne, the group’s leader. ‘No one takes it too seriously. I make mistakes too but it doesn’t matter, we’re here to enjoy ourselves.’

I am placed in the centre of the middle line with the 25 or so other dancers surrounding me. It’s the best spot for a beginner because I always have someone in front of me to copy. Yvonne calls the steps so there’s no pressure to learn them off by heart. The dances gradually get trickier and faster and I certainly make some false moves, often finding myself facing a different way to the rest of the group, but no one cares and I find that I’m enjoying it so much I don’t either.

Forget your worries

It’s great for forgetting all your worries. It keeps you fit but it keeps your mind going too

When the first break is called, I’m surprised to find that 40 minutes have passed. ‘It’s great for forgetting all your worries,’ says another Yvonne, ‘you think of nothing else because you’ve got to concentrate on which steps are coming next. It keeps you fit but it keeps your mind going too.’

Yvonne started coming with a friend five years ago, when she retired, and loved the fun and companionship. How does she remember all the dances? ‘There are lots of different dances but the steps are the same, they just come in a different sequence. It’s like knitting. When you knit something you have the plain and purl but it’s the pattern you do them in that counts.’

Another dancer, Margaret, says she started after she lost her husband, with whom she used to go ballroom dancing.  ‘A friend who was coming said “come along” and it saved my life. It gave me something to look forward to each week, and company, it was absolutely brilliant. And it definitely helps your health. No one makes a fool of themselves, we’re not that sort of class, we all have a laugh and everyone smiles.’

Go alone, and be together

As we dance, we throw in claps and ‘whoops’, and often the whole class sings along to the music, which all adds to the fun and sense of camaraderie. I’d expected all the music to be country and western but we actually dance to an eclectic mix of songs including modern pop by Adele and Lily Allen and some older favourites like Dire Straits. Yvonne tells me that some classes dance to techno music and do lots of twists and turns, it just depends on what suits the group.

 

Click to see more pictures of how the Heacham line-dancing group got on when we visited them

 

In fact, the association with country and western is a fairly recent phenomenon. Line dancing has its origins in traditional folk dances from a time when it was considered improper for men and women to dance together. This makes it the perfect activity if you want to do something different but are put off by not having anyone to go with.

It saved my life. It gave me something to look forward to each week, and company, it was absolutely brilliant

It seems that once people start they can’t help but get hooked and it’s not just in Heacham. The group regularly goes away on weekends where there are up to 200 dancers just from Norfolk and this is something that’s reflected around the UK.

Even if you can’t find a group near you, all the dances are available on the internet and in line-dancing magazines, so you could think about setting up a group with your friends. ‘When this group started there were only five of us and it just keeps growing and growing,’ says Yvonne. ‘Yes,’ chips in Margaret with a grin, ‘but we’d like to be bigger.’