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African Dance Trends Get Fit with Video Workouts Line Dances Around the World Trends in Hip-Hop Dance Trends in Martial Arts The World of CrossFit Yoga Fitness Zumba Fitness Copyright © 2015 by Mitchell Lane Publishers All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The facts in this book have been thoroughly researched. Documentation of such research can be found on pages 44-45. While every possible effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher will not assume liability for damages caused by inaccuracies in the data, and makes no warranty on the accuracy of the information contained herein. The Internet sites referenced herein were active as of the publication date. Due to the fleeting nature of some web sites, we cannot guarantee that they will all be active when you are reading this book. Printing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kjelle, Marylou Morano. Line dances around the world / by Marylou Morano Kjelle. pages cm. - (Dance and fitness trends) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61228-556-6 (library bound) 1. Line dancing-Juvenile literature. I. Title. GV1768.K54 2015 793.3—dc23 eBook ISBN: 9781545751435 2014006930 PBP Contents Introduction Chapter One An Achy Breaky Dance Caballo Dorado and Mexican Line Dance Chapter Two The History of Line Dance Square Dancing Chapter Three Line Dance Basics Salsa Chapter Four Crossing the Line: The Line Dance Explosion Israeli Folk Dance Chapter Five Get in Line! Basic Line Dance Moves Where to Get Started Chapter Notes Further Reading Books On the Internet Works Consulted Glossary Introduction There’s no two ways about it: you need to exercise if you want to stay healthy and fit. You don’t have time to run on a treadmill or lift weights, you say? Why not make line dancing your fitness routine? Line dancing meets all the requirements of an exercise regimen. It involves a lot of movement, and movement burns calories. Fast- paced line dances can also be an aerobic workout when done one after another.1 As you exercise, you’ll take in more oxygen, which will benefit your heart and lungs. When you line dance, you use the large muscles of your body, particularly the hamstrings of your legs, which will become strong, sculpted, and toned. And, if all of those reasons aren’t enough to get you doing the Tush-Push or the Wobble, remember that all types of dancing, including line dancing, relieve stress. Less stress leads to better physical health, but reducing your stress level will also give you more self-confidence. You’ll sleep better, and be more mentally alert and better able to tackle school, home, and work responsibilities. If you haven’t exercised in a while, there’s no need to worry. You can begin learning to line dance, no matter what your fitness level. There are plenty of ways to learn to line dance, either on your own or as part of a class. So what are you waiting for? Isn’t it time you got in line and learned to line dance? Chapter 1 An Achy Breaky Dance Most young people today know Miley Cyrus’s name. The teen star of the television show Hannah Montana is now a popular entertainer in her own right. And most people who know Miley have also heard of her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, an actor and country music singer. Billy Ray burst onto the country music scene in 1992 with his first album, Some Gave All. Before that he was an unknown singer and songwriter who was working with a band called Sly Dog and performing at clubs in Ironton, Ohio. While he was putting his album together, Billy Ray searched for a special song to go with the other nine that he had already chosen to record. Joe Scaife, one of Billy Ray’s producers, suggested Billy Ray consider a song with a catchy beat called “Don’t Tell My Heart.” It had been written by a struggling songwriter named Don Von Tress. Don wanted the song to be a humorous response to the end of a romantic relationship.1 Joe played a demo version of “Don’t Tell My Heart,” which had been recorded on a cassette tape, for Billy Ray. As he listened on a boombox, Billy Ray was fascinated by the song’s lively chorus: Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart I just don’t think it’d understand As soon as Billy Ray heard the song, he knew he had to record it and include it on Some Gave All. “Once I got a hold of it, I never let that song out of my grasp. I loved it. And I knew Joe was right. It was going to be a hit,” Billy Ray wrote in his memoir, Hillbilly Heart. The singer felt an instant connection with the music. “I jumped out of my chair, raised my arms in the air, and exclaimed, ‘That’s me! That’s me! I love it,’” he wrote. “It was pure . southern rock- stompin’ fun, a good time waiting to happen, and I knew people would want to dance to it. I could hardly sit still myself.”2 Before the album was even released, Billy Ray was performing “Don’t Tell My Heart” at the club where he worked. He says the people who came to hear him play called “Don’t Tell My Heart” the “Achy Breaky song.” Billy Ray remembers, “I [heard the audience call] every night, all night long. ‘Play that Achy Breaky song.’ I could . just play it over and over.”3 Encouraged by his fans, Billy Ray eventually changed the title of “Don’t Tell My Heart” to “Achy Breaky Heart.” When recording artists create an album, they select a few songs to be released as singles. Hopefully, the singles are then played on the radio and become popular enough that fans will buy the album. After Billy Ray changed its name, he released “Achy Breaky Heart” as Some Gave All’s first single. Everyone from Billy Ray’s label had the same feeling: if ever there was a song made for dancing, “Achy Breaky Heart” was it. A choreographer named Melanie Greenwood came up with a line dance that the audience could do while they listened to “Achy Breaky Heart.” Billy Ray remembers: “The dance [she created] soon became known around the world as the Achy Breaky.”4 To promote the album, Billy Ray recorded a video of himself and his band playing “Achy Breaky Heart” in front of a live audience. Billy Ray and his team also made an eleven-minute video demonstrating the Achy Breaky dance. They sent it to cowboy bars and dance clubs across the country. The dance video popularized the Achy Breaky dance before “Achy Breaky Heart” was released as a single or even played on the radio.5 “‘Achy Breaky Heart’ had all the magic I’d anticipated, and then some,” remembers Billy Ray.6 People in the music business agreed. “[‘Achy Breaky Heart’] would not have been nearly as successful without the dance that goes with it,” said Dave Shepel, who was the music director at a country radio station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the time. “It’s been a long time since a dance craze has caught on as quickly as this one.”7 Billy Ray Cyrus’s big hit “Achy Breaky Heart” was first titled “Don’t Tell My Heart.” Billy changed the song’s name when his fans kept asking him to play “that Achy Breaky” song. Almost overnight, Billy Ray became a successful recording artist. He and “Achy Breaky Heart” reignited an interest in country-western music. Billy Ray also paved the way for a new wave of country- western musicians like Randy Travis, Reba McIntire, Garth Brooks, and Faith Hill to take to the stage.8 But even more than reawakening country-western music, Billy Ray and “Achy Breaky Heart” also brought line dancing back into the mainstream.9 Suddenly line dancing was everywhere, and those who loved to dance couldn’t wait to get in line. Billy Ray Cyrus received an American Music Award in 1993 for “Achy Breaky Heart,” the song that brought line dancing back into the mainstream. And what of the song that inspired the modern line dance craze? “Achy Breaky Heart” spent twenty weeks on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs list; it was number one for five of those weeks. “Achy Breaky Heart” also received the 1992 Country Music Award for Single of the Year.10 The popularity of the single “Achy Breaky Heart” led the Some Gave All album to debut at number one on both Billboard’s country and pop album charts. Success of this kind for an album was unprecedented.11 Four single records were eventually released from Some Gave All, but the most popular song was, and still remains, “Achy Breaky Heart.” It is the song that got people not only singing its catchy tune, but dancing to it as well. You’ve Just Finished your Free Sample Enjoyed the preview? Buy: http://www.ebooks2go.com.

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