As I walked into the studio and saw a sea of stripey tops and smiley faces I knew this was going to be a fun party.And sure enough it was! The ladies at Izzy's hen do line dancing party turned out to be stars of the western barn dance, perfecting this circular partner swapping dance to Shania's classic 'Rock this country'. We started off with a gentle warm-up, learning the Electric slide line dance, which the girls picked up in no time so we added in extra claps, turning grapevines and yee-hahs to give them more of a challenge. Then we cranked it up a notch, spinning each other round and round as we stripped-the-willow to 'Cotton Eye Joe' which again was almost perfectly executed - these ladies knew their ceilidh moves. A quick break for drinks and nibbles before learning the Western Barn Dance, first just in pairs, concentrating on the tricky sequence of steps as you tap feet with your partner whilst walking, before attempting the same moves in a circle, swapping partners at the end of each repetition. This worked a treat and we danced to the end of the song with lots of giggles and very few mistakes. We switched around so everyone got a turn at being twirled around (the girls part) before another quick break to get our breath back. Then it was time to learn a full routine to 'Save a horse, ride a cowboy' with lots of lassoing, galloping, grapevines and toe-taps to fit with the lyrics to comedic effect. We even added line switches and another version of stripping the willow for the instrumental section. We performed the routine from beginning to end and filmed it. Seen as the girls been such pros throughout we had time at the end to repeat their favourite routine, the Western Barn Dance, and play my 'flirty disco' partner dance game, in double its usual speed, to Footloose. If they weren't sweaty before that game, they certainly were by the end! Ladies, you were absolute stars for having so much energy and really throwing yourselves into the country style, you definitely danced for your dinner!
Categories: Hen Party, Line Dancing, Dance Party
