The group offers $5 classes multiple afternoons per week at the Davis Community Church
By EMMA CONDIT — city@theaggie.org
The Davis Line Dance group, run by a group of women who volunteer several days a week, teaches line dancing to the Davis community. Each class, the volunteers break down each step combination into simple, digestible moves that have all of the participants jumping and kicking in perfect, lively unison.
Davis Line Dance President Reeta Palmer shared the group’s journey.
“We started about a year ago,” Palmer said. “We all enjoyed dancing and wanted to get together and teach it as a group.”
Palmer noted that the dance cooperative has over 50 dances in its repertoire. If you are unable to attend an in-person class, the group’s website provides videos, music and explanations of each dance so that you can practice and get moving at home. Palmer then commented on her particular inclination to line dancing.
“I discovered [line dancing] in a senior community, and it was so much fun and such great exercise,” Palmer said. “It was really good for my brain and my body, and the music was fantastic. I just love dancing to music and it’s a lot of social fun.”
At a Thursday afternoon class on April 4, a couple — the Walkers — enthusiastically learned to line dance. The Walkers moved to Davis in early 2020 and, in the four years they have lived here, dance classes, usually geared toward senior citizens, have helped the couple make friends and create a strong community.
“We’re in another class [in Davis], and we met a couple [of] people in this class who said ‘come to this,’” Jim Walker said, referring to a one-day-a-week city of Davis-funded jazz class. “It’s for cognitive connection between the brain and the body.”
Jim Walker explained how their shared interest in dance classes has benefitted their relationship with the Davis community.
“I enjoy [line dancing] more [than jazz, it’s] really great,” Jim Walker said. “We’ve made a lot of friends here. It’s a very welcoming town. Dancing is a great outlet to meet people and expose yourself.”
Throughout the class, participants learned unique line dances to five different songs, and in a short time, the whole room was “handbagging,” ”swishing” and “mamboing.” Each dance had a different style, pace and difficulty level.
Though typically utilized by senior citizens, Davis Line Dance Cooperative classes are for participants of all ages. Younger participants, like college students, are welcomed to classes with open arms and can equally benefit from the techniques employed in line dancing.
Davis Line Dance classes are free for first-time participants and $5 for returners (usually paid in cash), with classes being held three to four times per week at Davis Community Church’s Fellowship Hall. More information can be found on their website at davislinedance.com.
Written by: Emma Condit — city@theaggie.org
