Line dancers stepping out
A band from the Far North squeezed in some line dancing in Southland yesterday, before taking to the stage last night for Gore's country music festival.
Instructor Diane Perkins had a full house at her beginners' line dancing class yesterday morning, teaching festival-goers and visiting group The Harmonic Resonators some country moves.
Ms Perkins' students, with varying levels of skill, danced the ''cab driver'' to the band's song Kaitaraiwa - Māori for driver.
The morning class, held at the Gore Town & Country Club, and the Resonators' later show at the St James Theatre were both part of the Bayleys Tussock Country music festival, which runs until June 1.
Band member and ukulele player Ryan McIntyre said his group all had a country music background, mostly centred around the Morrinsville Country Music Club in the Waikato.
Two of his fellow musicians had competed in the festival's Gold Guitar Awards and Mr McIntyre said frontman Jeremy Hantler was competing again this year.
He said he enjoyed line dancing and had learned the ''cab driver'' in the same venue at The Southern Stomp last year.
McIntyre said he sang in another band and line danced while performing country classic Achy Breaky Heart.
He was always looking for new dances and often filmed his feet doing the steps, because they were so easy to forget.
''We did cab driver at the start, and it was already gone after [the next dance],'' he said.
Ms Perkins taught basic yet classic line dancing moves such as the grapevine, the k step, where you slowly step the outline of the letter ''k'', and a swaggering move where you step the letter ''v''.
The dance teacher said the ''v'' step could sometimes look like you had just stepped off a horse.
The group also danced to Ron Mitchell's I'll Be Country and Ms Perkins said his songs were great to dance to.
There were more than a few giggles as learners stepped or turned the wrong way, but Ms Perkins said there was endless room for mistakes and it was about having fun.
''There's no line dancing police,'' she said.
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