By Elizabeth Cloutman
Community Center line-dancers enjoy exercise and friendship
You like to dance, but your husband or wife hates to. Or you want to learn dance steps, but you’re a bit klutzy and afraid you might step on your dance partner’s toes. There’s an answer: the Tuesday afternoon line-dancing class, sponsored by the Los Altos Recreation Department.
“We don’t care if you do it right. There’s no wrong,” class instructor Richard Campbell said he tells his class each week. “And if you catch me in a mistake, you get a piece of chocolate candy from the box I brought.”
Line dancing takes familiar ballroom dance steps and puts them into routines set to country and western tunes. During his classes, Campbell breaks the routines into small parts, paced at a slower tempo. He then assembles all the parts into a complete routine, danced at a somewhat faster pace.
During one session two weeks ago, Campbell’s class practiced two dance routines, one to the Oak Ridge Boy’s “Elvira,” and the second, a Texas waltz to the Forester Sisters’ “Their Hearts Are Dancing.”
Campbell encouraged his students to adjust the movements to their individual physical capacities.
While the five women in this class session are remarkably sure-footed, Campbell, laughing, caught himself in a misstep midway through the 60-minute class. The class assembled to chat and collect the promised candy at the end of the session.
The line-dancing class is probably the best dancing bargain in town. The class costs just $3 per class session. Because it is an ongoing class, Campbell said new students are welcome to drop in any time. It meets 1-2 p.m. each Tuesday in Room 4, directly across from the Senior Center (Room 10) of the Hillview Community Center.
The class has no age limits. The youngest class member present appeared to be in her late 40s.
The oldest line dancer is Regina Isbell, a very energetic and nimble 92. She also regularly participates in swing-dancing competitions at Lake Tahoe.
A young woman with a son in the preschool class located nearby had been observing the class during its final moments. She asked if she could join the class the following Tuesday. She was told she was welcome.
“(Line dancing) is good for the mind as well as the legs,” Isbell said.
“The good thing about this is you never step on anyone else’s toes, and it’s a way of meeting new friends.”
Isbell’s classmate Bonnie Rapp frequently added humor to the session, where laughter was common. “I always learn the beginning and end (of routines). I can’t remember the middle,” Rapp quipped.
Campbell, a retired IBM employee who coincidentally lives in Campbell, has been teaching the Los Altos line-dancing class for about a year. He teaches another community education line-dancing class at Fremont High School, and also is a DJ for weddings, and private and corporate parties.
Line dancing has its roots in traditional country dances such as the Cotton-Eyed Joe, Campbell explained. However, since country and western music has become increasingly popular, the choreography has become more varied and sophisticated.
Campbell said he has been an avid ballroom dancer since eighth grade. However in recent years, he found himself tensing up after an evening spent dancing with a partner.
When line dancing became popular about 10 years ago, he found it appealing and relaxing. Like his students, he said he likes not having worry about stepping on a dance partner’s toes.
For information or to enroll in Richard Campbell’s line-dancing class, call the Los Altos Recreation Department, 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., at 948-941-0950. The Recreation Department is located at the Hillview Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave.
