Boot Scootin’ Boogie
A line dancing group is kicking up dust in the Sandhills. Belinda Musick taught line dancing in various forms before evolving her classes into Boots & Buckles Line Dancers. Her gigs began before COVID hit but more recently, with the help of Jan McClay, Boots & Buckles became a full-on line dancing group with 30-40 people who regularly participate. You’ll see them pop up at breweries or other local events, teaching or demonstrating their moves.
Belinda and Jan are the main teachers, but others in the group can help with questions. If they are sporting a shirt, that means they earned the honor of being a “wall” — what they call someone on the outer edges of the group who is skilled enough to help lead newbies. Despite what your anxiety tells you, the best place for a beginner isn’t the back, it’s the middle, where you’ll always be looking at someone who knows what they’re doing.
“Line dancing has been big in our state, it just hasn’t been big in Moore County until now,” says Belinda. They don’t want anyone to be intimidated, either. “We break it down to the baby steps,” says Jan. “No one is excluded. It’s men, women, all ages.”
If you’ve ever been to a bar with line dancing, you may have noticed some places do different versions of dances. Turns out, there’s a website called Copper Knob with the most popular versions of each song and its difficulty level. That’s what is taught at Boots & Buckles workshops to give people the best shot at doing the dance “in the wild.”
Jan and Belinda also teach six-week classes at Sandhills Community College, which usually fill up fast. You can also:
- Sign up for a summer session for absolute beginners on Sunday afternoons at Hatchet Brewing Co.
- Join them for a few songs at 7 p.m. the second and fourth Saturday of each month, also at Hatchet; class is $15.
Follow the class on Facebook to see where else they’re rock-stepping.
