The most popular line dances in France are the "Tush Push", "Electric Slide", and "Boot-Scootin’ Boogie." World-renowned choreographers, such as Max Perry, have translated their line dance step sheets into French. On YouTube, you will find many line dance videos taught in French by French instructors.
When speaking of the line dance craze, Jean Chauveau, the Chairman of the Country Section of the French Dance Federation, says:
"It's growing at a crazy rate. There are thousands of clubs and more are springing up all the time."
French civil servants maintain that line dancing should have the same rules as sports such as football and rugby, which means anyone who wants to give line dance instructions, or run a club for line dancing, must have the diploma.
The plan is to have authorized instructors, who have taken publicly funded training courses, put in charge of line dancing instructions. Amateur instructors will have to take 200 hours of training under the new rules. Professionals will need 600 hours, which will include such subjects as line dancing techniques, body mechanics, and the English language. They will also learn how to teach line dancing to the elderly and will be issued a state-approved diploma at the successful completion of their training.
The cost for the courses will be almost $3,000 for the professionals and about $700 for the amateurs, with most of the tab picked up by taxpayers.
M. Chauveau said the trend illustrates France's “complicated and ambiguous” relationship with the United States. He further stated:
“We love American magic and the American dream, but we hate Americans when we confront the hard reality of their behaviour throughout the world.”
Maria Perez lives in the small town of Perpignan, close to the Spanish Border, with her husband, Isador, who hosts a country music radio program. Line dancing in this area was sparse, so Perez decided to open her own club, the American Dance Club. Through a lot of hard work, she quietly spreads the word and entices the French of the region to give line dance instructions a try.
Maria met with a lot of skepticism at first, because the local inhabitants thought that all line dance music would be old timey country songs, but were pleasantly surprised to find that they enjoyed the modern, upbeat line dance songs used by Perez at her club.
As Perez says,
"What motivates me? First and formemost its la passion – I love the dancing and I love the music. I’m not in it for money – my club is run on a non-profit making basis. I want the club to have a first class reputation where our dancing is based upon quality and class. That’s why I’m currently training up, doing exams, diplomas etc. I want to be able to teach people to dance – but to teach them to dance well. We are finally beginning to scent victory in the air in France – and I have to say that that’s very gratifying indeed."
My conclusion? Line dancing is a wonderful, healthy form of exercise and a lot of fun. If mandatory training makes it better, especially for the elderly, where care has to be taken, then I think it will be beneficial. Only time will tell.
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