Florida State students traded sneakers and baseball caps for cowboy boots and cowboy hats on Oct. 15 as they headed to Club Downunder’s (CDU) Hoedown Showdown line dancing event.
Hoedown Showdown was put on by CDU in association with The Dosie Doe’s Line Dancing Club at FSU. The event provided a space for beginners to learn a few popular line dances, along with current dancers to show off their moves.
The Dosie Doe’s is fresh to the organization scene on campus, having been recently established this year. The club hosts various events, from general body meetings for members to free line dancing lessons for FSU students at the Leach.
The club sprouted as line dancing has recently gained immense popularity online and is widely popular among FSU students. Users on social media sites like TikTok and YouTube have started to gain traction from posting their favorite dances and showcasing their line dancing communities.
“Line dancing is something that has become so popular, so I thought it would draw a nice crowd,” Jarisleidi Perez, CDU’s co-sponsorship programmer, said to the FSView. “When I went on [The Dosie Doe’s] Instagram, I realized my friend helped start the organization with the current president of the club. This enticed me even more to work with them because I know the amazing people behind the organization.”
The event started off with a quick lesson followed by a social dance for club members. Dancers showed off their line dancing moves to songs such as “Project” by Chase McDaniel, “I See Country” by Ian Munsick and “Can’t Believe It (feat. Pitbull)” by Flo Rida.
Seasoned dancers moved in synch to the tracks with high energy, including criminology and psychology major Arwen Jarquin-Baez. Jarquin-Baez is a regular at The Dosie Doe’s meetings and line dances in her free time.
“My favorite part [of the event] was definitely the line dancing because I love it so much, especially since I know a lot of people who were there,” Jarquin-Baez said. “I’m also just lowkey addicted to going line dancing.”
For the lesson portion of the event, Colin Reynolds, the second Vice President of The Dosie Doe’s, walked attendees through the moves to Bruno Mars’ “Perm.” Students had learned how to kick, pivot and shuffle with a little twang throughout the choreography. Reynolds also encouraged attendees to “activate their sexy” as Mars says in the track by snapping their fingers at the line “silky, smooth and snap.”
“When they were teaching the line dances, I didn’t know what to expect at first, but it was really fun that the line dances they were teaching weren’t to traditional country songs,” media and communication studies major Allysa Laufersky said to the FSView.
The event wrapped up with some more time for attendees to social dance, with new line dancers now able to show off the steps they’ve learned.
The prospect of line dancing in a big group like this can discourage many from the dance floor; however, the “Hoedown Showdown” proved that no matter your expertise level, line dancing is truly for everyone.
“I gained more love for the line dance community because it’s amazing to see both new and seasoned dancers come together in one space, especially because line dancing can be so intimidating to new dancers at a line dance bar,” Jarquin-Baez said.
Holly Whitty is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Hoedown Showdown: CDU and The Dosie Doe’s bring line dancing to FSU
Reporting by Holly Whitty, Staff Writer / FSU News
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