By Ashley Wiebe

Last minute line dance lesson requires quick feet

Jul 24, 2018 | 4:53 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Wendy Blackwell has been line dancing for a little over five years and began teaching it shortly thereafter.

“I lived in a very, very small village with 200 people and there was nothing in terms of a physical exercise program,” she said. “So somebody started one up and in a very short order we had no instructor and it was either do or die so I jumped in and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

She describes it as social, physical and adds “it can be as challenging as you want it to be.”

CHAT TV’s Ashley Wiebe wanted to learn a few moves ahead of the official opening of the Exhibition and Stampede. She invited the Stampede Queen, Haley Schlenker, and Stampede Princess, Abby Perrett, after hearing neither of the girls knew how to line dance.

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Blackwell needed to start with the basic foot work, which meant no music.

She wanted the three beginners to understand the steps, one count at a time, before she hit play.

“If you think you can’t, you can’t,” Blackwell said, before the class began. “If you think you can, you probably can.”

Blackwell said that while she may be playing more country tunes this week, the line dancing steps aren’t saved specifically for a few days in July.

“We do this all year round,” she said. “There’s in excess of 60 ladies signed up to dance with the Veiner Liner dancers and we have sometimes as many as 44, 48 at one time.”

The dancers themselves are all at different skill levels

“We had a lot of fun,” said Schlenker.

“The steps were a little tricky at first, but once you got into it and heard the music, it was a lot of fun,” said Perrett.

“Line dancing is also not just country,” Blackwell added. “We do waltz’s and tangos and cha-cha’s and all sorts of things. Even rap music now.”

Blackwell likes the mix of genres, adding in different rhythms and sequences as a new challenge.

“Dance is dance,” she said. “It all translates from one to another, so no matter what your dance experience is, you can come and line dance.”

“It’s maybe not as popular here as it once was, but when Stampede comes around, I think it brings everybody back and it’s so much fun,” Schlenker added.