LINE OF BOOTY
Beyonce causes stampede for country dance classes
YEE-HAW! Beyonce fans inspired by the star’s country album are leading a revival in line dancing.
And it is not just the Single Ladies trying a scoot, brush and kick.
Almost one in four say they are getting roped in for the first time – the highest since country star Garth Brooks toured here in the 1990s.
Google data shows that searches for the pastime more than doubled after Bootylicious singer Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album went to No.1 in the charts last month.
The Mecca Bingo poll also found six in 10 now listen to country music, while four in 10 have snapped up Stetsons, cowboy boots and waistcoats.
Line dancing, in which participants perform steps side-by-side, usually all facing one way, evolved in the 1800s from cowboys in the American West.
It involves no physical contact between dancers, making it an easy way to kick back on a break from herding cattle. Line dancing’s resurgence in the UK is proving more popular with women, but nearly a third of men polled also said they were jumping on the bandwagon.
A similar proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds are hooked on the dances, but over-55s lead the way, with half keen to have a go.
The biggest upsurge was in the South West, rather than the Wild West, with more than half showing an interest – and it will stand them in good stead when country star Shania Twain headlines Glastonbury in June.
Mecca’s poll of 2,000 people came as it launched free line dancing between bingo sessions at selected clubs.
Spokeswoman Sarah O’Neill said: “Cowboy Core is booming. We’re excited to bring the worlds of bingo and country and western together.”