These boots were made for dancing

By Casey Gillis

Published: June 2, 2008

Of the small group gathered at The Summit for a line dancing class, there’s one dancer in particular who puts a little extra wiggle in her moves.

Linda Parker, the instructor, shimmies to the right and then to the left, her tan, pointy cowboy boots gliding across the carpet. Her thumbs are tucked into her black belt, a practice called “latching on.”
“The reason you do that is to keep your body centered, to keep you from tipping,” the Madison Heights resident says after class.

Parker, 53, has been teaching line dancing since 2000 and revels in surprising people with its versatility.

It isn’t just for country music fans flat-footing to “Achy Breaky Heart,” a once-popular line dancing tune, anymore. Parker teaches classes that utilize hip hop, rock and roll, disco and even ballroom dancing music and moves.

“You incorporate those steps into line dancing, like the cha cha, the rumba and the waltz,” she says. “It’s very well-rounded.”

These days, people can post their own videos and steps on the Internet, and “it’s a whole lot better,” Parker says. “(Before) everybody was doing the same six dances, and it wasn’t going
anywhere.”

Parker first started dancing 17 years ago. At the time, she was a geriatrics counselor in Lynchburg and watched as her clients took line dancing lessons.

“I would just be doing the steps in my office,” says Parker,

She started ordering instructional tapes and doing it at home, and “the more I did it, the more I liked it,” says Parker, who weighed more than 200 pounds at the time. “I started noticing my clothes were getting more and more loose.”

The fact that there’s no partner required also appealed to her.

“My husband doesn’t dance,” she says. “I’ve been dancing all my life, and I’ve married a man who can’t. This is my only chance to dance.”

She began teaching part-time in 2000 after the Parks & Recreation Department instructor quit.

“I had been line dancing, but I had never danced in front of a group of people,” she says.

But she quickly found herself enjoying the spotlight and took over the classes full-time, soon branching out to teach younger people who were interested in it.

“It just kind of snowballed,” says Parker, who used it as a daily workout and eventually lost almost 100 pounds and dropped six dress sizes.

“I don’t diet or anything,” she says. “I just dance every day. I’m 53 years old, but I feel like I’m 30.”

“If you dance for an hour straight, believe me, you’re going to feel it,” she adds. “You need to do it every day. You need to work at it, just like if you go to a gym.”

While most people line dance for fun, Parker says she tries to emphasize its health benefits in her classes. Like many forms of dance, it’s a good workout and promotes stamina and flexibility, she says.

Parker says line dancing also provides “a great mental workout,” especially for seniors, like the ones she works with at The Summit.

“When you go through a repertoire of dances, you have to remember what comes next,” she says. “It’s a workbook. It’s (like) a test they take on a weekly basis.”

She began teaching full-time a couple of years ago and now teaches seven classes to groups of all ages from Monday through Thursday. Parker’s only day off is Friday, and her weekends are spent teaching and performing at special events like weddings, family reunions and parties.

The most fun, she says, is the rush of performing. She recently danced at the opening of the Roanoke Museum’s country exhibit, a black-tie affair.

Parker says she was a little worried when she got there and saw all the tuxes and fancy dresses. Still, she got up there and did her thing. She started out talking about line dancing and says nobody paid her much attention.

But once she started dancing, “after a couple of minutes, it got a little quieter and a little quieter,” she recalls.

She eventually opened up the dance floor to everyone, and at first, only five ventured out to join her.

That didn’t last long.

“When I left later that night, everybody was on the floor,” Parker says, beaming. “Shoes were kicked off.”

Five questions for Linda Parker

What are your favorite songs to line dance to?
“I’m a big George Strait fan. But I also like Latin music (like) J.Lo. It really gets you moving. When you line dance to Latin music, everything goes. It’s a full body workout.”

What’s your ideal outfit to wear while line dancing?
You really need a smooth-bottom shoe. You can’t wear sneakers or flip-flops. It’s so you can turn, so your pivot turns are smooth. You always want to dress in cool upper attire because you will get a workout. (And) you’ve gotta have old jeans on.

What about a belt?
I’ve spent a small fortune on my belts. Belts are the accessories … that make you unique. All my belts are gemmed. It’s an attention-grabber. You want a nice, big belt you can thumb. Most line dancers do not wear belts, but I do. I think a southern lady’s beauty shows through her accessories.

What’s the biggest misconception about line dancing?
That you have to be in shape to start it (or) that you have to have had prior dance experience. Actually, line dancing is one of the few dances you can get into without prior dance experience. Line dancing is counts and memory. If you can count and you can remember, you’re pretty much good.
(It) is choreographed stepping.

Besides the health benefits, what do you enjoy about dancing?
The camaraderie. When you get into line dancing, it’s a great group of people. It becomes like a club, and it’s a great place to meet people. It’s a place where you can just, for the hour, forget about everything.