Sadly, this year’s annual Voghera Country Festival won’t take place due to COVID concerns.
But, luckily, there are always performances from previous years to look back on.
The celebration of country music is held in Voghera, Italy each year (the sister city of Cheyanne, Wyoming) and is a celebration of American country-western-style music and dance.
Even stars such as Jo Dee Messina have traveled to appear at the show in the past.
According to its website, the secret to the festival’s success is:
“…the right mix of dance and country music that combines the pleasure of listening to internationally renowned American artists to the pleasure of dance the country Line Dance, the Two-Step, West Coast Swing, and the Catalan Style confronting the other European countries with dance competitions where, however, the last goal is to have fun.”
People come from all over each summer to partake in dance workshops from choreographers and to learn modern country line dancing, which we didn’t even know was popular in Europe!
When a performance of the line dance called the “Holy Moly” was performed back in 2016 at the festival, an upload of the video earned itself over 2.4 million views.
People were dying to learn the dance!
Choreographed by David Villellas, who invents line dances in the Spanish Catalan style, it’ll no doubt have you wanting to get up on your feet!
And if you want to learn the dance yourself, you can click here for the breakdown of the steps.
The dance is set to a cover of Kenny Loggins’s famous “Footloose” from the film of the same name. But this version is by country star Blake Shelton.
While the pros lead the line dance, it’s clearly a tutorial – and there are some novices on the scene (hello lady in the yellow shirt!). But it only makes us feel better to know that not everyone can nail it right off the bat!
After all, it’s a 32-count dance!
And it all begins with a rock back jump, a left forward kick, a right heel strut, and a pivot. Got that?
A few more moves and back to center take place before the next set of moves: a right toe strut forward, then a left, then a quarter right turn, right side step, a left slide, and a left stomp.
Ok, we think we’ve got the stomp mastered, but that’s about it.
“Is it just me, or is this dance incredibly hard to learn, if there are repetitions, they are long!” remarked one commenter.
Hey, we never said it was for amateurs!
Our hero in the yellow shirt is struggling but learning quickly as more people join the front of the dance and begin strutting and stomping.
It looks like everyone is having a blast.
Nearly all of the dancers are clad in cowboy hats and boots, though the mixture of jeans and shorts is a good indication that it’s summer in Italy!
Oh, and in case you wondering about the man in front – and many commenters are – that’s David Villellas himself, the dance’s choreographer/creator! That certainly explains why he’s so good.
Be sure to scroll down below to see the whole dance. Can you master any of the choreography just from watching?
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