The remixed song ‘Cotton Eye Joy’ is one of the most popular line dances of all time. Whether you’ve danced to it at weddings or at some country bar downtown, the song and dance is unmistakeable. At this youth dance festival, they remixed the moves to put on a spectacular show featuring over a hundred dancers.
The gymnasium is dark, but shadows move across the floor and take positions while a video plays in the background. We see more and more shadows fill the floor as the video continues to be the only light in the whole place. Just how many students are participating in the next routine?
Then the lights come on and the familiar words of the classic line dance song “Cotton Eye Joe” begins to play. The light reveals over one hundred kids dressed as cowboys and cowgirls in lines ready to stomp their boots to the music.
The sheer number of students they were able to teach the choreography to all at once is a feat in itself. The fact that all the students are having so much fun is just a plus and makes it even more fun for the audience to enjoy.
The students start out in rows and start to line dance and you start to think that it’s just going to be one big interpretation of the classic song, but then they really start to move.
They sort of partner up, boys across from the girls, and continue to move their feet with kicks and stomps, just link any line dance. Then fall back into lines and really start to move around the floor. There’s so many kids that staying in sync can be difficult, but the few that are clearly dancers hold the group together.
The festival that these kids were dancing for is called the PDX Youth Dance Festival and was created to help bring young people together in a lot of ways. From making friends to getting together with old ones, from learning to appreciate the arts to develop skills and talent, these kids learned a lot through this experience. Not only did they learn from performing for an audience and throughout the show, but they also learned these skills and discipline through rehearsal, where everything came together.
Pretty soon the kids are paired up, and swinging their partners down the line. They have partner up for a few spins and other moves before falling back into the line dance form. One of their most impressive moves is when groups of cowboys kneel to lift the girls as they move in a circle. Something that probably took some practice to master.
You can certainly tip your hats to these kids as they finish up their routine by striking a pose with their partners. It’s refreshing to see so many young people taking up dancing that not a lot of people do anymore, and that so many viewers on YouTube and online in general enjoyed watching it.
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