Disco dancing and country dancing are two vastly different forms of dancing but one in fact came right after the other. It was not an evolution of dance but a change in history that spurred the movement from disco to country dancing. When the 1970’s came to an end the Disco time period also ended. Quickly following the disco the honky-tonk, country-dancing era began to take over the United States. “One lasting effect of disco was the 1970s and 1980s renaissance in country and western line dancing. Although the two dance cultures were different in style, disco had inspired a resurgence in the popularity of both couple dancing and line dancing, and as disco’s star was waning, a victim of its own success, country music was on the rise,” Ian Driver. (Driver, Ian) American history changed the way people danced. The 1960’s and 1970’s were the times of free lifestyles that could be picked up and moved anywhere at anytime because of the gypsy lifestyle. This lifestyle took a halt when gas shortages were at an all time high and this mobility and ease of life was much harder than the previous years. When the 70’s ended Ronald Reagans reign as the United States president began. Ronald Reagan had the image of a western man and was often photographed, shown on TV, and seen wearing a cowboy hat. (Giordano, Ralph G) His look began showing up in movies and television series so this new lifestyle began to take America by storm. His fame as a Texas man took over and so began the hype of country dancing. While the moves in disco did not lead to the moves in country dancing – history can cause changes that nobody would expect.
Disco was a prominent dance form in the 1970’s. Its abbreviated name “disco” comes from the term “discotheque”. A discotheque is a nightclub for dancing that has elaborate lighting and décor. Discotheques are most commonly found in Europe these days but are not uncommon in large cities in the United States. Disco catered a very specific crowd during its popularity – blacks, gays, and Latinos. The music producers during this era were very vital in the widespread phenomenon of disco. Disco was most often associated with partying and upbeat Motown tracks. The most well known tracks are Cher’s “Take Me Home”, Rolling Stones “Miss You” and Rod Stewart’s “D’Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (Disco) This style of music and dance became popular so rapidly and also ended just as fast. Because of its pop culture influence the lyrics began to be criticized for its racial and indecent slurs. People mostly danced in partners or lines in the discotheques, which is very similar to country dancing. The end of this era is when Country Dance began to pick up its rapid popularity.
The spread of Reagan’s image increased the desire for people to recreate his look and therefor country dancing became exponentially more popular than before. Country dancing is commonly done with a man leading a woman in a partnership dance. The two-step is the most popular. The two-step is as simple as it sounds – two steps forward, one step back. Disco was still lingering in the beginning years of country-dance and therefore the establishments for country dancing, commonly called honky tonks, incorporated country music with bits of disco flares. This allowed people to still engage in the disco pop dance that had just consumed the nighttime entertainment industry while allowing room for the new popular style of country dancing. The classic two-step is much more sped up and incorporates many spins and dips when danced along to the pop country tunes. Because of the quick takeover of country dancing after disco and sense of urgency behind everyone to get out to a honky tonk, country dancing was a fad that took over discotheques for a short time.
The similarities in the dances are not noticeable when you imagine the styles of dance in your head. Disco is a hip-hop, jump around, move your finger across your body style of dance while country is moving in squares, wearing cowboy boots, dancing with a partner all night at first thought. The most prevalent similarity is the partnerships that occur in both. Dancing in discotheques is almost always done with a male and female in a courtship style. Country dancing is also most commonly done in partnerships with the male and female courtship. Country dancing has much more movement across the floor than disco does. Country dancing can take you from one end of the dance floor to the next multiple times and disco dancing does not require movement across the floor and instead you stay in your general area the entire time. Both forms of dance can also be done in lines. In the case of line dancing courtship is not prevalent. Line dancing is extremely popular in country dancing. The music from the disco era has recently been reproduced with a Texas twang and is considered country pop. Peter Applebome spoke of this music and said it is a “blend of disco technology and urban cowboy chic.” (Giordano, Ralph G) The upbeat country tracks are played in the “urban cowboy” dance halls. The reinvented country disco tracks allow dancers to have a larger variety of dance moves. The two styles have very different costumes associated with them. Disco dancers wore brightly colored clothes, sequined dresses, knee high boots, and flare leg pants. Country dancers could be seen in jeans, boots, button down shirts, and cowboy hats for the men. As for the women, dresses and boots were very common.
As previously noted, one would not expect disco and country dancing to have similarities but because of their time in history many notable aspects are similar. From music to line dancing one would not have expected this meshing of dance styles to happen but 30 years later the two are still finding common ground through music and dance moves. But, because of America’s history and the slowed down lifestyle after the 70’s, country dancing and disco have very interesting similarities.