In the midst of 200 other students for quarter plus, two freshman girls, Maddison Hagglund and Caitlin Lee, tried line dancing for the very first time.
Line dancing is a social dancing experience where a choreographed dance is learned and then repeated in a sequence. It can be done with or without partners.
Hagglund and Lee ended up finding their community at Cal Poly through the line dancing club.
“We just kept doing it together even after fall quarter started and just kept going,” Hagglund, a bioresource and agricultural engineering major, said.
While line dancing is done all over San Luis Obispo at places such as the Siren, at Dairy Creek and now at the Libertine Brewing Company, Cal Poly also has their very own line dancing club to get students more involved in the activity.
First established in 2005, the Country Line Dancing Club, or CLDC, has around 80 members, according to the club’s president and animal science senior Megan Sumaya.
Sumaya relied on the club for friendships and a sense of identity.
“Being a part of the CLDC made me stay at Cal Poly,” Sumaya said.
These girls got their first introduction to line dancing through the CLDC Friday workshops where members of the club teach lessons each week. They are held in the architecture building in room 5-225 from 5 to 8 p.m every week.
“It’s something I look forward to each week,” Hagglund said.
A membership in CLDC costs $35 for a full year and includes a shirt, access to Friday workshops, Barn Dances and other member-only events.
Alongside the workshops, members are invited to the Barn Dances which are held in the Chumash Auditorium once or twice every quarter, according to Sumaya.
“There’s usually a theme of some kind,” Lee, a graphic communication sophomore, said. “Recently we did a decades one that was fun”
What makes these barn dances special is they are reserved for Cal Poly students and members only. It is also centrally located for first years living in the residence halls and for students to go to after class, Sumaya said.
However, a downside to having it in Chumash is not being able to wear boots because of the hardwood floors.
“There’s something about boots stomping all at the same time and the floor vibrating,” Sumaya said.
However, members can proudly wear their boots at the CLDC Honky Tonks. Honky Tonks are another dancing event that the CLDC membership includes. They’re hosted off campus at the Guild Hall downtown where food and drinks are also served.
Instead of teaching new choreography like at the Barn Dances, members are able to do the dances they already know together and experiment with new ones.
“We introduce new songs and kind of open up the door for members to try out something that we’ve never taught before,” Sumaya said.
These events also allow members to play different music other than country songs including some pop hits.
“It’s a way for us to introduce more of our newer line dances to our members and whatnot, while kind of giving it more of a celebration party kind of feel,” Sumaya said.
Honky Tonks and Barn Dances happen once or twice each quarter for members of the club.
The money the club makes is spent on these dances and also other events and giveaways such as potlucks and raffles.
“Last time at our Honky Tonk, we had an ugly sweater contest which was really cool,” Sumaya said.
Everyone in an ugly sweater was eligible to win a prize and the club does this to make their members feel more included, she said.
Most recently, the CLDC and three other social dancing clubs — Salsa, Ballroom and Swing Club — all collaborated to put on the Winter Bash.
This celebration of dancing was held on Jan. 27 in the Chumash Auditorium and saw over 200 people, according to Sumaya.
During the first two hours, every club taught a lesson in their style of dance and for the rest of the night the DJ alternated between the different styles of music.
“It gives students and staff across campus the opportunity to learn and see the different styles of dance that we do here at Cal Poly and kind of take that back with them,” Sumaya said.
The CLDC has member partner meetings throughout the quarter for members to vote on new songs they would like to learn. To become involved with Cal Poly’s CLDC, follow them @calpolycldc on Instagram.
