It’s homecoming season at EIU where lots of events take place left and right including the Hoedown Line Dance.
This event took place in the University Ballroom Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. It was hosted by the University Board along with volunteers to help.
As the event started, guests would walk in this western themed “saloon” and would quickly get ready to dance wearing their country boots and hats. For every song they played, the instructors gave a dancing lesson. EIU student Devon Hester was excited to be taught how to dance considering that she loves dancing.
“It’s cool that people came out to teach line dances. It gives people a good opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and learn something new,” Hester said.
Instructor and student Kayla Tomaszkiewicz was delighted to get back into the line dancing spirit due to her line dancing club that was removed off campus a year ago.
“It’s the first time I’ve been able to get out of my comfort zone,” Tomaszkiewicz said. “Even though you would mess up, it doesn’t matter. It’s just great to meet new people and to create new bonds. It was great to teach others how to dance.”
Everyone that participated danced to many popular line dancing songs such as “Good Time” by Alan Jackson and “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” by Luke Bryan. There were some that didn’t dance at all, but just watched and enjoyed the event according to EIU student Alex Jones.
“I enjoy watching the dances even though I’m not a dancer, it feels good to see others because it inspires me,” Jones said.
Another EIU student named Delores Jordan also sat and watched. She was pleased with the way this event was all set up.
“My best part of this event was interacting with other students and learning new dances,” she said. “I also liked that they made a fun environment for not just us but for residents that live in Charleston that came to dance as well.”
This event featured three dance groups known as the EIU Dancers, EIU Pink Panthers and the EIU Pantherettes. All three groups had their own style and choice of music that had everyone cheering them on.
EIU dancers gave an 80s vibe following two popular songs “Raining Men” and “Take On Me”, followed by the EIU Pink Panthers dancing to the famous line dancing song “Cotton Eye Joe” and finally the Pantherettes dancing to “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus.
The instructors decided to kick it up a notch by doing more than just country music but exploring other genres.
They played the cupid shuffle, the turbo dance and even footloose. As the event began to simmer down, the University Board thanked everyone for coming. One of the volunteers, Billy Torain, explained that they wanted to make the event for everyone and was happy that they were involved.
“Overall, I feel like it was very enjoyable. It was a slow start but as soon as it picked up everyone enjoyed themselves,” Torain said. “We didn’t want to just play regular dancing music, we wanted to make everyone feel included by adding all types of music too. And it was cool for the people to teach us.”
Koria Downs can be reached at at 581-2812 or at kdowns@eiu.edu.
