We're all getting into line

Yee-har, guys and gals, gather round for a lickety-split dozy-do of a dancing competition. Oh sorry, this ain't no C & W barn dance. This here is line dancing. And in these northern parts we believe that a scuffin' of heels and a slappin' o' thighs is an altogether different dance form than the rodeo moves practised by our rhinestone pardners Doris Day and Kenny Rogers over the pond. What the doggone heck of a Bad Dog Boogie is this gal on about, you may quiz? None other than the British Line Dancing Championships. Held at Wembley Arena this week (May 23) the cream of the craze that is line dancing will be dusting down their best steel-tipped boots and ironing those off-the-shoulder frilly blouses for a Watermelon Crawl of a day out.

Promising an array of displays, workshops and, of course, the competitive side, the second British Line Dancing Championships put an official rubber stamp on a dance phenomenon that has swept the UK in the last decade. With 20,000 clubs at the last count and more than two million participants, line dancing is reputedly overtaking the top social pursuits of bingo and karaoke. The art of tush pushing, a scoot'n'boogie and ski-bumping round the dancefloor to a Garth Brooks or Dean Brothers song is de rigeur for all ages.

Niki Smith from Glasgow Council confirms this universal appeal. The 50-plus Community Recreation Officer has been a dance teacher since the age of 14, but says that line dancing is the ultimate in breaking down the social barriers. ''It's very quick and easy to learn,'' she confirms. ''That's why you really do get grannies, mums and daughters coming along to learn together.'' The vast majority of men apparently shy away from the dance-floor which means the women are left partner-less. ''The great thing about line dancing is the fact that you don't need

a partner,'' says Smith. ''So there are no problems about being unattached or a partner with no sense of rhythm. The very nature of line dancing forces you to meet different people.''

Not only is the fun-factor huge with line dancing, but the health factor is also a consideration. As Smith continues: ''Line dancing is a gift of a pursuit for the overweight because it's a real confidence booster. You don't need to batter away on a step machine when you can do this great low-impact aerobic and dress up at the same time!'' Only last month, a Scots professor, David Purdie, claimed that the country craze could help combat osteoporosis by aiding suppleness. It was only after his older patients confirmed line dancing as their main form of exercise that Purdie realised the importance. Now the Professor at the Centre for Metabolic Bone Disease at the University of Hull has teamed up with a dance tutor to create new routines to help osteoporosis sufferers.

According to a Line Dancing magazine article on the origins of line dancing, the first recognisable steps this century could be seen in ''fad'' dances like The Stroll and The Madison, before disco boogied along in the 70s and The Hustle and Bus Stop dances took the floors by storm. Bits and pieces were collected en route due to the John Travolta 80's vehicle Urban Cowboy. It may have flopped, but the movie sparked a trend in country clubs and the Stomp, Four Corners and Tush Push were born.

As Drummond says: ''The real breakthrough came with the Billy Ray Cyrus song Achy Breaky Heart in 1992. In a clever marketing ploy the record company ran a national competition to find the best choreographed dance to appear in his video. Thousands bought the record and it snowballed.'' The dance spread like wildfire fanned by American army bases across Europe where the military initiated locals into the four-step. As a nation with a ready affinity for country and western music, the UK was ripe to be line danced. Legend has it that the salubrious environs of Pontins, Hemsby, Norfolk were the first to break into a four-step.

Among the first line dancers was European Line Dancing Champion and leader of the British team for years, Rob Fowler. This cowboy lived out the lyrics of many a twanging Nashville hit. Selling up everything he had, Fowler took the #12,000 raised and flew to Houston, Texas in search of some hot-darn steps. ''I travelled 6,000 miles in eight weeks and blew the lot,'' he recalled. ''I'd go out to a different club every night and people would teach me new steps and then say: 'Oh there's another club 500 miles up the road you should go to.' and off I'd go.'' So inspired by the kick-ass vibrant scene of Texas, Fowler returned to London and set up the Houston Hustlers club where he taught the new steps. A timely move given the impending Billy Ray Cyrus turbo-hit that was to energise a nation of couch-potatoes.

Ever the trailblazer, Fowler was one of the first to incorporate techno-line dancing into the scene. With a little help from Pete Waterman's first manufactured techno line dance band Steps in 1997, the techno line dance took off with the song ''5,6,7,8.'' Another enzyme was Line Dance Personality of the Year, Johnny (My- real name-is-Houston-and-I'm-from-Ayrshire) Two-Step. Aged 40 and billing himself as ''the crazy man of country'', Johnny is a great believer in encouraging a younger generation into line dancing. ''You have to give them something to entice them into the scene,'' he reasons. ''That's why you get the disco breaks in there and the hip-hop moves because it appeals to them. And once they're in, you start playing the best country tracks and you find the youngsters get hooked on that as well.''

The flashier moves and free-style fancy steps recalled similar schisms in the old guard of country and western who took exception to the early line dancers need to swamp the restricted dance-floor space. However, the young fans love the incorporated disco, hip hop and break moves. Louise MacDonald, 17, from Aberdeen is a convert. ''You don't have to dress like Doris Day to be a line dancer now,'' she says. ''There's more freedom and its far funkier than before.''

But what of the line dancing costumes? Are they as funky as the traditional Grand Ol' Opry wardrobe? Personalities like Johnny Two-Hand confess to sporting excessive showbiz delights. He thrills: ''When I'm doing my free style moves I wear my black and white cowskins with a black bolero dinner jacket trimmed with cowskin and white fringes. Then for my gambler costume I wear a lot of diamante, a pack of four aces and . . .'' he fizzles on in excited manner.

Not every line dancer is as brazen as pardner Two-Step. Eileen Frater is team leader of this week's Scottish Championship entrants, the Cross Hands. ''We are far more subdued,'' she confirms. ''We'll be wearing our yellow yolk shirts and black jeans made by one of our team. We'll just be concentrating on having a good time in this electric atmosphere.''

Whether you're an irresistible 80-year-old show-off or a ten- year-old gun-slingin' wannabe, it seems that line dancing has a space in it's ranks for you. Heck, even Scotland's own Sydney Devine found his career revitalised with the phenomenal success of The Big Country Line Dance Party LP. What other social church can testify to such catholic tastes?

n The British Line dancing Championships are at Wembley arena on May 23.