ABSTRACT
Line dancing involves the repetition of sequences of movements of the feet, body and, in some cases, the hands, in a relatively small space, in step with a tune selected from the discography known as 'Country Music' or in more traditional locations, 'Country and Western Music'. The problem for attenders at a Line Dancing Class is to 'attend' to the social order. The Line Dancing Class and the general popularity of dancing as a form of exercise emerged with the focus on fitness and individual self-reliance in the 1980s. Adjacent to the Stage is a set of sound equipment manned by an elderly man who plays the music. The Cowboys are an important part of the cast who give meaning to the event. Unlike many other ethnomethodological studies of the classroom, the laboratory, the workplace, a medical consultation or the courtroom, the Line Dancing Class is not a formalized, organized setting with a shared, extensive cultural history.
