I started dancing country swing right after I got off my mission in 2023. That summer I taught at FSY, and somewhere between the late nights and the music, I got hooked. What I loved most was the expression—the way you could take a move and bring it to life with your own creativity.
When I started at BYU, I kept at it. I danced with Renee, learned more moves and line dances, but eventually I began to lose track of what I had picked up. By my sophomore year, I wanted to do more than just dance—I joined the swing dancing committee, first as an instructor, and later as an officer. That’s when the gaps became obvious.
We had lists of moves and line dances. We had names. But we didn’t have a central place to learn them. A “pretzel” was just “pretzel,” with nothing explaining where it started, where it could go, or the different exits that branched out from it. Some moves even had multiple names—was it “butterfly” or “bow and arrow”? We didn’t have videos, choreographers, step sheets, or a way to show how the moves flowed together. And without that, knowledge slipped through the cracks.
So I started sketching maps—how moves began, where they ended, and how they could connect. That’s when the idea clicked: what if there was a place where all of this could live? A website that cataloged moves and line dances, explained variations, gave credit to choreographers, linked videos, and even let dancers search songs to see if there’s a line dance for them.
That idea became countryswing.dallinking.com.
Right now, the site is live but still in progress. The landing page is up (though only the hero section is finished), and the search pages for moves and line dances are built. Content is what I’m working on now—filling in the actual moves, line dances, videos, and explanations. I’m also thinking hard about how best to teach, how SEO can help people find what they need, and how moves should be structured so dancers can see natural progressions. For example: if you’ve learned the basic, the site should suggest the moves that naturally branch out of it.
Once the core content is in place, I plan to extend the platform with:
- A suggestion form, so dancers can add missing moves or line dances.
- A “getting started with country swing” guide, for absolute beginners.
- An event search, to find nearby dances and competitions.
- A dance hall search, to discover places to dance in your area.
- A workshop search, to connect dancers with opportunities to grow.
For now, I’m keeping it simple—I want something people can actually use before building more. What I’d really love is feedback: does this sound like a site you’d use? What would make it most valuable for you?
This is still just the beginning. But my hope is that countryswing.dallinking.com becomes more than a site—it becomes a way for dancers to learn, share, and document the things that they discover.
