Robyn Buchholz will show you the moves

In the 1984 movie Footloose, small-town leaders banned dancing, worried that the activity would lead their teens down an unrighteous path to drinking, smoking, swearing and worse.

If Robyn Buchholz had written the script, the story would have been quite a bit different.

Buchholz teaches, participates in and advocates for line dancing. Starting on April 1, she will lead a line dancing class in Lebanon offered through LBCC. She thinks that if more people knew about the mental and physical benefits of line dancing, the world would be a better place.

To back up her claim, she points to a 1994 study undertaken by the Mayo Clinic which compared the effects of various activities, including dance, on the brain.

"What they found out was that dance was the only physical activity that benefited the brain," Buchholz said.

Dance seems to help prevent the onset of dementia, including Alzheimer's. It also burns calories and can slow bone density loss.

"Not to mention it's pretty downright fun," Buchholz added.

She wasn't always a believer in the power of dance. When she got started five years ago by taking a class with her daughter, at first the most she could do was laugh. "I said, 'I'll never be able to do this," she recalled.

But she finished the class. "And I've been dancing ever since," she said.

Now she's trying to spread the line dance gospel.

"I think if more people knew what it was about, they would be interested," she said.

Don't be fooled by line dancing's reputation as an activity only for cowboy-hat wearing, boot-stomping, straw-chewing country folk. The dances encompass a wide variety of styles and music, from rock to reggae to rap to disco and more. Boots aren't even necessary, Buchholz promises. The only footwear requirement is that the soles will slide.

Buchholz has first-hand testimony of how line dancing contributes to physical fitness. She recently took a stress test and passed with flying colors.

"They were shocked that I could still talk while I was exercising," she said. "I said, 'I have to do that when I call out the steps.'"

But Buchholz advises people not to look at it as a workout.

"It's not an exercise class," she said, "it's a dance class."

And dance means expression. Buchholz encourages people to lose their inhibitions, evoking an image of how little kids often dance.

"They're jumping up and down and they're going in circles, but they're having fun," she said.

That's the kind of feeling she wants her students to have.

"I love it when I see somebody gets it," she said.

One student, a college-aged young man, had a hard time with the concept of interpreting the moves. But finally, Buchholz saw him in class, putting in turns where the dance didn't call for them. It was clear from the smile on his face that he'd figured out how to express himself.

"For a teacher, it was like, 'Yes! They've got it!'" Buchholz said.

That's the kind of personal liberation that line dancing is all about.

"You're dancing for you," she said. "None of us are professionals. We're not going to be on 'Dancing with the Stars.'"

How to sign up

Linn-Benton Community College offers two line dancing classes in Lebanon this term. On is from 1:30 to 2:50 p.m. on Tuesdays, the other is from 6 to 7:20 p.m. on Tuesdays. Both sessions begin April 1 and run for eight weeks. The cost is $39.

To register, call 259-5801, or show up to the first class. Be sure to wear shoes you can slide in.