Country Dancing
Including 2-step & Western Swing
Western Swing (rooted in the music of Bob Wills) is not much done anymore, but can be one of the most exciting of the Swings.
Progressive Country 2-Steps have been around forever. There are actually many variations of them. In Denver, 2 typically are done:
2 Slows and 2 Quicks, like Foxtrot, but entirely different feel
"Double Triple 2-step, where the Slows are replaced with Triple Steps.
Both Swing and 2-steps share similar fancy moves, with lots of turns and tricks and dips and lifts. Pretzels and Windows and Death Drops are popular.
The 1980s Urban Cowboy craze was the last really big dance style that drew vast numbers of new dancers onto dance floors. They were wearing cowboy boots and hats in NYC!
In Texas, Billy Bobs and Gilleys were entire city blocks, with hundreds (1000s?) of dancers, large tracks with bars at the edges and in the middle of the track. Rows of "bulls" for the brave to ride.
A special feature of 1980s Texas dancing was that the floors were regularly "saw-dusted" throughout the evening, making them as slick as an ice rink. You literally SLID around the corner at the end of the bars. Even walking across a dusted floor could be an experience!
