Line Dancing Keepin 'er Country

In Ireland, country music is more popular than ever.

A host of new country music stars have tempted a generation

to turn their back on the nightclub, don their Stetsons

and jive the night away - from Ballymena to Ballydehob.

This week, it's one step forward and two steps back,

with Ireland's most dedicated line dancers.

Side, rock, half sailor top.

From Kildare to Crossmaglen...

Six, seven, eight...one.

..we meet the people who keep on stepping.

It's definitely a family tradition.

Mummy, cousins.

I just love it. Line dancing's great, like.

But unless you know your heel grinds from your hitch kicks...

Your footwork must be correct.

..you'll find yourself out of line in this ultra-competitive world.

My body's like this cos I'm so nervous.

With Irish and world titles up for grabs...

This is what she's been working for her whole life.

..who will step their way to line dance glory?

So, your World Champion, 2016...

Welcome to the heel-stomping world of Irish country music.

In Ireland in the mid-1990s,

if you weren't line dancing, you weren't living.

Oh, it's a fierce good hobby.

Everybody says you should have good hobbies, yes.

A good hobby. Isn't that right?

But since those heady days,

two opposing camps have split line dancing down the middle.

For me, the traditional line dance is what it's all about.

On one side of the floor,

traditional line dancers still tip their hat to a pure country style.

I would say our dance is really pure and traditional,

the line dancing that we do.

On the other side...

..well, they do things a little differently.

MUSIC: 9 To 5 by Dolly Parton

We kind of added in a lot of technique and style.

But despite their differences on the dance floor...

To us, it's not line dancing.

It needs to have a wee bit of the cha-cha and a bit of the hip-hop.

..these separate groups have one thing in common...

It's country, it's keep her lit, that's it! Yeah!

..a love of country music.

Fidelma Brannigan runs Kildare's premier line dance troupe.

Five, six, seven and forward and back.

One and two...

Known as Fidelma's Stompers,

they're gearing up for the highlight

of the traditional line dancing calendar -

the All-Ireland Championships.

This year, we are entering into a competition. It's our first time,

so it's all new to us.

The Stompers may be competing in the Championships for the first time,

but such is the popularity of line dancing in Ireland's

flattest county, they're entering two teams.

This is the first time!

We're on separate teams, so he's my competition.

There's a lot of tension some nights at practice.

Nowhere is that tension felt more keenly than between

line dancing lovebirds John Reid and Annona Deegan.

We're in different teams, but that brings a bit of competitive spirit to the...

-We'll see on the day of the competition.

-Yeah.

I'll trip her up.

We started off as friends and we just got together one night

and we've been together ever since.

A little over a year now.

But having found love through line dancing, let's hope the All-Ireland

competition doesn't prise them apart.

You can see the stress levels are very high.

There's a lot of bitching and it's just the stress levels.

Biting the head off one another and all, but...

I mean, we leave it at home... we leave it in the hall.

We don't take it out with us.

In South Armagh, professional line dancer and choreographer

Shane McKeever is a world recognised talent.

This is Crossmaglen. This is where I grew up.

We're just passing the community centre.

That's where they had a homecoming for me there a few years ago,

whenever I'd won the gold medal in the World Dance Sport Games.

Shane earns his living on the modern line dancing circuit,

which broke away from the traditional form of the dance

and is almost unrecognisable as line dancing.

I travel all over the world now, you know,

with the dancing and it's funny to think, you know,

I'm just a country boy from Crossmaglen, you know.

Like many a fella from Crossmaglen,

Shane developed his fancy footwork on the Gaelic pitch.

I used to train and then play matches on this pitch

from under-eight right up to under-16.

Most people would have chose football but, you know,

I chose the dancing and from that I've won 18 world titles,

so I think I made the right decision.

Round these parts, whether it's traditional or modern,

line dancing is in the blood.

Five, six, seven, eight.

Dancing has been a big part of the McKeever family and of ourselves,

the McCusker family. One of our kids was going to be a dancer, you know,

and it just happened to be Shane.

You know, we argue that we think it's the McCusker side.

It's definitely not.

Definitely the McKeever side.

But none of the family can match Shane's trophy haul,

winning his first when he was just six.

Most of these here are my line dancing trophies and this is my

first-ever World Championship trophy when I was six.

This is in Nashville, Worlds 2000.

When you win the World Championships, you get your trophy,

but you also get a belt buckle.

I used to wear these when I was younger and competing and stuff,

but my uncle wants to take a few here.

He's saying he'll wear them more than I will.

I'm very, very proud of Shane and seeing him on TV and sitting here

and watching him, he's still our baby to me and his dad, you know?

Well done, boys!

You have still got it, huh?

Shane's unprecedented success means he is in demand as a coach.

Snap your feet right together and, boom, right up.

Yeah?

One of his proteges is 23-year-old Jessica Devlin from Coalisland.

I think I was using this to just go...

Yeah.

-..straight into it.

-Too much power with it.

It's just a slower spin, so hold it.

Five, six, seven, control.

In four weeks' time,

Jess will compete in the Modern Line Dance World Championships

in Blackpool, where she hopes to win the ultra-competitive

All Star category.

Jess can do really well at the Worlds.

The only thing that's kind of standing in her way is her own mind.

Everybody wants to win and I think when it comes to the All Stars,

it's just a throw-up. You just don't know. Everybody's amazing, like.

Definitely. I think Jess has been really working hard all year and

she's doing really well in all the qualifying competitions,

so, hopefully, she'll do well.

There you go. Not often I hear that from Shane.

Usually it's like, "Do it better, do it better!"

Modern line dancing has broken away from the traditional form and the

dancers are expected to incorporate a range of different styles.

It just kind of evolved over the years into what it is now,

to try and go along with the times.

We've added in a lot of technique and style in from other genres

of dance like ballroom, Latin and hip-hop,

to try and get more kids involved so it could grow

and still be around year after year.

Ballroom and hip-hop steps have no relevance for

traditional line dancer John.

He's preparing for the All-Ireland Championships

and he never misses an opportunity to practise.

Sometimes these shifts can be long.

And to de-stress, go dancing most nights.

It helps.

Hi, guys.

Line dancing isn't just social for John, it's life-saving.

The first heart attack was ten years ago.

A couple of years after that, I got into line dancing just to keep fit.

Then I had another attack a couple of years ago.

And I have to say, if I wasn't line dancing, I don't think I'd be here.

With the All-Ireland Championships only two weeks away,

John is preparing to go heel to toe against the woman he loves.

Yeah, there is a bit of rivalry going on, but it's all good fun.

I mean, it's my first time and Annona's time in a competition

in the teams or the groups.

Winning an All-Ireland will determine who wears

the boot-cut jeans in this relationship.

Competition's coming thick and fast and we've only got

a couple of weeks left, so any chance I get I try and get a couple

of minutes in somewhere and do a few steps, you know, yourself,

because I need to beat Annona's team,

because I will just never hear the end of it.

Back home in Kildare,

Annona seems to be more interested in her night out

than beating John in the competition.

We're heading down to Thurles for a hoedown.

It's more a social night, actually.

There will be people from Cork, Limerick, Kildare, Thurles,

Kilkenny - all over, and they'll just all come together.

And if you're going to a hoedown, it's important to look the part.

Well, generally when we're going to hoedowns,

we just like to bring cowboy hats.

Some of them wear cowboy boots, some wear hats.

They say hoedown, everybody thinks, "Oh, cowboys, Cotton-Eye Joe.

"It's a hoedown, you get your hot pants or your cowboy hats."

Annona's daughter, Amy, is following in her mum's line dancing steps.

I got into line dancing because when my mum started it she had no-one

to mind me, so she had to bring me with her and then,

one of the nights, I decided just to take it up and try it.

There's no other, like, dancing things or anything in Ireland

that kids or teenagers can go out with their mum and, like,

spend the night out with them.

Come on, girls, are yous ready? Let's go!

And when your partner's a bus driver, well,

you're never stuck for a lift to the dance.

The bus adds an aspect of the social to it,

because the lads can have a few drinks before they get on the bus

and then they can have a drink or two while we're heading down here,

and it saves them driving.

I'll pick them up and I'll drop them home.

# I'm happy with what I got

# Cos what I got is all I need

# Just cos it don't cost a lot, don't cost a lot

# Don't mean it's cheap. #

Nights like tonight may be the last opportunity for people to brush up

on their steps before the All-Ireland Championships,

but for these dancers, it's all about being social.

We come for the drinking and the social,

and the social and the craic, yes.

-To get away from the children.

-And to get away from the children.

It's awful important.

Basically, you come here and the only thing you want to do

is just enjoy yourself.

You forget about everything that's happening outside

and it's just your feet want to keep moving.

Line dancing's very accessible for people,

because it's not an expensive thing to do.

We attend them all over Ireland.

We go to Sligo, Cork, Dublin.

Anywhere we can go without too much hassle, we'll be at that hoedown.

As you can see, we've had great dancing done tonight and there's a

good laugh with everybody, and this is what happens at most hoedowns

that I bring the crowd to.

So, yeah, there's good craic on the bus and they'll be a bit sleepy on the way home.

In Crossmaglen, modern line dance coach Shane is as skilled with

a Stetson as he is with steps on the floor.

Only the fellas wear the cowboy hats, so this is the hat here.

Nothing in it or anything.

Just the flat, flat base.

I learnt this trick when I was about seven or eight.

So, bring the hat across...

All good.

Yo, Jess.

So, we'll do pro-am today.

We'll work on the West Coast first, cos it probably needs the most work.

With the Modern Line Dancing Championships only two weeks away,

23-year-old Jess is training hard,

as she bids to win her very first world title.

My nerves are starting to build up now, because it's getting closer,

but I think, you know, we've been working really hard,

but there's always things I need to work better on and I think

whenever there is even a little, small thing, in my head I blow it

out of proportion and that's what makes me make more mistakes.

The pressure of Worlds as well just kind of adds to the nerves.

Jess has been working towards a world title ever since she first

started competing, aged eight.

These are pictures of my first-ever competition.

So, this is when it was really country.

This one I'm wearing, like, a wee bandanna thing around my neck,

which is really country.

I like to try and mess it up a wee bit and have like you're still very

modern, but you're still country and keep the country in it.

In Kilkenny, Ray Cahill isn't a man who likes to "mess things up a bit".

Left, right, left.

Touch, unwind.

Ray is a head judge at this year's

traditional All-Ireland Championships

and he's a stickler for the rules.

They will be docked marks on the day if they haven't done the dance

the way it's actually described in the sheet itself.

Sometimes in competition it's hard to separate them

because their footwork is almost perfect or perfect,

so you're trying to find something that will actually separate them

and give you a first, second and third.

The way I term that is how entertaining they are

to the crowd who are actually sitting there looking at them.

A spectator sitting there watching will say,

"Oh, look at that girl there, she's a lovely dancer.

"She has a nice style about her, she has a lovely attitude."

That's what we're looking for.

In Kildare, Fidelma knows exactly what Ray is looking for as

she puts her Stompers through their final steps before the competition.

Don't forget to smile.

# You see us there on the edge of town

# A handful of kids, settling down

# Tell me now, what do you see? #

But one person's bus isn't running on time.

John is running late. Yeah.

Oh, you're in trouble.

-What time would you call this, John?

-Ah, sorry, I was working late.

Just had to get over. Ah, sure, I'm the best dancer here.

Oh, well, we'll know now when you get up on

-the dance floor, won't we?

-We'll see.

I was filling in for you AGAIN tonight.

-Again?

-Yeah.

-Well, I'm here now, so no more filling in.

They said it was the best rehearsal ever.

-LAUGHTER

-I don't think so!

Fidelma has two line dance teams in this year's competition.

One and two and three and four...

With John and girlfriend Annona on opposing sides of the floor,

both are hungry for victory.

We have a bet going on that basically if John's team loses

he buys dinner on the day and vice versa -

if my team lose, I buy dinner on the day,

but it looks like John will be buying dinner on the day.

-I don't think so.

-We'll see.

In Coalisland, modern line dancer Jess is getting ready to leave

for the World Championships in Blackpool.

We have the white cha-cha accessories, black nightclub.

-Yes.

-With accessories.

-Yeah.

Jess's Nanny Bea is in charge of packing the tonne of dresses needed

for the weekend's dancing.

Well, I think that I just make sure that everything that we need's about.

Nanny knows where everything is.

-Yeah.

-Even if I say to Nanny, "Don't put that in the suitcase,

"I don't need it," I'll get to Blackpool

and it will be in the suitcase.

Because she's like, "You might need it. You might need it."

And sometimes they do need it.

# Oh, Sadie's got her new dress on, Lord, Lord

# Sadie's got her new dress on... #

Nanny Bea and cousin Leila know just how much winning means to Jess.

This year in particular for Jess

is probably the biggest competition of her life,

cos she's been dancing from when she was ten.

And I think I'm going to cry!

-Aw, Nanny!

-Sorry!

Aw!

It is emotional, because I know how much it means to her,

so Blackpool here we come.

In Blackpool, the queues are forming for the start of the Modern Dance

World Championships, which take place over a full weekend.

First in line is Nanny Bea.

I like to get into the front of the queue because

it's not that there's not hundreds and hundreds of seats,

but we just have our own particular place where we like to be sitting.

The weekend in Blackpool is a country music inspired extravaganza

and it attracts competitors from all across the world

who have their own unique take on line dancing.

# Billy, Billy Bayou, watch where you go

# If you're walkin' on quicksand, walk slow... #

I think because I'm Latin trained, I just feel the music a bit more,

which is an advantage in a way, and then in another way it can be

a disadvantage to me, because I am quite wild.

I really need to just calm it down a little bit more and bring it in.

# And while the music keeps on playing... #

With 18 World Line Dance Championships to his name, Shane

is one of the 11 judges who will scrutinise the dancers' every move.

I'll be judging Saturday and Sunday.

In Saturday it's the heats,

so we're just knocking people out of the heats to get to our final.

# You might be feeling quite romantic... #

I am a big fan of country music.

The men have to wear a hat and boots and things like that.

But I think that's nice, because if you have to compete,

especially against women, we don't have all that squishy bits,

so we can rock it in another way!

# And though the night has just begun... #

So for us, as judges, we're judging on the technique of the dance.

They can add their own style on - their arms,

their facial expressions, where they look. Other than that stuff,

what usually grabs your attention if you're a normal person

coming off the street and you kind of go, "Oh!"

Shane's not allowed to judge Jess's routines,

but he's still on hand to give some last-minute advice.

-Ready to go?

-Yes.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

'I think Jess is in good shape, so hopefully'

she's not too nervous this morning and everything will go good.

# Hey, Mama, what you gotta do

# To find true Papa and you? #

As Jess prepares to take to the floor in Blackpool, in Ashbourne,

County Meath, John and Annona are arriving for the traditional

All-Ireland Championships, and there's not a sequin in sight.

It may not be the Grand Ballroom in Blackpool,

but Judge Ray Cahill inspects the dance floor.

There's a nice little slip or slide in that.

One of the major problems is sticky floors.

I get complaints the whole time from people that,

"Ray, me hips, me knees."

I'll get in trouble with them if the floor's too sticky.

And if the floor's sticky, I'm going to get hammered tonight.

# Anyone can see after all this time

# He'd be guilty if lovin' her was a crime

# He says, hey, son, believe it... #

Both John and Annona are preparing to go toe to toe in the group dance,

and there's more at stake than just who buys dinner.

Amy has a different bet on now.

She has a bet that if our team wins, John has to give her 100 euro.

It's going higher every day.

# Let's take it up now! #

As Annona's group take to the dance floor,

Fidelma can only look on and hope her Stompers do themselves justice.

Some of them dance a lot, some of them use their hands a lot.

They all kind of have their own little techniques, you know?

# You're only young You're only young once! #

CHEERING

Annona's group has wowed the audience

and John is now under pressure to perform.

Amy seems to think that she's going to get 100 euros out of me

if I lose, and it ain't happening.

It's Monopoly money she'll be getting.

# ..down to the wire with my feet to the fire

# But this livin' ain't killed me yet... #

Hats off to John's group.

They're giving it their all,

and it's clear the final decision will be tough.

Well, in my opinion the standard is very high and you can actually see

the people, when they get out on the floor,

who have actually put the effort in.

They're out to win. Can't blame them for that.

# Livin' ain't killed me yet. #

CHEERING

MUSIC: Man, I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain

Let's go, girls...

Back in Blackpool's famous ballroom, the standard at

the Modern World Dance Championships is extremely high.

Yeah, someone needs to really, really stand out.

It's hard, it's very hard.

Judging here today was extremely hard in all the divisions.

Especially that All Star division.

Jess competes in the top All Star category,

where dancers have as many routines as they do dress changes.

# No inhibitions, make no conditions

# Get a little outta line... #

11 judges score the All Star category dancers,

and they don't miss a step.

Unfortunately for Jess, she does.

# I feel like a woman! #

My body's like this cos I'm so nervous,

so when I do a back bend and I throw it, the muscle just...

it's already stiff.

We think we've got shin splints on top of everything else now, shin splints!

So, yeah, the back, the back's an issue at the minute, yeah.

With one more day at the competition to go,

Jess's dreams of a world title hang in the balance.

Back in Ashbourne, County Meath, it's nearly time

to announce the winners of the Traditional Championships.

I'm so proud of them. I couldn't ask for any more.

All the hard work and effort that we put in in the last few weeks

have really shown off. They did me so proud.

As John and Annona wait nervously,

head judge Ray announces the winners.

In third place is X13 - Fidelma's Steppers.

Annona and her team have placed a respectable third,

but has John done better than his girlfriend and rival?

In second place, X11.

CHEERING

OK, and the first place is X12 - Fidelma's Stompers.

CHEERING

John's team has won the cup and the bragging rights.

Well, the bookie says that I won the bet,

the best team won and I get dinner of my choosing.

This little one here lost the bet.

100 euros.

-Credit union.

-No, it's 100 cents!

-We're still friends though.

-No.

-No.

-Definitely not.

-Well, we have to stay friends.

John's driving the bus, we need to get home.

It's the final morning of competition in Blackpool.

Really tired. I find it really hard to sleep the night before,

cos I'm just doing my dances over and over in my head.

And Jess isn't the only one feeling the pressure.

When Jessica goes onto the floor...

..I do cry!

I honestly do, and I'm unbelievably proud,

but I do know she has a big task in front of her.

But if she's to win, Jess will have to push her body to the limit.

I'm really sore, but there's nothing you can do about being sore.

I have, like, cuts on my toes.

I just try to think "I'm fine, I'm fine," and then

I can suffer tomorrow.

Albeit people say it's dancing,

they're a bit like athletes as well.

In fact, they're very like athletes.

And for these athletes,

the World Dance Championships are their Olympics.

The competition is fierce.

All of the girls are amazing.

They're just a credit to themselves and their clubs and their families.

# So you've got the brain But have you got the touch?

# Now, don't get me wrong Yeah, I think you're all right

# But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night... #

Mentor Shane is happy with Jess's efforts on the floor.

# That don't impress me much! #

She did really well but, at the same time, all the other girls

were doing the exact same, and I've actually seen some of the girls,

they've picked up as well as Jess,

so it's definitely going to be a tough competition.

Jess's All Star category holds the most coveted title of the Championships.

All Stars is something special.

To win All Stars, if I had that answer, everybody would just buy it.

The awards in the top All Star category are being presented.

Fourth place overall, All Star Young Adult,

competitor 363, Jodie Riddock.

CHEERING

Third place overall,

competitor 367, Dana Peters.

CHEERING

Mum and Nanny Bea can hardly look as Jess makes the final two.

So, your world champion 2016,

from Ireland, competitor 364,

Jessica Devlin!

CHEERING

You couldn't get any better than that.

That's something she's been working for for so long.

And to win All Stars Young Adult is just phenomenal,

so I'm so proud of her. She danced really, really well.

She wrote a wee thing at primary school, and she said,

"I'm going to be an All Star." So, this is her dream.

This is all I ever wanted to do.

It's all I ever wanted and I've got it and it's just amazing.

I really want to thank my mum and gran. I just love them so much.

# We used to be the life of the party

# We used to be the ones that they wished they were

# But now it's like they don't know how to act

# Maybe they're like me and they want us back

# When they think of me, they think of you. #