Jackie Clair hosts Line Dance Flashmob May 3 in Foley

Jackie Clair hosts Line Dance Flashmob May 3 in Foley
“Line dancing is my passion, and I love spreading that love.”

Local line dance instructor Jackie Clair will host an International Linedance Flashmob event at the Foley Civic Center (407 E. Laurel St.) on May 3 at 10 a.m. The choreographies will be Beg – A Bar Song by Ben Murphy and Do It All Again by Gary O’Reilly & Maggie Gallagher. For more info, call Clair at 517-740-5460 or visit solesinsync. com.
“It’s no longer a real flashmob. And I anticipate dancers from west of Mobile to east of Pensacola,” Clair said. “Attendees will be videoed dancing one or both of the specific dances chosen. The entry fee is $1, with all proceeds going to the Friends of the Foley Library.
“Since partnering with them in early 2024, the quarterly dances I organize have raised over $2500, all, to benefit our library,’’ she added.
Clair has been teaching line dancing at various venues in the area since moving from Michigan in 2015, but she was active in the local line dancing circles even while visiting as a snowbird before that. She has been leading classes at The Big Red Barn for five years and also leads weekly classes at Elberta VFW. She has hosted five quarterly dances at the Foley Civic Center for Friends of the Library. She also teaches a 9-week intro to line dancing & line dancing 101 three times a year.
“Not only is line dancing fun, but it’s great for the brain, balance, and flexibility. Plus, you will end up with a huge, wonderful second family,’’ she said.
The International Line Dance Flashmob is always held on the first Saturday of May. Line dance groups around the world follow up by submitting videos doing specifically chosen dances, which are then posted on the Facebook group and the ILDF website by the end of that day.
“In 2021, my group was selected as the featured group of the year,’’ Clair said. “We have snowbirds joining us each year and it’s fun when they have been doing some of the same dances we do down here.’’
The website CopperKnob has a library of dances that Clair uses as a starting point. Choreographers post their dance directions (step sheets) along with demos and teaching videos. The site has step sheets for almost 160,000 dances.
“Line dancing is my passion, and I love spreading that love,’’ Clair said. “My goal is for dancers to learn the basic steps correctly and be able to recognize them. They then can go anywhere in the world, watch others dancing and be able to join them, if level appropriate.
“I always say that a jazz box is a jazz box in Foley, Nashville, London, Tokyo or Calcutta. The language may be different, but the steps are the same worldwide,’’ she added.