Are you looking for an enjoyable way to get some exercise one day per week? Something with a positive and non-judgemental community? A place where you can go to get your fix of country music? Look no further than JCU’s new club: the Boot Scootin Blue Streaks.
Founded this semester, the Boot Scootin Blue Streaks is a student-led organization that allows students to come together one day each week and line dance. No prior experience is required, making this a perfect entrance into the art of line dancing.
The club meets Thursdays from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Fitness Studio. Each class is relatively the same: after spreading out around the studio, one of the executive board members will teach the group a line dance step by step in counts of eight. The steps are first taught slowly, then gradually are practiced faster and faster until the class is at tempo and can dance along to the song. Any time left over is used to dance to old songs that were learned in previous weeks or learn another dance.
On Feb. 15, the club held a special Valentine’s Day themed meeting. A raffle was held at the beginning of the meeting to celebrate, with students winning themed gifts of red bandanas, red heart glasses and a special carbonated water drink.
Looking to the leaders of this club, the first executive board for the Boot Scootin Blue Streaks consists of President Lauren Keep ‘24, Vice President Mary Hanlon ‘26, Treasurer Nick Kenna ‘24, Secretary Brock Herczeg ‘26 and Social Media Chair Anna Mialky ‘24.
Keep was able to share some information about how this newly beloved club was founded, stating that “the initial spark began on campus ministry retreats. A group of us, who make up most of the exec board, learned a dance or two to gather people together, move around and have fun. After the retreat, the retreat team started to learn more and more dances in our free time; we’d text in the middle of the day between classes to get a dance in, meet up late at night and even started going to nearby line dancing bars. We couldn’t get enough! It was such a fun way to bond with each other and it felt really good to nail a dance and get to add it to our growing playlist.”
Keep further shared that “the idea of making this a real club on campus happened this past December. We thought, ‘let’s submit the forms and see what happens!’ I’m not sure who exactly suggested it, but our group is known for making spontaneous ideas happen. We all find so much joy in learning the dances and wanted to share this joy with others! The process was pretty smooth! We submitted the forms we needed to submit and started the petitioning process.”
When asked about her favorite part of the club, Keep shared that “I’ve always loved dancing and was a cheerleader throughout my life, so bringing this passion back in a new way has been super fun for me! I love getting in a good workout along with watching people learn something that seemed super difficult. It’s great to see people nail a dance and all share in the excitement together!”
Mialky also commented, saying that her “favorite part of Boot Scootin Blue Streaks each week is watching how excited everyone gets when they learn a new dance!”
Club member Paige Smith ‘26, who won one of the gifts from the Valentine’s Day raffle, also commented on her favorite part of the club, explaining that “trying something new with my friends and finding a new hobby is so exciting.”
When asked what the future goals are for this club, Keep shared that the biggest short term goal is to become an official organization. The club also wants to gain new members and showcase their talent with a performance at the end of the year. As for long term goals, Keep shared that she “would love to see the club grow out of the fitness studio and continue to thrive once most of the exec team graduates this May!”
You can follow this new organization on Instagram @bootscootinbluestreaks to access information about meetings, join the club’s GroupMe, see photos from meetings and listen to a growing playlist of songs learned!
