RECORDS MUNDIALES DE LINE DANCE

LINE DANCE WORLD RECORDS

Por Bill Bader

Las siguientes relaciones han sido reconocidas en su mayoría por el “Guinness World Records” como "Mayor Line Dance del Mundo". El más reciente encabeza la lista, seguido por los más antigüos.

Most of the listings here are officially recognized by Guinness World Records as "World's Largest Country Line Dance". The most recent record is first, then the previous records.

Hong Kong, Dec 2002.  12,168 p.

Según la web del Guinness World Records (Sep.2003) …

Se reunieron 12.168 line dancers en el Happy Valley Recreation Ground de Hong Kong el 29 Diciembre de 2002. Fue organizado por “The Community Chest” de Hong Kong, la Federacion de Baile de Hong Kong, “Home Affairs Department”, “Leisure and Cultural Services Department” y la “Television Broadcasts Limited”. Todos ello bailaron el “Baby likes to Rock it” durante 7 min y 40 seg.

Desafortunadamente Guiness no menciona el line dance que se bailó, por lo que tuve que preguntar a la persona adecuada para averiguar que fue el “Baby likes to rock it” the Hillbilly Rick.

Felicidades a los line dancers de Hong Kong por este record!

According to the current (Sep.2003) Guinness World Records website...
A gathering of 12,168 line dancers took place at the Happy Valley Recreation Ground, Hong Kong on 29 December 2002. The attempt was organised by The Community Chest of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Dance Federation, the Home Affairs Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Television Broadcasts Limited. They danced to 'Baby Likes To Rock It' for 7 min 40 sec.
Oddly, Guinness fails to mention the line dance used, but I asked the right person and found out that the line dance used was "Baby Likes To Rock It" by Hillbilly Rick.
Congratulations to Hong Kong's line dancers for setting the current record!

Singapore, May 2002.  11,967 p.

The line dancers of Singapore and some from neighbouring Malaysia showed up en force on May 1, 2002 at the huge Expo Center in Singapore.   It was an awesome sight.  That word "awesome" is overused nowadays, but it could not be more appropriate here.  Imagine 6 or maybe 8 football fields worth of dancers quite closely packed. There were sections with school kids who learned to line dance in their P.E. classes.  And many seniors were present. Just about every line dance instructor brought almost all their students.
The line dance chosen for this attempt, Singapore Swing, was choreographed by Bill Bader of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who was flown in for the project to help leading the crowd and teach a dance workshop afterward.
Accountants were hired to monitor the world record attempt and verify the numbers of dancers. The official counting needed to be done before all 13,500 ticketed dancers understood that they were in their designated spots, as it was 20-30 minutes prior to the actual excitement of dancing for the record. But once everyone gathered, it was an amazing sight. Huge video screens around the huge space were used to project the dancing so that all could see, alternating between those of on the stage and those thousands on the main floor.
Guinness World Records recognized this attempt as the official "World's Largest Country Line Dance" with 11,967 line dancers according to the letter received by Mr. Peter Ng of NTUC Income Cooperative in Singapore, the main corporate sponsor of the world record attempt.
Whatever the official numbers were - versus what the ticket numbers told - it was certainly a hugely successful charity fundraiser; at $2 a head, there was a whopping $27,500 raised for the Heart Fund, topped up to $30,000 by NTUC!
On the following day, the front page of Singapore's major newspaper, the Singapore Straits Times, had a big photo spread and very supportive article.

Tamworth (Australia) 1997-2002:   5,502 - 6,744

Line Dancing World Records were set in 6 consecutive years (!) in the small but dynamic town of Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. There, for the past few decades, they have held the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Starting in 1997, in conjunction with the music festival, organizers arranged for the "Longest Line" event -- the town closes it main street for 8 blocks or more, line dancers gather together on the morning of the last day of the festival (Sunday), and the participants try to set the world record. This attracts a large percentage of the 10,000-30,000 people who attend the annual festival. Grizzly Adams hosts the Longest Line, and Julie Talbot, well-known line dance instructor from the Sydney area, does a quick lesson of "Boot Scootin' Boogie" choreographed by Bill Bader, a line dance that most Australians learn in their beginner classes.
The amazing Aussies broke their own world record year after year. The "Longest Line" has been even been featured on international TV shows. Here are the numbers of dancers who participated in the "Longest Line":

TAMWORTH WORLD RECORDS:
     1997     5,502
     1998     5,882
     1999     5,966
     2000     6,275
     2001     6,698
     2002     6,744

Redwood City-California (USA)

According to Doris Volz, Cowgirls Twist "was performed by more than 3700 dancers on July 4, 1996 in Redwood City, CA that won the 1996 Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Line Dance." Source: linedancefun.com/timeline.htm
Guinness declined to confirm this based on their not keeping track of this particular record. So if any Californians have documentation to support this and can help Guinness restore their records, please contact Bill Bader.

Laughlin –Nevada (USA)

Charlotte Skeeters helped organized a very large (estimates range from 8,000 to over 10,000 dancers) dance event in Laughlin, Nevada in the early 1990's. This event was not submitted for recognition by Guinness World Records and did not have the necessary monitors to verify the attempt. This in no way negates the obvious size of the event. The dance used was "Jungle Jam" choreographed by Charlotte Skeeters.
Source: Charlotte SkeetersOR TO GUINNESS RECORDS ABOVE: