Luv Doc Recommends: Lone Star Country Dance Sport Invitational

After the embarrassing shellacking put on America’s dream team by a group of plucky Puerto Ricans last weekend, numerous pundits have waxed philosophical about the decline of Western civilization. It was solid ass-kicking no doubt, but for all our hair pulling and gnashing of teeth, it was a resounding victory for the world dominance of American culture. Here is a truly American sport with enough style and substance that people in other countries bother to learn it rather than say, batting around a severed head in a gunny sack with a tree branch. Not only have they bothered to learn it, they’ve learned it rather well, apparently. Even relatively podunk nations like Lithuania, New Zealand, and Angola, it turns out, have got their game on and are taking it strong to the hoop. We shouldn’t feel threatened by this; we should be thrilled. Finally someone cares enough to send their very best. The truth is that for years America has been getting thumped in all kinds of Olympic events and no one has pitched a bitch, mainly because no one really cares. Badminton? Table tennis? Fencing? Sailing? Love them though you may, you’d be lucky to pick up regular coverage of any of those sports without the aid of a satellite dish the size of a Wal-Mart trampoline. Some would even claim they aren’t sports at all, but that’s just the sniveling of losers. Anywhere there is competition, there is sport, be it bowling, barrel racing, bridge, or Boggle. True, Olympic committees tend to lean mostly toward activities with a cardiovascular component, but just because you can compete at Frisbee golf wearing flip-flops and carrying an ice chest doesn’t make it any less legitimate a sport than archery or volleyball, even though you have to admit Frisbee golf makes a pretty good case for the decline of Western civilization. Here in Austin, Western civilization is as strong as it’s ever been. For instance, this weekend the Marriott at the Capitol plays host to the inaugural Lone Star Country Dance Sport Invitational, a country dance competition hosted by a couple of people named Rowdy and Sherry, featuring dancers from all over the nation. Before you get giddy with notions of knocking back a few Shiners and going down to goof on the hayseeds, remember that Austin is the home of one of the most active country dance scenes in the … uh … well … country. Every week at places like the Broken Spoke, Jovita’s, Ginny’s Little Longhorn, and the Continental Club, Austinites reaffirm and redefine one of Western culture’s oldest traditions. Today’s country dancing isn’t all that far removed from the European waltzes and polkas of Central Texas’ original German settlers – slight ornamentations on a solid underlying form. It’s a nice counterpoint to the much parodied, avant-garde, black leotard, monkey-on-a-leash decadence of its European disco counterpart. Nonetheless, there is a certain unavoidable hokeyness with country dancing that can’t be overlooked. Matching outfits, tight wranglers, roach-killer boots, and big belt buckles all look perfectly cool at the Broken Spoke, but in the context of a hotel ballroom they look more like costume designs for a new movie by Christopher Guest. That’s perfectly OK, however, because if you’re afraid of looking dorky on occasion, country dancing is probably not your thing. If it is, this deal should be a lot of fun.