In Neubourg, country dancing enthusiasts resume their classes

See my news
Follow the Courrier de l’Eure

Like a Texas feel on the Neubourg plateau (Eure). In a room in the Vélodrome complex, the Le Neubourg Country club has resumed its dance classes, every Monday and Thursday evening, from 7 p.m. In the wake of the Associations Forum, a trial session was organized Thursday, September 12, 2024, for around twenty curious people.

“We have a bunch of new people this year,” he rejoices. Bruno Ménager, the club president. We’ll see if they stay!” Created in 2016, the club currently has around twenty members. “It’s stable from year to year. There were around thirty of us before, but we’re still feeling the impact of Covid-19, like many associations,” says Bruno Ménager.

A lexicon to learn

For this introductory session, it is his wife, Maryléne Ménager, vice-president of the association, who holds the reins, microphone screwed to her ear. “I’m going to make you suffer, but gently,” she announces to the courageous neophytes from the outset. Cross shuffle, rocking chair, jazz box… A whole vocabulary to learn for newcomersto designate steps that are broken down into one to eight beats, for the most difficult ones. “We’ll move forward little by little, don’t panic,” the leader tempers.

As the first guitar notes of a catchy country song echo over the loudspeaker, some dancers demonstrate a natural ease. While others have a slightly more chaotic start… “The lady bumps into me every time!” protests one participant. Bursts of laughter in the room. Bruno Ménager wants to be reassuring: “ Once you know the terms, it’s easy. Well… let’s say it’s easier!”

With his wife, he has been practicing for nearly fifteen years. The spark came to them while participating in a country festival, now defunct, in Neubourg. “I liked the music at first. I am a guitarist and it is a style that I have appreciated since I was 20 years old,” he explains.

“The hat is important!”

A dance, a music and also a look, with the shirt, the blue jeans, the cowboy boots… “And above all, the hat is important!” emphasizes Marie-José Berrier, the treasurer of the association. Her husband, Philippe Berrier, the secretary of the club, prefers to rent the state of mind of this discipline : “When we all line dance, we help each other. We’re here to have fun.”

In the room, among the participants, a large majority are women. The club’s leaders would like to convince more men to take to the track. “Men are more shy than women when it comes to dancingsays Marie-José Berrier. But they come to us more easily than to other dances.”

For budding cowboys and cowgirls, the next tryout session will take place Thursday, September 19.

Neubourg Country, classes on Monday and Thursday evenings at the Vélodrome complex, in Neubourg. Registration: 75 euros per year for a single person, 120 euros for a couple. The first two classes are free. The club is organizing a Halloween ball on October 26 in Sainte-Colombe-la-Commanderie and a concert with a country music group on January 25, 2025. Information by phone at 06 20 25 79 39 or by email at [email protected].

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to My News.