Miss Native American NMSU 2024-2025 Shaylyn Smith hosted a line dancing class in the East Auditorium of Corbett Center Student Union on Thursday, September 5.
Smith taught attendees how to dance to “American Kids” by Kenny Chesney for her first line dancing class at New Mexico State University.
“The last time I hosted a line dance teaching was a year and a half ago. I moved here just last year, so this will be my first time teaching it at NMSU,” Smith said.
The dance contained three “eights,” which were repeated with increasing speed, and counterclockwise turns in between the eights. Each eight consisted of timed turns, kicks, or stomps. After about an hour of practice, the students danced to the whole song.
Smith acknowledged that line dancing is not common in her community of origin, where more traditional native dances are performed.
“So, I am from Laguna Pueblo. This is not the kind of dancing they do traditionally. But dancing shows a lot of teaching and lessons that you can get out of it,” Smith said.
The President of the United Native American Organization at NMSU, Abriella Muniz, came to assist with tech. She expressed the event would be unique. Muniz said she was curious about whether it would attract mostly Native American students or consist of diverse backgrounds.
“In my time here at NMSU, I have never seen a Miss Native American NMSU do something like this,” Muniz said, “so considering this genre of dancing and music is popular around here, I thought it would be cool to see, and a great idea for one of Shay’s events.”
Muniz, who is from the Navajo Nation, said dancing represents what her culture values. She explained how events like Smith’s class form unity between people.
“In Navajo culture, dances are a representation of what is important to us and what we believe in. They also unite people, with events like the Powwow bringing the indigenous community together.” Muniz said. “Even this specific class helps bring people together and build a community.”
One of the line dancing students, Jared Alderman, found out about the event through a friend giving him information about it. He described dancing as something he recently discovered a passion for.
“This summer, I found out that I really like dancing. I think getting out more helped me get into it, and it is just a fun activity to do with friends or even by yourself,” Alderman said.
Smith’s main goal for the event, other than teaching line dancing, is to get the students together, out of their dorms, and having fun.
“I hope the students here learn how to build a community, how to meet new people, and how to get out of their comfort zone to try new things,” Smith said.
At the end of the event, Smith showed dances to three more difficult songs. She plans to teach these in future classes.
Smith’s next line-dancing classes will be on the Thursdays of September 12 and 26 in the Ballroom of the Corbett Center.
