BURRILLVILLE – Their mantra is, “life’s more fun when you get in line,” and starting next month, they’ll be making regular visits to town to teach locals how it’s done.
Get in Line RI will teach beginner line-dancing at Toti’s Tavern on Friday, Dec. 1 with a fun night out that gives participants the chance to pick up some new moves, with the latest trends on the floor.
The group was started in 2015 by Rhode Island-based dance instructor and event coordinator Melissa Caldarone. Caldarone started dancing ballet at the age of two, but found her love for line dancing in 1995 at a multi-club in Providence.
At the time, she notes she was not a fan of country music, but after line dancing the night away she was instantly hooked. Caldarone began dancing with different groups in and around Rhode Island, and soon after, she launched, “Get in Line RI,” as an annual dance workshop with the hopes of bringing the local line-dancing community together.
In 2020, she began teaching regular lessons at Evolutionary Sports in sports in West Warwick amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with dancers kept in quadrants with masks. She was an instructor at the, “NELD 4 Kids” workshop and recently, Caldarone began leading the floor the last Wednesday of each month at Moonshine Alley in Providence.
To stay up on the line dance trends, Caldarone said she attends workshops and dance conventions several times a year. The goal, she notes, is to teach dances that are currently trending, and dances to new songs that will be moving up the music charts in the near future.
In Burrillville, the instructor plans to offer classes on the first Friday of every month, playing requests in between lessons to keep the dance floor hopping.
“This will be a fun, monthly activity for the adults of the Harrisville community,” Caldarone told NRI NOW.
The event will take place from 7-11 p.m. at the Callahan School Street Tavern, which was re-opened last year by Carla Manni, the niece of former longtime owner, the late Dora Waterman.
The event is 21 plus and admission is $10.
Editor’s note: An original version of this article stated the event would take place on Saturday. We apologize for the error.