What happens to Plymouth State University professors after they retire? Some find new hobbies. George Maloof, the former chair of the Language Department and Head of Canadian studies discovered a found love for dancing upon retiring.
“I didn’t start dancing until I was 65,” Maloof said. Now, Maloof is teaching others to dance. His newest venture on the movement scene is line dancing. After a few years of exploring ballroom, contra and swing, Maloof decided to focus on a more organic and simpler type of dancing.
“Line dancing consists of a few steps,” Maloof said. These steps can be embellished and given a little extra flair as a way to incorporate his or her own personality in the dance moves.
“I really like the music,” Maloof added. Maloof, a slim, tall man with a moustache spoke about line dancing with fervor. He demonstrated a few dance moves in The Clock office. His moves were pretty easy to follow, and the steps were made even more impressive with the addition of the Oakridge boys song Elvira. “You have to add a yee-haw,” Maloof said while side stepping around the office. He added a fake lasso twirl and in the process completed an impressive, yet simple dance.
Maloof explained the four basic steps included in line dancing. Two types of side steps, a brush step and a turn are the foundations to line dancing. “Once you get these steps down you can do any dance,” he encouraged. These few steps left most of the movement up to the lower half of the body. Besides embellishments like fake lassos, a line dancer has little need to move his or her arms. Maloof demonstrated the ease of arm movements by latching his thumbs in his belt loops. “A lot of people do this because they don’t know what to do with their thumbs, ” he said.
Line dancing can be used to make connections and relations with others due to the fact that one does not need a partner to complete the dances. As the name suggests, dancers just have to stand in a line. What better way to meet someone new than dancing next to them for over an hour.
“It’s especially great for women who do not have a partner,” Maloof said. He also stressed that line dancing can be a great activity for people of all ages. It is his hope that he will one day begin a line dancing program at PSU, in order to stay connected with the school and to share his love of the classic American dance with others.