NYC: New York Country

Cowboy boots, chaps, and cow skulls hung on the walls. No, we aren’t in Texas, we’re in Brooklyn. The cowboy boots have rhinestones, the chaps leave little to the imagination, and pop songs bounce off the walls as people two-step. I feel like I’ve been transported to Footloose’s Bomont as the rebel teens break out into an illegal choreographed dance.

I stand elbow-to-elbow with the newbies on the outskirts of the dance floor as the regulars dance to Michael Jackson’s P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing). When I signed up for a two-step class at a country bar in Brooklyn, I expected a bunch of white guys in flannels and cowboy hats—country boys returning to their roots, and finance bros trying on a new persona for the evening. Instead, a petite blonde woman holds her own on the dance floor wearing a black string bikini top with basketball shorts and brown cowboy boots. Another woman hops on stage in red leather chaps and a black crop top with the word “Bitch” rhinestoned across the front–hipster on the top, country on the bottom.

In some rural parts of the country (where you would expect to find this kind of dancing), many of the people around me would not be warmly welcomed. Rather than shy away from the music or moves they enjoy, they created a community in a sub-culture that many times does not embrace them.

As I stumble through the first lesson, tripping over my two left feet, I look down in frustration. Those around me offer a friendly smile and encouraging head nods as the song continues. I let my shoulders drop and hold my head high, abandoning the hopes of getting every step and instead falling into the group’s hypnotizing rhythm. I can’t help but laugh when the song transitions to Cardi B’s WAP. Heads shoot up high with excitement as boots smack the hardwood to drop it low.