Dancers Show Off Slick Moves To 'Footloose' On Stage At Restaurant

Feb 05, 2021 by apost team

“Footloose” is not only loved by U.S. audiences. One talented dance group took on the classic at an American-style restaurant in Spain to deliver a spectacular dance performance to this song. The group, the Lizard's Angels, really owned the stage at El Barn d’en Greg in Rubi, Barcelona, as this video from 2015 shows.

El Barn d’en Greg is translated from Catalan to "Greg's Barn." This cool bar is a slice of America in Spain. In addition to traditional American dishes, the bar also features country-style dance classes, according to the bar's own country-style website.

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One of the most popular events at Greg's Barn is its annual country line dance competition. Lizard's Angels took the stage by storm, with all of the dancers decked out in western attire such as big belt buckles and cowboy hats. The group consists of one male dancer and four accompanying female dancers.

Although the dance certainly looks fun, there is also clearly a lot of hard work that went into perfecting all of the spins and kicks in perfect harmony.

While the song was originally recorded by Kenny Loggins back in 1984, it was redone in 2011 by Blake Shelton.

Shelton's cover of the song was the perfect complement to the line dance routine. It is hard not to watch the performance and not want to kick up your feet along with the dancers.

The song, which made it all the way to Spain, has a storied history. Loggins released the track as the theme for the 1984 film of the same name. “Footloose,” Herbert Ross’ musical drama, follows Ren McCormack, played by Kevin Bacon, who works to overturn an anti-dancing ordinance before senior prom at his Chicago high school.

The film’s soundtrack was widely lauded in the press, with Loggins’ “Footloose” receiving a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination in 1985. Other well-known tracks from the film include John Mellencamp’s “Hurt So Good,” Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head (Metal Health).” But if one song stands out from the bunch, it’s Loggins’ “Footloose,” which has risen to legendary status in the film and music industry.

"We didn’t expect ‘Footloose’ to be the movie of the summer back then,” Loggins explained in a 2011 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We’d be lucky if it got any attention at all. But I remember sitting in the theater, the lights go out and the first thing I hear is the first few bars of my song. And the opening of the movie was all ‘Footloose.’ And I was pretty shocked. No one had told me that was going to happen.”

Loggins’ “Footloose” was so impactful that the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress added the track to its National Recording Registry on March 18, 2018.

“The film’s title tune, performed by Kenny Loggins, remains today deeply emblematic of the 1980s—fun, invigorating and, in its way, a little rebellious,” the Library of Congress wrote in their March 2018 briefing. “Co-written by Loggins and the film’s screenwriter, Dean Pitchford, the song would prove to be the biggest hit of Loggins’ long career (dating back to his work with Jim Messina from the early 1970s) and the biggest hit from the film’s multi-platinum soundtrack. Since its debut and initial 16 weeks on the Billboard charts, the song has served as the musical centerpiece for both the 1998 Broadway musical and the big-screen remake released in 2011.”

The video below doesn’t feature Loggins’ award-winning original, however. Instead, the Spanish dancing crew opted for a more up-to-date version of the classic 1980s track — Blake Shelton’s 2011 cover. As the Library of Congress mentions, director Craig Brewer released a remake of the 1984 film, along with an updated soundtrack that includes Shelton’s 2011 rendition.

Loggins, who attended the premiere of the 2011 remake, said that Shelton did a “good job” with the track. However, the songwriter had some criticisms, too.

"They paid a lot of attention to the original version, you can tell. I just think they went a little bit crazy with the Pro Tools," he told the Los Angeles Times back in 2011.

With that said, Shelton’s version of the song seems to have got the attention of Spain’s Lizard Angels dance crew, which is no easy feat, considering the song isn’t exactly a facet of Spanish culture. Regardless of the version, Barcelona’s Lizard Angels show that music travels across continents, borders and cultures. And viewers from around the world seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the mashup.

“A real treat to see them dance, I love it,” Veronique Chamoret wrote in French on YouTube.

“Love this song,” another user wrote. “(N)othing sexier than a guy that can dance. Loved it. (E)veryone keep on dancing.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the video has accumulated over 5 million views, 20,000 likes and hundreds of comments like those mentioned above. Luckily, the numerous fans of the Lizard Angels have quite a few videos to choose from, with at least a dozen videos of their dance performances on YouTube. And while the songs differ, each and every one of them includes a choreographed line dance. But as you might have guessed, line dancing — like “Footloose” — did not originate in Spain.

According to LiveAbout, the history of line dancing takes us back to Contra dancing, a type of American folk dance that combines 17th century Scottish and French influences with English country dance. Line dancing, which arose out of the Contra dance tradition, gained popularity in the 1980s and ‘90s thanks to songs like Billy Ray Cyrus’ "Achy Breaky Heart.” These dances include coordinated hand, feet, arm, and hand movements that choreographers mark with counts or beats. And as its name suggests, you dance in lines, performing the routine in a group.

What makes the Lizard Angels’ line dance videos unique is that they take American culture — line dancing and hit tracks like “Footloose”— and make them their own. The video below, the group’s most popular, showcases this one-of-a-kind cultural mashup.

Now you can watch this energetic show for yourself. After you have, be sure to spread this fun video to all of your friends and family. And let us know what you think. What’s your favorite country song to dance to? And do you prefer Loggins or Shelton’s version of “Footloose”?