Country dancing with a Barbie-pink hue

The Rialto became a dream house from the Wild West last Thursday. Upon entering, there was a flashy photo background complete with sparkly pink fringe and pink cowboy boot-shaped balloons, pink LED lights throughout the theater and country music blasting over the speakers. Concertgoers were dressed to the nines, from rough and tumble classic western outfits to those of Barbie’s pink western outfit from the 2023 blockbuster movie Barbie.

Western Roots Country Dance is a local business specializing in creating space for community members to come together, have fun and attend country dance lessons. You may be familiar with the group if you have ever heard of — or attended — the country dance nights at the Jump in Gallatin Gateway. Western Roots shares the joy of country dance with locals at a variety of venues through group and private lessons. This past week they threw a unique themed costume party at the Rialto called “Dale Yeah.” It was Barbie and champion bull rider Dale Brisby-themed. 

The evening was inspired by the popularity and success of writer and director Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling which took the world by storm over the summer. Western Roots also drew some Western inspiration from Dale Brisby, the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest bull rider.” Brisby has become a cultural phenomenon within the world of rodeo as he has become a popular figure on television and social media as an excellent rodeo athlete. Brisby first started gaining traction on social media in 2016 then in 2021 as the main focus of the Netflix reality series “How to be a Cowboy.” 

“Everybody loves a good Barbie party and obviously, we have the popularity with the movie. And then I thought, what will we do for the guys? And then I thought Barbie needs someone way cooler than Ken, and who is cooler than Dale Brisby?” founder of Western Roots Country Dance Suzi Rose said. 

Rose is originally from a rural town called Ignacio in Southwestern Colorado and grew up surrounded by rodeo and country dancing. In her community growing up, they would have country dances at least monthly during the winters, but there was also “always a dance when we had a celebration,” Rose said. 

After she moved to Bozeman in 2008, she noticed a lack of space for people to dance. “When I moved up to Bozeman in 08, there was nowhere to dance except in the dive bars. There were no community dances, and I couldn't find a space that anyone was willing to host,” Rose said.

Then, after the last couple of community spaces that hosted mixers and dances shut their doors, such as the MSU Save Our Barn, Rose decided to take matters into her own hands by curating a space for community members to come together and dance and Western Roots Country Dance was founded in 2019. 

Along with founding Western Roots Country Dance, Rose is a mother of three and runs a landscaping company, which can make for a busy schedule. “I do love it and it really makes me happy just to create spaces where people can get together and dance and that’s what dancing is here for. For centuries, it’s been a place for people to gather, have fun and shake off the work-week blues,” Rose said.

The event drew people from all walks of life, from local business owners and parents like Rose to MSU professors and students who showed up to dance the night away dressed in Western wear and Barbie-inspired outfits. 

“I saw it on their Instagram. I go to the Jump a lot and dance. When I was an undergrad, I danced with the campus group all the time, and a couple of them got involved with Western Roots,” Melissa Wysocki, professor and academic advisor with the College of Agriculture at MSU said. 

Wysocki was accompanied by her friend, Zoey Krushensky, who works as an accountant with Universal Athletics in Bozeman. “It’s fun. It’s something different other than just going to the bars,” Krushensky said. 

For many, the main draw was the pink Barbie theme as opposed to her Dale-Brisby Ken. “We came for Barbie, one hundred percent,” Helena Kunce, a junior studying psychology, said. 

“We live together, so we do everything together,” Maddie Hanke, a junior studying Kinesiology, added. 

During the event, Rose and a few Western Roots instructors helped partygoers learn the basics of country dancing. Western Roots Country Dance has 12 dance instructors who help make events like this possible. At the Barbie and Brisby-themed event — and as always — Western Roots provides a space for community members to learn, dance and have fun. 

“You’ve got to have places to learn to dance. It’s a skill you’re going to use your whole life. I can’t tell you how many couples I meet and they’re like, we’re getting married in a month and we don’t know how to dance. I’m like, where, where was your father? Because somebody should have taught you, ” Rose said. 

Western Roots Country Dance hosts weekly lessons during the evenings at Starlight Bozeman on Tuesdays and Fridays, every Wednesday at the Jump and Saturdays at Bourbon. The group often hosts pop-up events at different locations, such as Ponderosa Social Club. 

If you would like to keep up with Western Roots Country Dance, stay tuned via their website: https://www.mtcountrydance.com/or via their Instagram @westernrootscountrydancing.