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When Xavier and Jackson Carrier are home in Las Vegas, their Friday night plans are set. The brothers put on their cowboy hats, boots and buckles and head to their hometown bar Stoney’s Rockin’ Country to line dance.
“We line dance every Friday and we’re missing a bit of that when we’re away,” Xavier, a Syracuse University sophomore, said. “It’s something that we really love to do. So we were like, ‘How can we make this thing happen?’”
Over 2,000 miles from home, inspired by their roots, the brothers turned Xavier’s South Campus backyard into their very own “Stoney’s Country Bar Cuse,” complete with a handbuilt wooden stage and warm string lights. Their dancing sessions have attracted over a hundred dancers — both experienced and beginner level — on Saturday nights.
About 30 line dancing instructors, many who have some experience with the dance style or are close friends with the Carriers, get together to learn choreography every Thursday. Those members then lead and teach the dances to the crowds of 100 to 115 people at their bigger events on South Campus.
The group does traditional line dances to popular songs like “Fake ID” by Big & Rich, Pitbull’s “Fuego” and “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” by Luke Bryan. Some dances are simpler with repetitive hand motions, while others involve intricate footwork, jumping, clapping and spinning. Group favorites include Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and a circle dance to “Banjo!” by HardNox.
With colder weather coming, Jackson said this coming Saturday’s line dancing event is the last large event for a while. They’ll continue their Thursday meetings, though, he said. They’re looking for indoor options, but finding a location inside that can accommodate large crowds creates new challenges, like potential venue fees. It’s important to the founders that their events are free, Jackson said.
Jackson, a senior, has wanted to bring line dancing to SU’s campus since he first arrived as a freshman. It wasn’t until his brother transferred this year that they made it a reality. Jackson called working with his brother a “dream come true.”
“There’s nobody else I would want to do this with,” Jackson said. “He’s an amazing dancer. He’s probably better than me. It’s been amazing getting to plan this with him, getting to scheme and envision and build a shared dream.”
The Carrier brothers both ride for SU’s Club Western Equestrian Team. At this year’s club sports fair, Jackson went to every table asking if they’d want to learn to line dance or two step. By the end of his lap, he had 40 people in a group chat and promises from the entire club running team, club frisbee team and men’s and women’s club gymnastics teams to attend.
The idea was then bigger than a passing thought between the two brothers, it was something real, Jackson said.
Jackson Carrier (right) and Xavier Carrier (left) made their dreams come true by organizing line dancing events in the backyard of their South Campus apartment. The brothers sport belt buckles, boots and hats to show their country heritage. Leonardo Eriman | Photo Editor
As Las Vegas natives, the Carrier brothers aim to use line dancing to share their culture with the Syracuse community. Xavier said he often gets confused looks when he wears a cowboy hat around campus, with people calling out “yeehaw.”
Xavier said he wants students to understand his rich Western country culture; country people aren’t all Texas cowboys from old Western movies. The word “country” often gets a bad connotation, Jackson said.
The Carrier family runs hotels and casinos in Sin City, and their dad used to run rodeos there as well. The brothers grew up working in hospitality, riding horses and watching bull riding. They were raised in a “50/50” blend of Vegas’ glitz and glam and Western country culture.
“Wherever you find a hotel, you also find a cowboy,” Jackson said.
Bringing it to Syracuse has given Jackson a greater respect for what country actually means. He appreciates the hard work and long hours that come with being a cowboy, the “muck” that comes with culture, as well as the glitz of the Strip and poker and casinos, he said.
The brothers bring other elements of country culture to their line dancing events beyond the music and dance moves.
Some attendees wear bandanas on their hips, a country tradition to display your relationship status: right hip for single, left for taken. You only wear your own hat and giving it to someone signifies you’re in a relationship with them. Keeping these small things in mind helps respect the culture and the traditions it comes from, Jackson said.
“It’s not just an outfit. It’s not just performative. It means something to us when we wear our hats, our belts, our buckles, our boots,” Jackson said.
Hospitality experience has made the brothers passionate about building community and hosting events. Still, they never expected such a large turnout. Their first event on Oct 4. amassed over 100 RSVPs, and people danced from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Jackson called it one of his favorite nights on campus. Gathering people to dance together is one of the founder’s biggest goals, Xavier said.
About 30 instructors meet on Thursday nights to learn new dances from each other and from online videos. They teach to the crowd of 100 students from handbuilt raised platforms. Leonardo Eriman| Photo Editor
“When people started getting off the buses in hoards, we were really excited,” Xavier said. “It was awesome. All at once 60 people showed up. It was really fun to see it was actually picking up enough people who were interested in coming and having a fun night.”
Sophomore Abrum Wilson has been learning line dancing from TikTok since attending a country music festival in Colorado a few years ago. It’s been easier and more fun to break down and learn the dances during the Thursday sessions and Saturday night groups, she said. Now, her repertoire includes at least 10 more dances.
Many attendees have never line danced before and arrive on South Campus as complete novices. This is part of the charm, Jackson said. He lives by the phrase, “Embarrassment is an underexplored emotion. Go out there and make a fool of yourself.”
Senior Polina Ilyin had never line danced before participating in these sessions. It’s nice to dance with friends and expand her social circle in a new atmosphere that isn’t just going out to the bars, she said. She enjoys “getting to spin her friends around.”
Even many of the instructors are learning to line dance for the first time. Junior Sophia Lee is from Kentucky; she’d been around the country culture but had never participated herself. Dancing is a lot harder than most people expect, she said, but that’s part of the fun of it. The instructors learn from each other and online, using TikToks and Instagram Reels, Lee said.
“It’s a very rewarding process,” Lee said. “Seeing people get so excited once they get a dance. They’re like, ‘I understand it now,’ that joy of, ‘I can do this.’”
Dance is an underrated hobby, Jackson said. He said almost everyone who tries line dancing ends up liking it — a rule that’s proven true at SU.
Students are often looking for a way to stretch their comfort zone and do something they’ve never tried before, he said. He wants students to get comfortable being new and not good at something.
“If you give people the opportunity to go make a fool of themselves and embarrass themselves in a safe way in a good environment, people will take that chance,” Jackson said. “People will be happy to do it. It’s a way to explore, it’s a way to have fun.”
Video by Eliana Rosen | Asst. Culture Editor
Published on October 22, 2025 at 10:10 pm