MOTHER-DAUGHTER duo Margaret-Mary Smith and Roxanne Moates were the first competitive line dancers in Australia to wear skirts.
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It was hugely controversial in the late 1990's.
"I always think to dance if you look great you feel better," Ms Moates said.
"We do the night club two-step, it's much nicer to be in something like this.
"It was really controversial, but we thought - well why not? We've always been about doing something different."
Held in Tamworth, Mayworth is Australia's biggest line dance festival and at the weekend there wasn't a spare hotel room about.
Line dance started in America's mid-west in the 90's as a form of entertainment for cattle-driving men who didn't have partners.
The traditional tight jeans, hats and boots are a costume of the past, with Mayworth entrants more commonly seen in bejeweled ballgowns and outfits.
Take 70-year-old Margaret-Mary Smith, who showed off her fancy footwork in a bold red dress.
"There was a little ad in the paper for beginners line dancing, I thought, 'I'm going to learn that,'" Mrs Smith said.
"I was totally confused, I didn't have a clue what they were talking about and I never went back, while Roxanne went from beginners to advanced in a night.
"Two years later I came back to it and I've been doing it ever since."
The women train every Sunday from 1pm to 4pm, Ms Moates teaches and choreographs her own elite squad the All Stars.
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Line dance has taken them all over the world, from America to the UK and Malaysia.
In its 16th year the event is the largest line dance competition in the southern hemisphere, and organiser Chris Watson said Tamworth has a number of competitive entrants.
"To become a master you have to be able to waltz, foxtrot and tango, it's really broadened the scope of line-dancing as a sport and attracted younger dancers," he said.
"Entrants will be judged on their execution, technique, unity, degree of difficulty, costume and stage presence.
"There are a lot of dancers now who have become world champions and they can only do that by qualifying at Mayworth."
The three-day spectacular features 300 competitors and is expected to bring $800,000 in tourism value to Tamworth.
Mayworth is on at Tamworth Wests Leagues Club from May 2 to 5 and spectators are welcome to go along.