With a dance floor adorned by a giant cowboy hat and a disco ball shaped like a saddle, Borderline Bar and Grill has hosted fans of line dancing since 1993.

The country-themed Thousand Oaks venue has brought college students to the dance floor for the past 25 years.

Brian Hynes, owner of Borderline, said that it originally had college-themed nights that were hip-hop based. Music ranged from hip-hop to rap and involved more freestyle dancing.

“With the popularity of Thursdays and Saturdays and having to be 18 and over on some of those nights, we stopped doing that, and with the popularity of country, we switched to a college country night,” Hynes said.

Four years ago, “college country night” was created to allow college students to participate in line dance lessons as well as an open dance floor. When the changes were made, Haynes said only a few people came, but it has since become one of their more popular nights.

Victoria Rose Meek is the current president of the California Lutheran University Line Dance Club as well as a promoter at Borderline. She said that even at college country night, the venue plays other music as well.

“We also have a free-dance portion of the night after the birthday songs so it’s not purely line dancing, because people sometimes don’t like country music,” Meek said. “A lot of the line dances are to pop songs, so it definitely reaches all crowds.”

Vice president of the Line Dance Club and Borderline promoter Colby Kalisek said that college students may not have that much money, so this is a great way to get out.

“It kind of allows them to go out in the middle of the week and just have a stress reliever that isn’t that expensive either, and allows them to have a good time,” Kalisek said.

Hynes said he hopes to franchise Borderline in the future to continue the trend of creating a fun atmosphere for people to come together.

“We love the fact that everything is going and is being tied in with the college night,” Hynes said. “I’m hoping those kids, the college kids, turn 21 and enjoy still coming, learning the lessons and continue what they’re doing.”

If you are interested in learning the line dances from Borderline, Kalisek said she encourages students to attend the Line Dance Club Thursdays from 5­- 6:30 p.m. at the Student Union patio.

Borderline’s next big event is on Halloween, and Meek said they are expecting a large turnout.

Leanna Kontos

Reporter