Music drifts out of the Wilde Playhouse room at the Gifford House in Provincetown, but it’s somehow not what you’re expecting. It’s the twang of the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by Brooks & Dunn. Other sounds drift out, too: stomping feet, cheers, laughter. It’s Wednesday evening, and Francis Grant, wearing glittery silver sneakers, which he says he prefers to cowboy boots, is teaching his weekly line dancing class.

Grant, who grew up in Bristol and then Colchester, Conn., has been teaching line dancing at the Gifford House for a year. But he’s been a dance teacher for longer than that. In 2013, after one ballroom dance class at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Glastonbury, Grant says he “fell in love with it.” After two years of lessons, he got a job as an instructor at the studio. “I never looked back,” he says. “I dove in head first.”

Grant moved to Chatham in 2021 and took a job at Adam in Chatham — a studio for ballroom dancing “and beyond.” Line dancing, he found, was always the most popular class. Maybe that’s because it can feel less intimidating than other styles. “You don’t need to have a partner,” Grant says. “You can just show up and do it.”

Line dances are often named after the songs they’re choreographed to. There can be several different line dances that go with a certain song, Grant says, but there tends to be one that sticks. The “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” is “your blueprint line dance,” he says. He breaks it down: two heel taps with each foot, a pivot and grapevine, two steps forward — while twirling an imaginary lasso over your head, then four hops back.

It’s not all about country music. There’s also disco and samba line dancing; they’re done to their respective musical genres and include specific choreographic stylings. The Bee Gees’s “Night Fever” is fundamental, Grant says. He mixes up the oldies with newer dances, like choreography to “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey’s 2024 hit. “You can line dance to anything,” he says.

At the Gifford House, Grant first teaches the steps to that last one using a slower song. Then he switches on the bar song. The steps are more difficult at Shaboozey’s speed. Grant and his students perform the footwork, turning to face a different wall after each repetition.

Bonnie Jeanne Tibbetts from Wellfleet is relatively new to line dancing. Before taking Grant’s class at the recommendation of a friend, she says, she was skeptical. “I don’t like country music,” she says. But line dancing? “I absolutely love it.” She says she doesn’t even hear the country music anymore.

Anthony Torres, here to dance from Chatham, appreciates that Grant “focuses a lot on having fun rather than getting the dance right.”

In a many beginner line dances, you’ll find similar components, Grant says, like grapevines, spins, and heel and toe taps. It’s important to keep on the balls of the feet for maximum mobility. More advanced dances have intricate choreography, Grant says, such as sailor shuffles or coaster steps. “I love them,” he says. But at first they can seem “like a big puzzle.”

These dances are more difficult to teach, Grant admits. “Everyone’s like ‘What is happening?’ ” Reassurance is necessary, he says, “Remain calm, everybody — it’s going to be okay!” he says, imitating his teaching voice.

A line dance to Ed Sheeran’s 2021 dance-pop song “Shivers” begins with a leap forward into a wide stance; then, “Shake what your momma gave you,” Grant says. The dance proceeds into dizzying turn sequences.

It took Provincetown artist Gaston Lacombe eight months of classes with Grant to feel confident with the choreography. “I had trouble finding my orientation in the space,” he says. “As soon as we’d spin half a turn, I’d be completely lost.” Now, across the room, Lacombe deftly replaces a four-count grapevine with a four-count spin, a stylistic choice that might feel daunting to a beginner.

“Dancing is so joyful,” Grant says. “I think we all instinctually want to do it.” Over time, his regulars have picked up the steps. “It’s all muscle memory,” he says. “People will have their little lightbulb moments.”

But for him, what makes a good line dancer isn’t technical skill. “The best line dancers are the ones that are having the most fun while doing it,” he says. “It’s not about whether you’re executing the steps right. It’s about whether you’re allowing yourself to have a good time.”