The earliest roots of country line dancing can be traced back to European folk dancing. These dancers tended to dance either in circles or two distinct lines. Folk dancing came to America with the colonization of European settlers in the New World. They brought their traditions and their leisure activities to America, where the dances began to grow and evolve.
"Contra" dancing became popular in the early 1800s. It is derived both from folk dancing and what is known as country dancing. Men and women stand in two distinct lines and dance with each other. This type of dancing is still seen today.
In the 1960s, line dancing became something closer to its modern day form. However, dances such as the "Hully Gully" evolved naturally on the dance floor and were not choreographed the way that line dances are today. The disco era also brought in new forms of line dancing that encompassed elements of both contra dance and modern day line dancing.
The "country" aspect of line dancing began to appear in the 1980s. Jim Ferrazzano's "Tush Push" was released in 1980, and it is known as the first choreographed line dance. Elements of square dances began to intermix with the line dances, and the dances continued to evolve with hits from the Oakridge Boys and Bill Bader. However, a vast majority of line dancing music was from the pop or disco worlds, not country.
Country line dancing went public in 1992 with the release of Billy Ray Cyrus' massive hit, "Achy Breaky Heart." Melanie Greenwood choreographed the dance that brought line dancing from the discos into the mainstream. Cyrus was a country artist, and as a result of this line dancing became associated with country music---and has been, for the most part, ever since.