Line Dance · Beginner

Electric Slide

Not strictly country, but it plays at every night and every wedding.

BEGINNER LINE DANCE - ELECTRIC SLIDE - TUTORIAL!

We did not make this video — we found the clearest one and linked it. There is no single official version of most line dances, so we are filming the version taught on West Michigan floors with local instructors. Teach it here?

Level

BeginnerRic Silver’s sheet

Danced to

Electric BoogieMarcia Griffiths

Structure

18 count4 walls

Choreographed by

Ric Silver in 1976

Choreographers own their work. We credit them by name and send you to their official step sheet rather than reprinting it. Official step sheet on CopperKnob

Why this one is in the library

50 years in continuous use. The most consistently named crossover dance.

The cheat sheet

What you are walking into

The shortest dance you will learn and the one most rooms already know. Four walls, no partner, no excuses.

What catches people out

The step back is three counts, not four. That one extra beat is where every beginner falls out.

How to get through it

Count it out loud the first time. It repeats every few seconds, so a mistake costs you nothing.

Moves it leans on

Grapevine Vine with a Quarter Turn Rock Step Toe Touch Walls

These are ours, written for someone who has not danced it yet — not a step sheet. For exact counts, see the choreographer's sheet linked above, or come to a night and let someone teach you.

How it goes

18 counts · 4 walls · Beginner

Eighteen counts, which is why it feels shorter than everything else. Choreographed in 1976 and unchanged since.

1–4

Vine right

Step right, cross your left behind, step right again, then scuff your left beside it.

5–8

Vine left

The same going the other way, scuffing your right at the end.

9–12

Three back

Step back right, left, right, then touch your left in beside you. Three steps, not four — this is where beginners fall out.

13–16

Forward and back

Step forward left, touch your right beside it. Step back right, touch your left beside it.

17–18

Step and turn

Step forward on the left, then scuff your right through and let the momentum carry you a quarter turn left. Start again facing a new wall.

Written in our own words from the most-voted step sheet, so you can read it before you go. It is not the choreographer’s own notation — for that, see their sheet. Most of these dances have several versions; your room may do a different one.

Go dance this week

We do not claim to know which night plays which song. What we do know is where country dancing happens — here are three of the region's nights, and the calendar has the rest.

Stomp
Verified

Wednesday · Grand Rapids