Learn 25 moves,
dance almost anything.
Line dancing looks like hundreds of different dances. It is really about twenty-five stock moves, shuffled into different orders. Learn these once and a step sheet stops being a foreign language — you will read "grapevine right, jazz box, rock step" and just know what your feet do.
Moves that carry you across the floor
Grapevine
Four counts that carry you sideways.
Vine with a Quarter Turn
A grapevine that leaves you facing a new wall.
Shuffle
Three quick steps squeezed into two counts. The engine of most dances.
Weave
A grapevine with a front cross added — you thread sideways.
Lock Step
A shuffle where the trailing foot locks in tight behind.
Charleston Step
A swinging forward-and-back kick that dates to the 1920s.
Moves that shift your weight in place
Rock Step
Two counts that go nowhere on purpose — you shift weight and come back.
Coaster Step
Back, together, forward — three counts in two beats' worth of space.
Kick Ball Change
A kick, then a fast weight swap on the balls of your feet.
Sailor Step
A cross behind with a rocking side-to-side feel.
Mambo Step
A rock step with a close on the end.
Scissor Step
Side, together, cross.
Moves that change the direction you face
Jazz Box
Four counts that draw a square and put you back where you started.
Pivot Turn
Step forward, then spin on the spot to face a new wall.
Paddle Turn
Push yourself around in quarter turns with one foot.
Monterey Turn
A toe point that snaps you into a half turn.
Moves that mark the beat without going anywhere
Heel Dig
Tap a heel out in front. No weight goes on it.
Toe Touch
Touch your toe to the floor without putting weight on it.
Scuff
Brush your heel along the floor as it swings past.
Hitch
Lift your knee up.
Stomp
Put a foot down hard.
Heel Split
Swivel both heels apart and back with your weight on your toes.
Hip Bump
Push your hip out to the side.
Not moves — the rules that hold a dance together
Tags and Restarts
Not a move — a rule. A tag is extra counts added at a set point in the song; a restart means you cut the sequence short and begin again.
Walls
Not a move — how many directions you end up facing. A '4-wall' dance turns a quarter each time through, so you face all four walls of the room before you are back where you started.
Now go use them
Every dance in our library is built from the moves above. Pick one and see them in order.
The dance library