How to Line Dance

Guide Note Line dancing is a popular activity in nightclubs and at weddings. However, it is also becoming popular as a form of exercise. If you've been scared to try for fear of looking like an idiot, don't worry. You can easily learn some of the more popular dances in the safety (and privacy) of your home.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Line Dance Steps
• The Electric Slide and The Electric
• The Cha Cha Slide
• Boot Scootin' Boogie
• The Tush Push
• Other Favorite Line Dances
• Conclusion
• References

Line Dance Tips

1. Line dancing is great exercise.
2. Line dancing is not always to country music.
3. It is easier to learn the dances without music first.
4. Start slow until you get the moves down, then speed it up.
5. Sometimes line dances are written for specific songs, other times they can be performed to a variety of songs.

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Introduction

• If you think cowboy boots and hats whenever you hear the words "line dancing", then you're only partially right. Although country music has more than its fair share of line dances, it is not limited to country music. But line dancing is not just about the music. Line dancing is an excellent way to stay fit no matter what your age.¹ If you're interested in learning line dances, this page will not only help you learn some of the basic steps used in many line dances, but also walk you through five of the more popular line dances: The Electric Slide, the Electric, the Cha Cha Slide, Boot Scootin' Boogie and the Tush Push.

How to Line Dance with Mahalo Daily

• 
  
  
• YouTube: Learn the Tush Push on Mahalo Daily! (Time: 5:27)

Line Dance Steps

• Before you get started learning the dances, you may want to review some of the basic steps. These steps may be mentioned in the explanations of some of the dances.

1. 

   (Creative Commons photo by Purple Slog)
   Grapevine or Vine is a three count step that can be either to the left or right.²
   • To do the left grapevine:
   1. Start with your feet together.
   2. With your left foot, take a step to the left side.
   3. Cross your right foot behind your left.
   4. Take a step to the left, moving your left foot over your right.
   • To do the right grapevine, take the same steps with the opposite feet:
   1. Start with your right foot, take a step to the right side.
   2. Cross your left foot behind your right.
   3. Take a step to the right, moving your right foot over your left.
2. Hitch is when you raise your knee straight up so that the upper leg is parallel to the floor and the lower leg is at a 90 degree angle.³
3. A Lock is a tight cross of the feet.⁴
4. A Scuff is done by gently swinging or kicking your leg forward past the foot you are standing on and allowing the sole of your shoe to make contact with the floor. Similar to the brush, but with more force on the heel.⁴
5. A Twist is done by placing the feet together and moving the heels either left or right.³
6. A Shuffle is a three step pattern that can be either forward, back or to the side. It is also called Cha-cha-cha, Cha Cha Step, Triple Step, Promenade or Polka.⁵
7. Stroll is a forward diagonal step followed by a lock and another step forward.⁶

• These are only a few of the different line dance steps. As you progress, you will want to learn more advance dances which will include other steps. To learn some of these steps, you can check out any of the following links:
  1. Blazing Boots: Introduction to Line Dancing
  2. CopperKnob: Line Dance Terminology
  3. Country Stars by Paula: Basic Terms & Step Definitions For Beginners
  4. Country Time Dance Lines: Line Dance Glossary Of Terms
  5. The Line Dance FAQ Home Page: Line/C&W Glossary of Line Dance Terms
  6. OwzitStart? Line Dancing: Basic Line Dance Terminology
  7. World Line Dance Newsletter: Basic Line Dance Steps

The Electric Slide and The Electric

• The Electric Slide is not only one of the oldest and most popular line dances, it is also the only one that has ever gone to court. Back in 2004, Ric Silver began demanding compensation from shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show that used the dance. He also insisted that YouTube remove all videos of the dance. According to Silver, the Electric Slide is a variation of the dance he choreographed in 1976, the Electric.⁷ The Electronic Frontier Foundation fought his claim, and according to the settlement, the dance is now registered under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 license.^{8 9} However, there are still some sites that claim that these are two separate dances.¹⁰

• For clarity, the Electric will be used to refer to the dance Silver claims to have choreographed and the Electric Slide will refer to similar dances. Both dances have four major parts which are repeated:
  1. Move to the right.
  2. 

     (Creative Commons photo by Truman)
     Move to the left.
  3. Move back.
  4. Rock and turn.
• Traditionally, both dances are danced to "Electric Boogie" by Marcia Griffiths.¹⁰

The Electric Slide

• Move to the Right
  1. Step to the right with your right foot, slide your left foot to the right. However, some dancers opt to do a full turn as part of a vine step.¹⁰
  2. Repeat step one.
  3. Step to the right (with right foot) and either:
     1. Scuff your left foot beside the right.¹¹
     2. Touch your left foot to your right.¹⁰

• Move to the Left
• Moving to the left is the same as moving to the right but in the opposite direction with opposite feet.
  1. Step to the left with your left foot, slide your right foot to the left. However, some dancers opt to do a full turn as part of a vine step.¹⁰
  2. Repeat step 1.
  3. Step to the left (with left foot) and either:
     1. Scuff your right foot beside the left.¹¹
     2. Touch your right foot to your left.¹⁰

• Move Back
  1. Step backward by stepping right foot, left foot, right foot.
  2. Touch your left heel forward.¹⁰
  3. Clap. You may opt to lift your left heel slightly.¹⁰
• A variation of this step has dancers take two steps back with feet coming together after each step (right foot back, left together, right foot back and left together).¹²

• Rock Forward and Back
• There are a couple of different ways you can do these steps. For one variation, do the following steps:
  1. Step in place with your left foot.
  2. Touch your right toe in place and rock forward. You can dip down and touch your the floor with your right hand, shake your shoulder and hips, or make a similar movement.
  3. Left your toe slightly off the floor.
  4. Step in place with your right foot.
  5. Touch left heel in place.
  6. Clap. You may lift your left heel slightly.
  7. Step in place with your left foot. Hitch your right knee, using the momentum of the hitch, turn 90 degrees (1/4 turn) to the left.¹⁰

• Another variation has these steps:
  1. Step forward with your left.
  2. Touch your right foot beside your left.
  3. Step backward with your right foot
  4. Touch your left foot beside your right.
  5. Step forward with your left foot, scuff your right foot forward and, using the momentum of the moves, turn 90 degrees (1/4 turn) to the left.¹¹

• YouTube: Electric Slide (Time: 3:15)

The Electric

• Move to the Right: Grapevine to the right and clap on the the last step (when your feet come together).¹³
• Move to the Left: Grapevine to the left and clap on the the last step (when your feet come together).¹³
• Move Back: Step backward by stepping right foot, left foot, right foot. Touch your left foot beside your right foot and clap.¹³
• Rock Forward and Back
  1. Step forward on your left foot, touch right toe to your left heel, and clap.¹³
  2. Step back on the right foot, touch your left toe to to your right toe, and snap.¹³
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
  4. Then step forward on your left foot, make a 90 degree turn to your left, and hop.¹³

• YouTube: The Electric (Time: 1:24)

The Cha Cha Slide

• It seems everyone, including Oprah, is doing the Cha Cha Slide these days.¹⁴ The dance was written, choreographed and sung by D.J. Mr. C (Casper).¹⁵ If you are not familiar with the dance, you may recognize the song from a McDonald's commercial.¹⁶ The Cha Cha Slide puts an urban twist on the Electric Slide and the Cha Cha. The nicest thing about this dance is that the song tells you how to do the dance. Also, since the dance was written to be part of an aerobics program, it is also good exercise.¹⁷

• It is easier to learn this dance if you know the Electric or the Electric Slide because the pattern is very similar (although there are some twists involved). The basic dance has you moving to the right, to the left, and back. Then, instead of rocking, you do a series of moves that are given to you in the song before doing a quarter (90 degree) turn to the left and repeating. The trick to learning this dance is to know that once he says "Turn it out" the basic right-left-back pattern is repeated. Then, you follow his directions until he tells you to turn. Once you turn, follow the right-left-back pattern and follow the directions.

The Basic Steps

• These steps are in all versions of the song:
• To the Right: Grapevine to the right. This phrase is not always specifically stated in the songs and it sometimes stated as "slide to the right."
• To the Left: Grapevine to the left. Again, this phrase is not always specifically stated in the songs. It sometimes stated as "slide to the right."
• Take it Back: Take three steps back (left foot, right foot, left foot). Then, bright your right foot even with the left foot. Once you've moved back, you need to wait for the song to direct you to the next move. You can also do mashed potato steps back or a rolling turn.¹⁸ To see an example of the mashed potato, check out The Mashed Potato.¹⁹
• Turn it Out: This phrase is almost always said. The phrase indicates that the right-left-back pattern should begin again. One couple of times it is absent Casper says "Let's go to work." or "Now it's time to get funky." instead.

Other Moves

• Hop: This step is only done when told. You need to listen for how many hops are directed, it can be anywhere from one to six. You can opt to scooting forward instead of hoping.²⁰
• Right/Left Foot or Stomp: This step is only done when told. Sometimes it says, "Right/Left foot let's stomp." Other times it simply says, "right/left foot." It may also tell you how many time to stomp and even repeat this step.
• Cha Cha: This step is repeated until a new instruction is given (which is sometimes to repeat the cha cha. Also, the song may say "Get busy one time" instead of "cha cha." There are four steps in the cha cha:
  1. Cross your right foot over your left foot.
  2. Step back with your left foot.
  3. Step the right with your right foot.
  4. Step a step forward with your left foot.
• Criss Cross: This is a series of four jumps:
  1. Feet apart.
  2. Feet crossed (right over left)
  3. Feet apart
  4. Feet together.
• Slide to the left/right: Slide one foot over (in the direction indicated) and the slide the other foot over next to it.
• Reverse: Do a slide in the opposite direction.
• How low can you go: Think limbo. Lean back an bend down as far as you can. You can also twist down.¹⁸
• Bring it to the top: This come after the "low" part. Bring yourself back up while waving your arms over your head.
• Hands on your knees: Cross your arms and place your hands on your knees, bounce to the beat and knock your knees together.^{15 20}
• Freeze: Strike a pose and freeze.
• Charlie Brown: Rock forward on your right foot while kicking your left foot (the running man step).¹⁵

• YouTube: Cha Cha Slide (Time: 3:52)

Boot Scootin' Boogie

• Although variations of this dance occur, this section covers the original Boot Scootin' Boogie choreographed by Bill Bader in 1990.²¹ It is named after a song of the same title that was first performed by Asleep At The Wheel and later (more famously) by Brooks & Dunn. The dance steps are broken into five parts. The numbers in front of the steps indicate the beat.

• Grapevines
  • 1-3: Grapevine to the right.
  • 4: Touch left heel at a 45 degree angle forward to the left and clap.
  • 5-7: Grapevine to the left.
  • 8: Touch right heel at a 45 degree angle forward to the right and clap.
• Heel Steps
  • 9: Move your right foot back beside the left.
  • 10: Touch left heel diagonally forward to the left, push hips to the right, and clap.²²
  • 11: Move your left foot back beside the right.
  • 12: Touch right heel diagonally forward to the right and clap.
• Swivel
  • 13: Move your right foot back and push hips to the right.²²
  • 14-16: Swivel your heels to the right, the left, the right and then center.²¹ You can opt to push your hips in the opposite directions (left, right, left).²²
    • Alternative to beats 13-16 can be twists right-left-right-left.²²
• Stomp and Kick
  • 17-18: Stomp (touch) right heel twice beside the left foot.²³
  • 19-20: Kick right foot twice with a forward and downward pumping action.²¹
  • &21: Step right foot together beside the left. Then, step the left foot in place.
  • 22: Repeat beats 17-18 but only stomp/touch your right heel one time.
    • Alternative to beats &21-22 is to just do two right stomps.²¹
  • 23-24: Repeat beats 19-20 (with the right foot again).
• Step Back and Hitches
  • 25-26: Step right foot forward. Press (hook) your left shin into the back of your right knee so it bends.²¹ You can also simply rock forward on your right foot and pause.²²
  • 27-28: Step left foot back, raise/hitch right knee.
  • 29-30: Step right foot back, raise/hitch your left knee.
  • 31-32: Step left foot forward. Scuff right heel and make a quarter (90 degree) turn to the left (counterclockwise).²¹

• YouTube: Line Dance Dancing Lessons How to do the Boot Scoot Boogie (Time: 1:03)

Alternate Versions

• As stated earlier, a number of different dances call themselves the "Boot Scootin' Boogie." If you are looking for a different version of this dance, check out the following links:
  1. Kickit Dance Search "Boot Scootin' Boogie"
  2. CopperKnob: Boot Scootin' Boogie | Boot Scootin' Boogie (Two person version)
  3. Yipee!: Boot Scootin' Boogie
  4. Partydirectory.com: Country Line Dance - Boot Scootin' Boogie
  5. YouTube: Boot Scootin' Boogie (Time: 2:11)
  6. YouTube: Line Dancing Lessons 4: Boot Scoot Boogie (Time: 7:33)

The Tush Push or Push Tush

• The Tush Push was choreographed by Jim Ferrazzano and Kenneth Engel.²⁴ It can be danced to a variety of different songs including "Chattahoochee" by Alan Jackson, "Born to Boogie" by Hank Williams Jr. or "Cowboy Love" by John Michael Montgomery.^{24 25 26} The dance has 40 beats. The numbers before the steps indicate the beat.

• Right and Left Heel Taps
  • 1-4: Tap your right heel forward once, bring feet together, then tap your right heel forward two times.²⁴
    • • Or Tap right heel forward four times.²⁶
      • Or Hop feet apart. Hop and cross right foot over left. Make a full turn to the left.²⁵
      • Or (1) Cross right foot over left. (2) Step left to the side and touch your right heel forward. (3) Drop right toe and step left foot over the right. (4) Step right to side and touch left heel forward.²⁴
  • &: Switch your weight to the right foot.
  • 5-8: Tap your left heel forward once, bring feet together, then tap your left heel forward two times.²⁴
    • • Or Tap left heel forward four times.²⁶
      • Or Hop feet apart. Hop and cross left foot over right . Make a full turn to the right.You can do it in the opposite direction instead.²⁵
      • Or (5) Drop left toe and step right foot over the left. (6) Move your left foot to the side and touch your right heel forward. (7) Drop your right toe and step your left foot over your right. (8) Step right to side and touch your left heel forward.²⁴
• Heel Switches
  • 9: Touch right heel forward and bring it back.
  • 10: Touch left heel forward and bring it back.
  • 11-12: Touch right heel forward, bring it back and clap.
• Bump Your Hips
  • 13-14: Shift your weight forward (over the right foot) while keeping your feet in place (although some dancers appear to move their right foot slightly forward).²⁷ Then, bump or rock your right hip forward twice.
  • 15-16: Shift your weight back (over the left foot) and bump or rock your left hip twice.
  • 17-18: Bump (as you did in beat 13-14) your right hip forward. Then, bump (as you did in beat 15-16) your left hip back.
  • 19-20: Repeat beats 17-18.
• Basic Cha-Cha Series
  • 21&22: Shuffle forward right.²⁶ To shuffle, you are going to step forward with your right foot, bring your left foot even with your right, and then step forward with your right.²⁸ (You're feet will not be together at the end of this beat.)
  • 23-24: Step forward with your left foot and rock forward onto it. Then, rock back onto your right foot and recover to right.
  • 25&26:Shuffle back left.²⁶ This time you will step back with your left foot, bring your right foot so it is even with your left, then step back with your left.
  • 27-28: Step back with your right foot and rock back onto it. Then, rock forward onto the left and recover to left.
• Step-turn Cha-Cha Series
  • 29&30: Shuffle forward right (see beats 21&22).
  • 31-32: Step forward with your left foot. Then, pivot 180 degrees (1/2 turn) to the right (with your weight on the right).²⁴ This is also known as a military pivot.²⁹
  • 33&34: Shuffle forward left by stepping forward with your left foot, bringing your right foot even with your left and stepping forward with your left foot.
  • 35-36: Step forward with your right foot. Then, pivot 180 degrees (1/2 turn) to the left (with your weight on the left).²⁴
• Step, Turn, Stomp and Clap
  • 37-38: Step forward with your right foot. Make a quarter (90 degree) turn to your left.
  • 39-40: Stomp your right foot forward and clap.

• Expert Village: Slow Run Through of Line Dance (Time: 1:50)

Other Favorite Line Dances

• Line dancing can be an addictive activity. Luckily, it is a healthy one. Once you've mastered the dances above, it's natural that you will want to learn other line dances. Here are some popular dances that you might try. You can also check out the section on step sheets to find instructions on how to do almost any dance you can dream of.

Achy Breaky Heart

• Kickit: Achy Breaky Heart
• Yipee!: Achy Breaky Heart
• YouTube: Achy Breaky Heart Steps (Time: 5:08)

The Bus Stop

• CopperKnob Linedance Stepsheets: The Bus Stop
• Partydirectory.com: Line Dance - Bus Stop
• YouTube: Disco Fever Dance Lesson #3: The Bus Stop (Time: 4:24)

Cotton Eyed Joe

• Partydirectory.com: Country Line Dance - Cotton Eyed Joe
• CopperKnob Linedance Stepsheets: Cotton Eyed Joe | Cotton Eyed Joe (partner) | Cotton-eyed Joe (2) | Cotton-eyed Joe (the Line Dance)
• YouTube: Cotton Eye Joe Dance (Time: 3:28)

Cupid Shuffle

• Yipee: Cupid Shuffle
• Kickit: Cupid Shuffle
• DanceJam: Cupid Shuffle
• CopperKnob: Cupid Shuffle
• YouTube: Cupid: Cupid Shuffle (video) (Time: 3:52)
• YouTube: Detroit Steppers Cupid Shuffle (Time: 3:12)
• YouTube: How-To Cupid Shuffle! (Time: 1:25)

The Hustle

• CopperKnob Linedance Stepsheets: The Hustle
• Expert Village Video Series: How to Do the Hustle
• YouTube: How to Do the Hustle (Time: 4:04)

Macarena

• Partydirectory.com: Country Line Dance - Macarena
• Shelia Danzig presents: Free Macarena Lessons on the Internet  
• YouTube: How To: Do the Macarena (stop motion) (Time: 0:10)

Watermelon Crawl

• Boots & Boogie Line Dance Club: Watermelon Crawl
• CopperKnob Linedance Stepsheets: Watermelon Crawl | Watermelon Crawl 2 | Watermelon Crawl 3
• 38 Step Line Dancing and Country Life: Watermelon Crawl Line Dance Video & Step Sheet
• YouTube: Line Dance Watermelon Crawl (Time: 3:00)
• YouTube: You Can Linedance: Watermelon Crawl (Time: 3:23)

Line Dance Step Sheets

• CopperKnob: Linedance Stepsheets
• Yipee!: Dance Sheets
• Kickit: Search Page
• Bill Bader's Linedance Choreography: Line Dances at All Levels
• Partydirectory.com: Dance Steps
• 38 Step Line Dancing and Country Life: NJ Line Dances - Current & Nostalgic Dances
• IAGLCWDC Dance Competitions Committee: Sanctioned Line Dances & Music - Archive List

Conclusion

• Now that you've learned a few line dances, don't be afraid to go out and practice them in public. Line dancing can be a great way to socialize. Since new line dances are coming out all the time, you will discover that beginners are always welcome. You might also want to go back and learn some classic line dances such as "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show which really is "just a step to the left...".³⁰

YouTube: The Time Warp! (Time: 4:14)

References for How to Line Dance

1. ↑ ABC7 Chicago News: Line Dancing Brings All Ages Together (October 7, 2008)
2. ↑ Country Stars by Paula: Basic Terms & Step Definitions For Beginners
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} World Line Dance Newsletter: Basic Line Dance Steps
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} CopperKnob: Line Dance Terminology
5. ↑ The Line Dance FAQ Home Page: Line/C&W Glossary of Line Dance Terms
6. ↑ Country Time Dance Lines: Line Dance Glossary Of Terms
7. ↑ CNET News: 'Electric Slide' on Slippery DMCA Slope (February 3, 2007)
8. ↑ Electronic Frontier Foundation: Electric Slide Litigation
9. ↑ Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8} Kickit: Electric Slide
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Yipee: Electric Slide
12. ↑ YouTube: Electric Slide Steps (Time: 4:30)  
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5} The Electric: The Complete Choreography  
14. ↑ YouTube: Oprah Does The Cha-Cha Slide! (Time: 0:30)  
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} About.com: How to Do the Cha-Cha Slide  
16. ↑ YouTube: McDonald's Happy Meal Ad Cha Cha Slide (Long Version) (Time: 1:00)  
17. ↑ Songfacts: Cha Cha Slide by DJ Casper
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Yipee: Cha Cha Slide
19. ↑ YouTube: The Mashed Potato(Time: 0:32)  
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} CopperKnob: Cha Cha Slide
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5} Bill Bader: Boot Scootin' (Vancouver) Boogie
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4} Sharon's Cool Country Corner: Boot Scootin Boogie
23. ↑ Kickit: Boot Scootin' Boogie
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 24.6 24.7} CopperKnob: Tush Push
25. ↑ ^{25.0 25.1 25.2} Kickit: Tush Push
26. ↑ ^{26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4} IAGLCWDC Line Dance Competitions: Tush Push Step Sheet
27. ↑ YouTube: Tush Push Linedance (Time: 2:02)  
28. ↑ 38 Step Line Dancing and Country Life: Tush Push Line Dance Video & Step Sheet
29. ↑ Yipee: Tush Push
30. ↑ YouTube: The Time Warp! (Time: 4:14)  

How to Line Dance Videos

• Expert Village Video Series: How to Line Dance