Glossary
For those new to folk dancing, or any type of dancing, learning basic vocabulary can be an exhausting task. This goes beyond learning the steps, but being able to apply the words you hear or maybe even use. For those who are older and have been dancing for some years, your memory might be at the place that it needs a boost every once in a while. On this page we have identified a few common terms, styles, and movements you may come across in your experience. If you have a term, phrase, position or dance step you would like to contribute to this list, or if there is a word which you have heard but feel embarrassed to ask, please let us know. We promise not to put your name on-line and will try to make sense of something you may have heard! Enjoy!
Allemande Left
Join left hands with your corner or partner and turn once CCW in 8 steps, ending in starting position. Allemande Right is done with opposite hands and direction. DUH?
Arabesque
Sometimes if you are uncertain of the exact Middle Eastern country an individual is from, you might say he or she is "arabesque." This would be politically incorrect. Arabesque is a position in which the dancer stands on one leg, straight or bent (not the dancer, the leg), with the other extended to the back at 90 degrees.
Back Skaters Position
Partners stand side-by-side, left hands joined in front of man's body (man's palm up), with man's right arm around partner's waist, and holding lady's right hand at her right hip.
Balance
1) Two dancers face and dance two step-swings, starting to the right first, either with or without right hands joined. 2) One two-step, two walking steps, or a step and touch moving forward or back, and then repeat the same steps in the opposite direction. 3) A two-step or Pas de Basque to the left and then to the right or to the right and then to the left.
Balboa
Rocky's surname. It is also a form of Swing dance that started as early as 1915 and gained in popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. It is danced primarily in close embrace, and is led with a full body connection. The art of Balboa is the subtle communication between the lead and follow, like weight shifts, that most viewers cannot see. As a result, Balboa is considered more of a "dancer's dance" than a "spectator's dance."
Ballroom (Closed) Position
Two dancers face. The man's left hand is held out to his left, approximately shoulder high, and his right arm is around his partner's waist with the right hand supporting her back. The elbow of the man's right arm must be kept at least as high as the right hand in order to lead properly. The lady's right hand is placed on the man's left hand, and her left hand is placed on the man's right shoulder or upper arm. The lady's left arm should be in contact with the man's right arm, though she should carry the weight and not drag down on her partner, even if he is a muscular sort of person!
Basket Hold
The last thing "Little Red Riding Hood" saw before being consumed by the bad wolf. With regards to dancing...Front Basket Hold (more common) is a row or circle of dancers, side-by-side, with arms extended sideways in front of the adjacent dancers to take hands with the second dancer to each side. Unless indicated otherwise, the left arm is over the right arm of your neighbour to your left. Back Basket Hold: is a row or circle of dancers, side-by-side, with arms extended sideways behind the adjacent dancers to take hands with the second dancer to each side.
Behind
Otherwise known as the buttocks, rear, bum, rump, khyber pass, backside, bottom, derrière or a few other choice words not printable on this site, to which you sit on if you don't know the dance or need a rest from dancing! It can also refer to the free foot, which is supposed to go in back of the opposite foot. The former definitions, however, are much more exciting!
Belt Hold
This first presumes that people are wearing belts. Otherwise, care must be given when reaching towards, and pulling on another dancer's clothes. It involves a row of dancers, side by side, each dancer holding the belt of the adjacent dancer. If the row moves to the right in the dance then the right arm is crossed under the left arm and vice-versa. The end dancers in the line hold their belts with their free hands. If there is an absence of belts, you must pretend!
Black Bottom
African-American couple dance originating from New Orleans in 1919. It came from an earlier dance called “Jacksonville Rounders’ Dance” printed in 1907 and the rhythm was based solidly on the Charleston and took over in popularity. Some suggest this Jazz Age dance took its name from the muddy bottom of the Mississippi River.
Box Step
A pattern consisting of six steps, which when taken in its entirety, form the shape of a box…duh!
Brush
Nothing to do with the hair-do! This step involves a brushing of the toe(s) on the floor at the lowest part of a swing or in conjunction with another step.
Bunny Hop
This dance resembles the Conga line, but has three jumps at the end of the phrase instead of a kick. It comes instinctively to young rabbits.
Butterfly Position
When referred to in dancing, two dancers face and join hands out to the sides, palm to palm, elbows slightly bent. When referred to in Kama Sutra it is something totally different and cannot be published on this website.
Buzz
A type of haircut experienced by many military personnel, skin-heads, or persons infested with lice. It is also the euphoria experienced by smoking marijuana!
In dance terms, this step is used when the body is moving sidewards to the left, but with the right foot leading. It is sometimes referred to as a pivot. Crossing the right foot over in front of the left, step to the left on it, and close the left foot to the right. This buzz step can also be used to move in the other direction by reversing the footwork. This step can be used when swinging in the shoulder-waist or waist-swing position. Simply put, it is a turn in one spot.
Camel Walk
A skill practiced by Bedouins and Nomads for the purpose of exercising their dromedaries. If your dromedary is physically fit or you do not presently own one, it can be a two-beat maneuver in which a step forward is made on the first beat. On the second beat, the forward foot does a knee pop while the trailing foot slides up to and under the upraised heel of the forward foot.
Can-can
A stutterer who is able to do anything she or he desires. It is also regarded today primarily as a physically demanding music hall dance, performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings, harking back to the fashions of the 1890s. The main features of the dance are the lifting up and manipulation of the skirts, with high kicking and suggestive, provocative body movements. Some middle-aged and out-of-shape ladies really shouldn't-shouldn't.
Chain
A necessary accessory for those who enjoy the charming sport of S&M. In dancing, however, partners face each other in a circle with the men facing anti/counter-clockwise (LOD) and the ladies facing clockwise (RLOD). Give right hand to partner and pass by right shoulders. Give left hand to the next dancer and pass by left shoulder. Continue giving alternately right hand and then left hand to the oncoming dancers. Also known as a "grand chain".
Charleston
The capital of South Carolina from 1670-1789, after which the capital was moved to Columbia, South Carolina. The dance originated in the early 20's in illegal drinking places during the time of prohibition. The combination of a particular type of jazz music and the highly polished, slippery floors of the Speakeasies gave rise to an in-and-out flicking of the feet which essentially characterized the dance. It was embellished with typical vaudeville moves in a Ziegfield Follies production in 1921.
Chasse
A sliding step in which one foot "chases" and displaces the other. The direction may be sideways, diagonal, or even curving.
Chug
Something dancers do to water when thirsty, after a long dance. It is also a sharp movement (usually backward) of the supporting foot/feet where the foot/feet do not leave the floor. First shift the weight in the direction of the chug then sharply move the foot/feet to the new center of weight.
Clogging
A freestyle dance style originating in the Blue Ridge Mountains characterized by double time stomping and tap steps resembling a tap dance with the upper body held straight and upright. The constant shuffling of the "floor" foot is one of the major characteristics that distinguishes clogging from tap dancing.
Conga
An African-Cuban dance characterized by the extreme violence of accents on the strong beats in 2/4 time. The Conga was very popular in the late thirties. It was performed in a formation known as the Conga chain or Conga line. The steps are simple, one, two, three, kick at which time the partners move away from each other.
Contra or Longways Formation
Couples stand in two lines, men in one line facing the right wall and their partners who are standing in another line and facing the left wall. Starting with the couple at the head of the set, couples are numbered consecutively, to the foot, with rarely more than six couples to a set.
Corner
Where Little Jack Horner sat. It can also be the person standing by a dancer other than his/her partner when dancing as couples.
Cotton-Eyed Joe
A Country & Western dance enjoyed throughout the United States and elsewhere for its enthusiastic music and energetic movements. Characteristic movements include kicks, stomps, shuffles, and turns in place or traveling around the room. The man and the lady generally begin in shadow position with the left foot and they use the same foot on the same beat of music throughout their patterns.
Courtesy Turn
Starting formation - couple, facing dancers. The man (left hand dancer) takes the lady's (right hand dancer) left hand (palm down) in his left (palm up) and places his right hand in the small of the lady's back. Moving as a unit, the couple turns around (180°) with the left hand dancer backing up and right hand dancer walking forward. Unless otherwise specified, the couple faces the center of the set or the center of the formation.
Csárdás
It is a Hungarian dance with a slow introduction and a fast, wild finish. It is of Gypsy origin and means "innkeeper."
Cukce
In Balkan dancing, it is a soft rise and fall of the heel, like a bounce. In baby talk, it is the first word (repeated twice) followed by the word "coo". Many babies consider such talk condescending or odd at the very least, especially when a pinch of the cheek or tickling under the chin coincides with such gibberish.
Curtsy
The lady faces her partner with feet together, she touches her left foot behind her right and bends the knees slightly, lowering the body, then returns to normal position. Body remains upright. There is a push for a revival of such practices amongst some men.
Cut
What happens when you are careless with scissors. A quick displacement of one foot by the other. To cut the left foot you would stand with weight on the left foot and swing the right foot sidewards towards the left foot. Take weight on the right foot and swing the left foot away from the right foot as a continuation of the right foot’s swing. To "cut right", do the opposite.
Dip
The placement of a small amount of chewing tobacco under the lip, normally thought to be a very disgusting habit. It can also mean a step back on the right foot, with the left foot taking full weight and bending the knee. The other leg remains extended and straight with the toe in contact with the floor.
Dirty Dancin'
A general style of very intimate closed position partner dancing popularized in the late 80s by actor/dancer Patrick Swayze in the movie "Dirty Dancin'." Danced to popular fast or slow music and characterized by sensuous and seductive movements by both the man and woman. To increase the intensity of Dirty Dancin' it is recommended that it be done in the mud after a heavy rain.
Do-si-do
Two dancers face, move forward passing right shoulders (unless directed otherwise), move to the right passing back-to-back, and fall back to places, all in 8 steps. The direction of facing remains the same. There should be no spins. The same figure may be danced passing left shoulders first and moving to the left.
Double Circle
Usually consists of couples who are facing CCW around the circle. Variations: partners face; all dancers face center; all dancers face toward the wall with backs to center; men are in the outside circle with women in the inside circle; every other couple faces CW while alternate couples face CCW, leaving a couple facing a couple.
Drag
A man with a slight 5 o'clock shadow wearing a woman's dress and wig. A drag can also happen when a couples dance is announced and you are suddenly the odd person out without a partner, or when nobody ever asks to be your partner. This can also be a drag. It can also suggest that you bring your free foot slowly together to the supporting foot and is usually much more exciting than a man in a wig.
Draw
Something which must be learned after the realization that all of your people look like stick-figures. It can also be something similar to the side-step, except the trailing foot is closed to the supporting foot, with the heel leading and the toe pointed to the side. Weight depends on the next movement or step. Some people should NOT draw and stick with math or science.