Basic Country Line Dance Steps

Ready to learn some country line dance steps? Forget the spurs and leave the horse at home, but bring the boots and the hat and get on over here, cowboy. It sounds corny, but it just seems easier to perform the steps when you dress the part.

Learn to Country Line Dance
Learning to country line dance is not hard, but it does take some coordination and a little bit of confidence to get out there on the floor and do your thing. You can practice some of these dance steps at home before you stroll out on the dance floor.

One popular country line dance is called the Boot Scootin' Boogie. In order to do this dance, you'll need to loosen up a bit. While this is not necessary a beginners' dance, it is one that you'll be sure to run across the next time you visit a country and western bar.

Boot Scootin' Boogie Dance Steps
This dance is performed differently in different cities, so be on the lookout for a few stragglers who appear to do the dance wrong, yourself included. Before the dance is over, everyone will have picked up the steps that the majority of the dancers are doing, and everyone will be in sync. The only moderately difficult steps you'll have to learn for this dance are the brush kick and the grapevine.

• Brush Kick: The brush kick is a simple forward kick that allows your foot to touch the ground at your side before it moves forward. When you perform this step, do it in a single, clean motion.
• Grapevine: To perform a grapevine, stand with your feet together, then use your right foot to make the first step to the right side. Step to the right with your left foot, crossing it behind your right foot. Repeat the move for the correct number of steps. To grapevine left, step left with your left foot, then cross your right foot in front of your left, and so on.

For the Boot Scootin' Boogie, you start with your left foot.

• Step forward with your left foot, keeping all of your weight on this foot. Pivot the left foot a half turn to the right, shifting your weight to your right foot.
• Repeat the last step.
• Toss in a grapevine.
• Stomp and clap your hands.
• Step forward with your right foot, keeping your weight on this foot, then pivot the right foot a half turn to the left, shifting your weight to your left foot
• Repeat the last step.
• Toss in a grapevine.
• Stomp and clap your hands.
• Touch your left heel forward, cross your left foot over your right leg, then step forward with your left foot and slide the right foot to meet the left foot.
• Repeat the last step.
• Step forward with your left foot, bending your knee and swaying down toward your left side. Without moving your feet, sway back to the right, then stand up straight.
• Step backward with your right foot, bending your knee and swaying down to your right side. Without moving your feet, sway back toward the left, then stand up straight.
• Step forward with left foot.
• Brush kick with your right foot, using your left foot as the pivot, and make a quarter turn toward the left.
• Cross your right foot in front, keeping your weight on the right foot.
• Clap.
• Repeat from the beginning.

Don't be dissuaded from jumping right in the next time you hear the Boot Scootin' Boogie, even if the instructions given here are a little different from what the group might be doing. Each country line dance ends up being a little different, depending on where you're dancing.