Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Waltz Country Dance

Scottish Country Dance Instruction

WALTZ COUNTRY DANCE (W40) Round The Room RSCDS Book 4
Round the room dance, 2 facing 2

1- 8 All set to person opposite, change places passing RSh (Lady making waltz turn to right, Men moving straight forward), set to partners and change places as before
9-16 Repeat above Fig back to original places
17-32 All join hands and balance forward and backward, Men pass Lady on left over to the right (2H). Repeat 3 times, finishing in ballroom hold with partner
33-40 Couples waltz around each other (Men pass by left), moving anticlockwise, to meet next couple

Variation bars 33-40: Couples Poussette passing to meet next couple

(MINICRIB. Dance crib compiled by Charles Upton, Deeside Caledonian Society, and his successors)


Waltz Country Dance
Anon Adapted from RSCDS Book 4
Waltz n x 40 bars 2 Couple Repeat 2 Couple Set Progressive Round the Room Set
Start with 1s facing clockwise, 2s anticlockwise around the room, each M facing opposite L.

  1-2   1s 2s advance and retire;

  3-4   1s 2s pass opposites by the right, Mn turning clockwise ¼, Ls ¾, to finish facing partners;

  5-6   1s 2s, facing partners, advance and retire;

  7-8   1s 2s pass partners (like bars 3-4), finishing facing opposites, 1s 2s now having exchanged places;

  9-16 repeat bars 1-8 from new places, finishing in original places;

17-18 1s2s join hands in a circle and advance and retire;

19-20 Mn turn opposite L under the left arm so that Ls exchange places, finishing all facing partners with hands joined in a circle, again;

21-22 repeat bars 17-18;

23-24 repeat bars 19-20, Mn turning partners under the left arm;

25-32 repeat bars 17-24;

33-40 taking ballroom hold, 1s 2s waltz round to pass each other (giving left shoulders), finishing facing the original direction opposite new couples.

(MAXICRIB. Scottiish country dancing instructions compiled by Reuben Freemantle)

Dance Notes

This is the ceilidh version, not the strict RSCDS version.
Note that it is this ceilidh version, or a typical ceilidh variant, which is shown in all except the animation video.

  1-16 The passing movement is like a full petronella turn for the Ls, a partial petronella turn for the Mn.

17-32 Each M stays in the same place while turning the L under his left arm; he must take care not to crash his L into the other L and must have his right hand ready to steady the L after the turn under his left arm. If the L prefers, simply pass her from left hand to right hand, rather than under the arm.


Keith Rose's Crib Diagram


Dance Instruction Videos

Waltz Country Dance - Scottish Country Dancing Instruction Video

Dance Information

This dance was published by the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in Book 4, first issued in 1927. It is the only dance in the Society's published repertoire classified as a waltz.

According to the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, the dance was adapted from an earlier, longer dance entitled The Guaracha, also known as the Spanish Waltz. The title The Guaracha has not been used for the Society's published version.

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society recommends the tune Come O'er the Stream Charlie for the published version. The dance also appears in A Guide to Scottish Country Dancing, where it is included among the standard repertoire taught by the Society.

At the Moulin-Rouges, two women walzing
"At The Moulin-Rouges, Two Women Walzing" Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Oil On Cardoard, c. 1892


Image from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Additional search terms: Ceilidh Dance.

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