The Catherine Waltz is a modern sequence dance. The dance script was composed by Arthur Shaw in 1956. It is a 16 bar dance (see paragraph numbers) and should be danced to a 1-2-3 rhythm with 3 beats to a bar. This is a slow waltz and should be danced to music at a tempo of 30 bars per minute. We commence the dance in normal ballroom hold with the man facing and the lady backing the line of dance. The man’s steps are described here, with the Lady’s steps in italics.
TECHNIQUE TIP:- The man lowers (bends his legs) slightly and uses “heel leads” to step forward; backward steps are drawn with his toe (again, lowering himself) and whenever they bring their feet together in a sideways movement, both man and lady should rise up onto their toes and then lower. This is called “rise and fall” and adds class to the appearance and feel of the dance.
If You Prefer to Just Watch the Catherine Waltz, Scroll to the Video at the Bottom
Please also bear in mind that all waltz sequences are about correct angles in relation to the line of dance.
Catherine Waltz Dance Steps
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Bar |
Count |
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Catherine Waltz – 1st Movement – Reverse Turn and Back Closed Change Repeated |
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| 1 | The man moves his left foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction (The Lady brings her right foot back in a diagonal to centre direction) |
1 |
| Then the man’s right foot goes to the side (and the Lady’s left foot goes to the side) | 2 | |
| The man’s left foot closes to his right foot and he should now be facing the centre (the Lady’s right foot closes to her left foot and she should now be facing the wall) | 3 | |
| 2 | Then the man brings his right foot back and down the line of dance (while the Lady moves her left foot forward and down the line of dance) | 1 |
| The man’s left foot goes to the side (the Lady’s right foot goes to the side) | 2 | |
| And the man’s right foot closes to his left foot and he should now be facing against the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot closes to her right foot and she should now be facing the line of dance) | 3 | |
| 3 | The man’s left foot then goes forward in a diagonal to wall direction against the line of dance (and the Lady’s right foot comes back in a diagonal to wall direction, against the line of dance) | 1 |
| Then the man’s right foot goes to the side (the Lady’s left foot goes to the side) | 2 | |
| And the man’s left foot closes to his right foot. He should now be facing the wall (the Lady’s right foot closes to her left foot. She should now be facing the centre) | 3 | |
| 4 | Then the man brings his right foot back and against the line of dance (and the Lady moves her left foot forward and against the line of dance) | 1 |
| The man’s left foot goes to the side (the Lady’s right foot goes to the side) | 2 | |
| And the man’s right foot closes to his left foot and he should now be facing the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot closes to her right foot and she should now be backing the line of dance) | 3 | |
Catherine Waltz – 2nd Movement – Forward Passing Change – 1 to 3 Natural Turn – Natural Spin Turn with Closed Finish |
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| 5 | The man moves his left foot forward in a diagonal to wall direction (the Lady brings her right foot back in a diagonal to wall direction) | 1 |
| Then he moves his right foot forward outside his partner who is on his right side (the Lady brings her left foot back with her partner on her outside) | 2 | |
| Then the man moves his left foot forward, his left side leading, and turning square to his partner (the Lady brings her right foot back) | 3 | |
| 6 | Now the man moves his right foot forward, still square to his partner, and commences turning to the right (the Lady brings her left foot back) | 1 |
| The man’s left foot then goes to the side and across the line of dance, moving in a diagonal to wall direction (the Lady’s right foot goes to the side and across the line of dance, moving in a diagonal to wall direction) | 2 | |
| The man closes his right foot to his left foot. He should now be backing the line of dance (the Lady should be facing the line of dance) | 3 | |
| 7 | Now for the Natural Spin Turn. The man brings his left foot back, while turning strongly to the right with his right foot held in a Contra Body Movement Position. We’re looking at approximately 1/2 turn to the right (the Lady moves her right foot forward while turning strongly to the right) | 1 |
| Then the man moves his right foot forward and down the line of dance, still turning to the right, in a Pivot action (the Lady brings her left foot to the side and back down the line of dance, while still turning to the right. Her right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) | 2 | |
| Then the man brings his left foot to the side and slightly back down the line of dance (the Lady moves her right foot diagonally forward in a diagonal to centre direction and against the line of dance) | 3 | |
| 8 | The man brings his right foot back and against the line of dance (and the Lady moves her left foot forward and against the line of dance) | 1 |
| The man brings his left foot to the side (and the Lady brings her right foot to the side) | 2 | |
| Then the man closes his right foot to his left foot and should now be facing down the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot and should now be backing down the line of dance) | 3 | |
Catherine Waltz – 3rd Movement – Whisk – Wing – Closed Telemark – 1 to 3 Natural Turn |
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| 9 | The Whisk: The man moves his left foot forward and down the line of dance (the Lady brings her right foot back and down the line of dance and begins to turn slightly to the right) | 1 |
| Then he moves his right foot to the side and towards the wall (the Lady moves her left foot to the side and towards the wall and turns to Promenade Position) | 2 | |
| The man crosses his left foot behind his right foot, into a Whisk (the Lady crosses her right foot behind her left foot) | 3 | |
| 10 | Then the man moves his right foot forward and in Promenade Position (the Lady moves her left foot forward and in Promenade Position and begins to circle her partner, closing to his left side) | 1 |
| The man closes his left foot to his right foot without changing his weight (the Lady continues with two forward steps, circling her partner and ends with her left foot slightly forward on her partner’s left side) | 2 3 | |
| 11 | The man moves his left foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction on the lady’s left side, while turning to the left and square to his partner (the Lady brings her right foot back, a small step, while turning to the left) | 1 |
| Then he brings his right foot to the side and across the line of dance, still turning to the left (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot and does a Heel Turn – a Closed Telemark) | 2 | |
| Now the man brings his left foot to the side and down the line of dance, himself now facing diagonal to wall (the Lady brings her right foot to the side and down the line of dance, herself now backing diagonal to wall) | 3 | |
| 12 | Then the man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal to wall direction and outside his partner who is on his right side and commences turning to the right (the Lady brings her left foot back in a diagonal to wall direction, with her partner on her outside) | 1 |
| The man brings his left foot to the side and across the line of dance (the Lady brings her right foot to the side and across the line of dance) | 2 | |
| The man closes his right foot to his left foot and should now be backing the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot and should now be facing the line of dance) | 3 | |
Catherine Waltz – 4th Movement – Natural Spin Turn – Checks to left and Right – Closed Finish |
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| 13 | The Natural Spin Turn:- The man brings his left foot back, while turning strongly to the right with his right foot held in Contra Body Movement Position. We’re looking at approximately 1/2 turn to the right (Lady RF fwd turning strongly to R) | 1 |
| Then the man moves his right foot forward and down the line of dance, still turning to the right – a Pivot action (the Lady brings her left foot to the side and back down the line of dance, still turning to the right. Her right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) | 2 | |
| The man brings his left foot to the side and slightly back, so that he is now facing the line of dance (the Lady moves her right foot diagonally forward in a diagonal to centre direction and against the line of dance) | 3 | |
| 14 | Check to the Left:- Then the man brings his right foot back in Contra Body Movement Position (CBMP), while turning to the left to face diagonal to centre (the Lady brings her left foot back in a CBMP, while turning to the left until she is backing diagonal to centre) | 1 |
| The man brings his left foot to the side, while still turning to the left (the Lady brings her right foot to the side, also still turning to the left) | 2 | |
| Then the man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction and outside his partner, being on the lady’s right side, into a Check (Lady LF back DC, PO, Check) | 3 | |
| 15 | Check to the Right:- Now the man brings his left foot back in another CBMP, while turning to the right until he is facing diagonal to wall (the Lady moves her right foot forward in another CBMP, while turning to the right until she is backing diagonal to wall) | 1 |
| Then he brings his right foot to the side, while still turning to the right (the Lady brings her left foot to the side, while still turning to the right) | 2 | |
| The man moves his left foot forward and in a diagonal to wall direction and outside his partner, being on the lady’s left side, into another Check (the Lady brings her right foot back in a diagonal to wall direction with her partner on her outside, into another Check) | 3 | |
| 16 | Closed Finish:- The man brings his right foot back, while turning to the left until he is facing down the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward while turning to the left until she is backing down the line of dance) | 1 |
| The man brings his left foot to the side (the Lady brings her right foot to the side) | 2 | |
| And he closes his right foot to his left foot to end the Catherine Waltz facing the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot to end backing the line of dance) | 3 | |
Enjoy this Video Demonstration of the Catherine Waltz Sequence Dance
