The Parma Waltz is a modern sequence dance which was awarded 1st Class Diploma at the British Association of Dancing 28th Annual Conference in June 1920. The dance script was composed by N.C. Locke. It is a 32 bar dance (see paragraph numbers) in the usual 3/4 waltz time and should be danced to a 1-2-3 rhythm to music at a tempo of 48/54 bars per minute. We commence the dance in right shadow hold with both man and lady facing the line of dance. Only the man’s steps are described here, with the Lady dancing as a counterpart, unless otherwise stated – in which case, the lady’s steps are in italics. The man and lady dance similar steps up until bar 23.
Technique Tips:- 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 he brings his feet together both man and lady should rise up onto their toes and then change weight to the other foot, unless otherwise noted. If you find yourself confused with all the technical terms, you can skip to a video presentation of the dance below.
Parma Waltz Dance Steps
If You Prefer to Just Watch the Parma 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.
Parma Waltz – 1st Movement – Two Walks then Turn to the Right to End Backing Line of Dance – Then Backward Walks
Start in Right shadow hold with both man and lady facing the line of dance. Being shadow hold, both man and lady will have the same steps.
1. The man moves his left foot forward down the line of dance (1-2) then brushes his right foot to his left foot without changing his weight (3)
2. Next, they both move their right foot forward down the line of dance and commence turning to the right (4-5). They continue to turn to the right so that by the end of this beat, both partners end backing the line of dance, brushing left foot to right foot without changing weight. The lady is now on man’s left side in Left Shadow Hold (6)
3. Now moving backwards, they bring their left foot back down the line of dance (1-2) followed by the right foot (3)
4. Continuing to walk backwards, their left foot comes back down the line of dance (4-5) and they brush right foot to left, without changing weight (6).
Parma Waltz – 2nd Movement – Repeat Bars 1-4 Moving Against Line of Dance
5. Now they move their right foot forward against the line of dance (1-2) and brush their left foot to their right without changing weight (3).
6. Then the left foot comes down the line of dance as they commence turning to the left (4-5). They continue turning to the left so that both partners end backing against the line of dance. They brush their right foot to their left without changing weight. At the end of this beat, the lady is now on man’s right side in Right Shadow Hold (6)
7. Now walking backwards, they bring their right foot back against the line of dance (1-2) followed by their left foot back against line of dance (3)
8. Their right foot comes back against the line of dance (4-5) and they brush their left foot to their right without changing weight. At the end of this beat, both partners should now be facing the line of dance (6)
9. Now they move their left foot forward down the line of dance (1-2) and brush their right foot to their left foot without changing their weight. At this point they turn their bodies slightly to the left (3)
10. Partners now move their right foot down the line of dance (4-5) and bringing their left foot up to brush against the right foot without changing weight – then a slight body turn to the right (6)
11. Continue with the left foot moving forward down the line of dance (1-2) and brush the right foot to the left without changing weight. Brush right foot to left without changing weight and then a slight body turn to the left (3)
12. We end this movement by moving the right foot forward down the line of dance (4-5) and bring the left foot up to brush against the right without changing weight, followed by a slight body turn to the right. The movement ends facing diagonal-to-wall and partners preparing to move sideways in a diagonal-to-centre direction (6).
Parma Waltz – 3rd Movement – Lock Step to Left – Lock Step to Right
13. Starting with the left foot moving to the side in a diagonal-to-centre direction with left side leading, the man behind lady and body facing diagonal-to-wall (1-2) then cross the right foot behind the left foot, still moving diagonal-to-centre with left side leading (3)
14 Continuing with left foot moving sideways in a diagonal-to-centre direction, allowing the right side to overtake the left side (4 5) then brush the right foot to the left foot without changing weight and a slight body turn to the left (6)
15 Now for the lock step to the right. Partners move the right foot to the side in a diagonal-to-wall direction with the right side leading, the man behind the lady and body facing diagonal-to-centre (1 2). Now we cross the left foot behind the right foot, moving in a diagonal-to-wall direction with the right side leading (3)
16 Continuing with the right foot to the side in a diagonal-to-wall direction, allowing the left side to overtake the right side (4 5).
Now brush the left foot to the right without changing weight, with a slight body turn to the right. The movement ends with both partners facing diagonal-to-wall (6).
Parma Waltz – 4th Movement – Repeat Bars 13 to 16
17. Starting with the left foot moving to the side in a diagonal-to-centre direction with left side leading, the man behind lady and body facing diagonal-to-wall (1-2) then cross the right foot behind the left foot, still moving diagonal-to-centre with left side leading (3)
18. Continuing with left foot moving sideways in a diagonal-to-centre direction, allowing the right side to overtake the left side (4 5) then brush the right foot to the left foot without changing weight and a slight body turn to the left (6)
19. Now for the lock step to the right. Partners move the right foot to the side in a diagonal-to-wall direction with the right side leading, the man behind the lady and body facing diagonal-to-centre (1 2). Now we cross the left foot behind the right foot, moving in a diagonal-to-wall direction with the right side leading (3)
20. Continuing with the right foot to the side in a diagonal-to-wall direction, allowing the left side to overtake the right side (4 5).
Now brush the left foot to the right without changing weight, with a slight body turn to the right. The movement ends with both partners facing diagonal-to-wall (6).
Parma Waltz – 5th Movement – Two Walks – Break Apart – Close to Ballroom Hold
21 Both partners move their left foot forward down the line of dance (1 2) then brush their right foot to their left foot without changing weight (3)
22 The walk continues with the right foot moving forward down the line of dance, at this point releasing the left hand hold and commencing to turn to the right so as to face the wall (the Lady turns to the right to face against the line of dance) (4 5) then the man brushes his left foot to his right foot without changing his weight and takes up a right hand to right hand hold (the Lady continues turning to the right and brushes her left foot to her right foot and ends the movement facing the centre and her partner, taking up a right hand to right hand hold) (6)
23 The man continues with a slight turn to the right, his left foot coming back towards the centre (the Lady continues with a slight turn to the right, her left foot coming back towards the wall) (1 2) and brushes his right foot to his left without changing his weight and continues with a slight turn to the right (the Lady does the same) (3)
24 Now the man’s right foot moves forward towards the wall and his partner, continuing to turn slightly to the right and taking up Ballroom Hold ready for the natural waltz. He ends backing diagonal-to-centre (the Lady moves her right foot forwards toward the centre and her partner, also taking up Ballroom Hold ready for the natural waltz. She ends facing diagonal-to-centre) (4 5). The man then brushes his left foot to his right without changing his weight and continues a slight turn to the right so that he ends backing the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot with a weight change and continues with a slight turn to the right so that she ends facing the line of dance and her partner) (6)
Parma Waltz – 6th Movement – Natural Waltz Ending (Smoothly Rotate to the Right)
The final 8 Bars (25 – 32) of the Parma Waltz end with eight natural waltz half turns. It commences with the man backing and the lady facing the line of dance and ends with the lady opening up so that right shadow hold can be taken up to recommence the sequence.
