The Alpha Waltz is one of the favourite and best known ballroom sequence dances. The original dance script was approved by the Sequence Dance Advisory Board in 1969. It is a 16 bar dance (refer paragraph numbers) at the even-paced 3/4 time with a tempo of 32 beats per minute in the usual 1-2-3, 1-2-3 fashion.
The dance commences in Normal Ballroom Hold, with the man facing and lady backing diagonal-to-wall. The man’s steps are described here with the assumption that the lady will follow his lead as a counterpart, unless otherwise stated.
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. If you find yourself confused with all the technical terms, you can skip to a video presentation of the dance below.
If you prefer to simply watch a video demonstration of the Alpha Waltz – Scroll directly to the Bottom
Alpha Waltz Dance Steps
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Bar |
Footwork: HT means “lead off with the heel and end up on the toe”. TH means “draw back with your toe and finish on your heel”. T means “on your toes” |
Foot |
Timing |
Alpha Waltz 1st Movement – Closed Change – Natural Turn – Closed Change |
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| 1 | The man steps forward with his left foot in a diagonal-to-wall direction, in line with the lady (the Lady draws her right foot back in a diagonal to wall direction) | HT | 1 |
| Then his right foot goes to the side and slightly forward (the Lady’s left foot goes to the side and slightly back) | T | 2 | |
| Then he closes his left foot to his right foot, completing the first Closed Change (the Lady closes her right foot to her left foot). | TH | 3 | |
| 2 | Now for the Natural Turn. The man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal-to-wall direction, stepping through the lady’s feet and turning to the right (the Lady brings her left foot back, also in a diagonal to wall direction, while turning to the right) | HT | 1 |
| Now the man’s left foot goes to the side and he continues turning to the right (the Lady’s right foot goes to the side and she continues turning to the right) | T | 2 | |
| Then the man closes his right foot to his left foot and ends up backing the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot and ends up facing the line of dance) | TH | 3 | |
| 3 | Now the man brings his left foot back while turning to the right (and the Lady moves her right foot forward while turning to the right) | TH | 1 |
| Then his right foot goes to the side, with his toe pointing towards diagonal to centre (the Lady’s left foot goes to the side and along the line of dance) | T | 2 | |
| The man closes his left foot to his right foot and should now be facing diagonal to centre (the Lady closes her right foot to her left foot and should now be backing diagonal to centre) | TH | 3 | |
| 4 | Now for the second Closed Change:- The man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction (and the Lady brings her left foot back, also in a diagonal to centre direction) | HT | 1 |
| Then he brings his left foot to the side and slightly forward (and the Lady brings her right foot to the side and slightly back) | T | 2 | |
| And the man closes his right foot to his left foot (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot) | TH | 3 | |
Alpha Waltz – 2nd Movement – 1 to 3 Reverse Turn – Weave Ending in Promenade Position – Check to Fallaway
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| 5 | The moves his left foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction, stepping through the lady’s feet and turning to the left (the Lady brings her right foot back in a diagonal to centre direction, also turning to the left) | HT | 1 |
| Then the man’s right foot goes to the side. At this point, he should be backing the wall (the Lady moves her left foot to the side and at this point, she should be backing to the centre) | T | 2 | |
| The man closes his left foot to his right foot and as he does so, should be backing diagonal to wall (the Lady closes her right foot to her left foot and as she does so, should be backing diagonal to centre and against the line of dance) | TH | 3 | |
| 6 | Now the man brings his right foot back, while turning his body to the left (the Lady moves her left foot forward, while also turning her body to the left) | TH | 1 |
| The man then transfers his weight forward onto his left foot, while still turning to the left (the Lady transfers her weight back onto her right foot, while still turning to the left) | HT | 2 | |
| Now the man moves his right foot to the side and at this point should be backing the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot to the side and at this point, should be facing the line of dance) | TH | 3 | |
| 7 | Now for the Weave:- Then the man brings his left foot back in a Contra Body Movement Position (CBMP), with his partner on his outside. He should be backing diagonal to centre at this point (the Lady moves her right foot forward in a CBMP with her partner on her outside. She should be facing diagonal to centre) | TH | 1 |
| Then the man’s right foot comes back as he turns to the left (the Lady’s left foot moves forward as she also turns to the left) | T | 2 | |
| And the man’s left foot goes to the side and along the line of dance, while in Promenade Position with the Lady (the Lady moves her right foot to the side and along the line of dance, also in Promenade Position) | TH | 3 | |
| 8 | The man moves his right foot forward and across himself while still in Promenade Position and continues along the line of dance, into a Contra Body Movement Position (CBMP) with a Check Action (the Lady’s left foot goes forward and across herself while still in Promenade position, along the line of dance into a CBMP with a Check Action) | H | 1 |
| Then the man transfers his weight back to his left foot in CBMP and does a Fallaway (the Lady transfers her weight back to her right foot in CBMP and also does a Fallaway) | TH | 2 | |
| The man closes his right foot to his left foot while in Promenade Position and releases his hold on the Lady (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot while in Promenade Position and releases her hold on the man) | WF | 3 | |
Alpha Waltz – 3rd Movement – Open Turn to Whisk – Sycopated Chasse – Outside Check |
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| 9 | The man now moves his left foot forward down the line of dance while turning to the left (the Lady moves her right foot forward and down the line of dance while turning to the right) | HT | 1 |
| Bringing his right foot to the side, he continues turning to the left, to end up facing diagonal-to-centre and against the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot to the side and continues turning to the left, to end up facing diagonal to wall and against the line of dance) | TH | 2 | |
| They hold this position while the man joins his left hand to the lady’s right hand (the Lady holds her position) | – | 3 | |
| 10 | The man now moves his left foot forward and against line of dance, while turning to the left (the Lady moves her right foot forward and against the line of dance, while turning to the right) | HT | 1 |
| Bringing his right foot to the side, he continues turning to the left (the Lady moves her left foot to the side and continues turning to the right) | T | 2 | |
| He now crosses his left foot behind his right foot in a “whisk” movement while in Promenade Position and takes up Ballroom Hold with the lady (the Lady crosses her right foot in behind her left foot while in Promenade Position and takes up Ballroom Hold with the man) | TH | 3 | |
| 11 | The man moves his right foot forward and across himself while in Promenade Position and a CBMP along the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward and across himself in Promenade Position and a CBMP, along the line of dance) | HT | 1 |
| Then he moves his left foot to the side and slightly forward, leading the lady into line (the Lady moves her right foot to the side and slightly forward, moving into line) | T | 2 | |
| The man closes his right foot to his left foot (and the Lady closes he left foot to her right foot) | T | & | |
| The man moves his left foot to the side and slightly forward, while facing diagonal to wall – and he takes up Double Hold with the Lady (the Lady brings her right foot to the side and slightly forward, while facing diagonal to centre and against the line of dance – and she takes up Double Hold with the man) | TH | 3 | |
| 12 | Now the man moves his right foot forward in another Contra Body Movement Position (CBMP) and outside his partner, who is on his right side, into another Check Action (the Lady brings her left foot back in another CBMP with her partner on her outside, into another Check Action) | H | 1 |
| The man transfers his weight back to his left foot in another CBMP, while turning to the right (and the Lady transfers her weight forward onto her right foot in a CBMP while turning to the right) | T | 2 | |
| The man brings his right foot to the side while he is facing diagonal to wall and against the line of dance (and the Lady moves her left foot to the side while facing diagonal to centre) | TH | 3 | |
Alpha Waltz – Final Movement – Outside Check – Natural Spin Turn – 4 to 6 Reverse Turn |
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| 13 | The man moves his left foot forward into another CBMP and outside his partner who is on his left side, into another Check Action (the Lady brings her right foot back in a CBMP and outside her partner who is on her left side, into a Check Action) | H | 1 |
| Then the man transfers his weight back to his right foot in another CBMP, while turning to the left (the Lady transfers her weight forward onto her left foot in a CBMP, while also turning to the left) | T | 2 | |
| Now the man brings his left foot to the side as he is facing diagonal to wall and takes up Ballroom Hold with the Lady (and the Lady moves her right foot to the side as she is backing diagonal to wall and takes up Ballroom Hold with the man) | TH | 3 | |
| 14 | Then the man moves his right foot forward in another CBMP and outside his partner who is on his right side. He should be facing diagonal to wall and then turning to the right (the Lady brings her left foot back in another CBMP and outside her partner. She should be backing diagonal to wall and then turning to the right) | HT | 1 |
| Now the man’s left foot goes to the side while continuing to turn to the right (and the Lady’s right foot goes to the side as she continues turning to the right) | T | 2 | |
| The man’s right foot closes to his left foot as he ends the step backing the line of dance (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot as she ends the step facing the line of dance) | TH | 3 | |
| 15 | Now the man brings his left foot back and down the line of dance and does a 1/2 pivot turn to the right (the Lady moves her right foot forward and down the line of dance and also does a 1/2 pivot turn to the right) | THT | 1 |
| Then the man moves his right foot forward in another CBMP and continues turning to the right until he is facing the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward in another CBMP and continues turning to the right until she is backing the line of dance) | HT | 2 | |
| The man brings his left foot to the side and slightly back, in a diagonal to centre direction (and the Lady moves her right foot to the side and slightly forward. She should be facing diagonal to centre) | TH | 3 | |
| 16 | Then he brings his right foot back in a diagonal to centre direction, while turning to the left (and the Lady moves her left foot forward in a diagonal to centre direction) | TH | 1 |
| The man brings his left foot to the side and it should be pointing towards diagonal to wall (the Lady brings her right foot to the side and she should be backing diagonal to wall) | T | 2 | |
| The man closes his right foot to his left foot and should now be facing diagonal to wall, ready to start the sequence again. (the Lady closes her left foot to her right foot and should now be backing diagonal to wall) | TH | 3 | |
Then start again . . . . .
Have a look at this video, to get a visual on how the Alpha Waltz steps go. As you watch it, count the movements and you’ll find there are 16 as described above.
