Twilight Waltz Dance Steps
The Twilight Waltz is a modern sequence dance. The dance script was composed by John Bartlett in 1944. 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, 4-5-6 rhythm to music at a tempo of 52 beats per minute. We commence the dance in ballroom ballroom hold with the man facing and the lady backing the line of dance and it ends with a reverse Viennese Waltz. We describe both partners’ steps here, with the Lady’s in italics.
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 Just Watch the Twilight Waltz, Scroll to the Video at the Bottom
Twilight Waltz – 1st Movement – Walks – Chasse – Forward Close
1. We begin the dance with the man moving his left foot forward down the line of dance (the Lady moves her right foot back down the line of dance) (1-2) followed by his right foot forward down the line of dance (the Lady brings her left foot back down the line of dance) (3)
2. Then the man’s left foot continues forward down the line of dance (the Lady’s right foot comes back down the line of dance) (4-5) and the man’s right foot brushes to his left foot (the Lady’s left foot brushes to her) (6)
3. Now turning his body slightly to the left, the man moves his right foot to the side in a diagonal-to-wall direction (the Lady, also turning her body slightly to the left, brings her left foot to the side, also in a diagonal-to-wall direction) (1-2). The man’s left foot now closes to his right foot as he prepares to step forward in a diagonal-to-centre direction outside his partner. The man’s right shoulder should be loosely to the lady’s right shoulder (the Lady’s right foot closes to her left foot as she prepares to step back in a diagonal-to-centre direction with her partner on the outside) (3)
4. Now turning his body slightly to the right, the man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal-to-centre direction, outside his partner and then turns the lady square to himself (the Lady, turning her body slightly to the right, brings her left foot back in a diagonal-to-centre direction with her partner on the outside and turning square to him) (4-5). The man’s left foot now brushes to his right foot without changing his weight; his partner should now be square to himself (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight; she should now be square to the man) (6)
Twilight Waltz – 2nd Movement – Reverse Viennese Cross – Back Step to Oversway
5. We beging the reverse Viennese Cross – 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 his right foot comes forward, also in a diagonal-to-centre direction as he takes his weight onto the ball of his right foot and turns sharply to the left to bring himself to be backing the line of dance (the Lady brings her left foot back in a diagonal-to-centre direction as she takes her weight onto the ball of her left foot and turns sharply to the left to bring herself to be facing the line of dance) (2). The man’s left foot twists and draws up to loose to cross in front of his right foot and he takes his full weight on to his left foot (the Lady’s right foot closes loosely to her left foot and she takes her full weight on to her right foot) (3)
6. The man now brings his right foot back down the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward down the line of dance) (4-5) and his left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) (6)
7. Then the man’s left foot comes back down the line of dance, allowing his body to turn left into an Oversway (the Lady’s right foot goes forward down the line of dance, allowing her body to turn left into an Oversway) (1-2-3)
8. The man now replaces his weight forward to his right foot (a small step), so that he is now facing against the line of dance (the Lady replaces her weight back onto her left foot (a small step), so that she is now backing against the line of dance) (4-5) and his left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) (6)
Twilight Waltz – 3rd Movement – Walks – Chasse – Forward Close
We’re now going to repeat the 1st Movement, only this time in reverse direction
9. The man brings his left foot forward against the line of dance (the Lady brings her right foot back against the line of dance) (1-2) then his right foot comes forward, still against the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot comes back against the line of dance) (3)
10. Now the man’s left foot goes forward, against the line of dance (the Lady’s right foot comes back against the line of dance) (4-5) and his right foot brushes to his left foot (the Lady’s left foot brushes to her right foot) (6)
11. Now turning his body slightly to the left, the man’s right foot goes to the side in a diagonal-to-centre direction (the Lady, turning her body slightly to the left, brings her left foot to the side in a diagonal-to-centre direction) (1-2) and the man’s left foot closes to his right foot as he prepares to step in a diagonal-to-wall direction outside his partner. The man’s right shoulder should be loosely to the lady’s right shoulder (the Lady’s right foot closes to her left foot as she prepares to step in a diagonal-to-wall direction with her partner on the outside) (3)
12. Now turning his body slightly to the right, the man moves his right foot forward in a diagonal-to-wall direction outside his partner and then turns the lady square to himself (the Lady, turning her body slightly to the right, brings her left foot back in a diagonal-to-wall direction with her partner on the outside and turning to be square to him) (4-5) and the man’s left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight, with his partner now square to himself (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight and she should now be square to the man) (6)
Twilight Waltz – 4th Movement – Reverse Viennese Cross – Back Step to Oversway
We’re now going to repeat the 2nd Movement, only this time in reverse direction
13. The man moves his left foot forward in a diagonal-to-wall direction against the line of dance (the Lady brings her right foot back in a diagonal-to-wall direction against the line of dance) (1) then his right foot follows forward, also in a diagonal-to-wall direction against the line of dance as he takes his weight onto the ball of his right foot and turns sharply to the left so that he is now facing the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot comes back in a diagonal-to-wall direction against the line of dance, as she takes her weight onto the ball of her left foot and turns sharply to the left so that she is now backing the line of dance) (2). The man’s left foot twists and draws up to cross loosely in front of his right foot as he takes his full weight on to his left foot (the Lady’s right foot closes loosely to her left foot as she takes her full weight on to her right foot) (3)
14. Now the man brings his right foot back against the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward against the line of dance) (4-5) and his left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) (6)
15. Then the man’s left foot comes back against the line of dance, allowing his body to turn left into an Oversway (the Lady’s right foot moves forward against the line of dance, allowing her body to turn left into an Oversway) (1-2-3)
16. The man replaces his weight forward to his right foot (a small step down the line of dance), so that he is now facing the line of dance (the Lady replaces her weight back onto her left foot (a small step back down the line of dance), so that she is now backing the line of dance) (4-5) and his left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight) (6)
Twilight Waltz – 5th Movement – Chasse, Face to Face – Back Cross Back – Chasse, Face to Face – Forward Cross Forward
17. The man now turns right to face the wall and releasing from Ballroom Hold but retaining his left hand to the lady’s right hand, moving slightly away from partner (toward the centre). He commences the chasse by bringing his left foot to the side down the line of dance (the Lady turns to the right to face the centre, also releasing from Ballroom Hold but retaining her right hand hold to the man’s left hand and moving slightly away from her partner (towards the wall). Her right foot goes to side down the line of dance) (1-2) and his right foot closes to his left foot (the Lady’s left foot closes to her right foot) (3)
18. Now the man brings his left foot to the side down the line of dance while turning slightly to the right, so that he is backing the line of dance (the Lady brings her right foot to the side, down the line of dance while turning slightly to the left, so that she is now backing the line of dance) (4-5-6)
19. The man’s right foot follows back down the line of dance [Note: Some dancers favour turning further to the right to face diagonal-to-centre against the line of dance, which causes the right foot to ronde] (the Lady’s left foot follows back down the line of dance) [Note: Some dancers favour turning further to the left to face diagonal-to-wall against the line of dance, which causes the left foot to ronde]. (1-2) … and his left foot crosses in front of his right foot so that he is now backing the line of dance (the Lady’s right foot crosses in front of her left foot, so that she is now backing the line of dance) (3)
20. Now the man’s right foot comes back down the line of dance and he commences to turn left towards facing the wall and his partner (the Lady’s left foot comes back down the line of dance and she commences to turn right towards facing the centre and her partner) (4-5-6)
21. The man brings his left foot to the side while facing the wall and his partner (the Lady brings her right foot to the side while facing the centre and her partner) (1-2) and his right foot closes to his left foot (the Lady’s left foot closes to her right foot) (3)
22. Now commencing to turn left to face diagonal-to-wall, the man brings his left foot to the side and slightly diagonal-to-centre, as partners release their double-hold and the man takes the lady’s left hand in his right hand (the Lady, commencing to turn right to face diagonal-to-centre, brings her right foot to the side and slightly diagonal-to-wall, as they release double-hold and she takes the man’s right in her left hand) (4-5-6)
23. Now the man moves his right foot forward down the line of dance (the Lady moves her left foot forward down the line of dance) (1-2) and his left foot crosses behind his right foot (the Lady’s right foot crosses behind her left foot) (3)
24. The man’s right foot now follows forward down the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot follows forward down the line of dance) (4-5-6)
Twilight Waltz – 6th Movement – Forward Walks & Aerial – Backward Walks – (Lady Underarm Turn)
25. The man’s left foot goes forward down the line of dance (the Lady’s right foot goes forward down the line of dance) (1-2) then his right foot follows forward down the line of dance (the Lady’s left foot follows forward down the line of dance) (3)
26. Next, the man’s left foot follows forward down the line of dance (the Lady’s right foot follows forward down the line of dance) (4) and his right foot swings upwards to a medium aerial position (the Lady’s left foot swings upward to a medium aerial position) (5-6)
27. The man now brings his right foot back against the line of dance while assisting the lady’s turn with pressure in his right arm (the Lady turns sharply to the left on her right foot to face against the line of dance, then brings her left foot forward against the line of dance) (1-2) They release double-hold and the man takes the lady’s left hand in his right hand, then the man brings his left foot back against the line of dance and they raise their joined hands ready for the lady’s underarm turn (the Lady continues turning left to face the wall, brings her right foot to the side against the line of dance, allowing her left foot to cross loosely in front of her right foot and does a spiral turn) (3)
28. The man brings his right foot back against the line of dance, now facing diagonal-to-wall and his partner (the Lady moves her left foot forward towards her partner, moving diagonal-to-centre against the line of dance and preparing to take up Ballroom Hold ) (4-5) then the man’s left foot brushes to his right foot without changing his weight and facing diagonal-to-wall, now in Ballroom Hold (the Lady’s right foot brushes to her left foot without changing her weight, now facing her partner and backing diagonal-to-wall, also in Ballroom Hold) (6)
29-32. Twilight Waltz – Final Movement – Reverse Viennese Waltz
The final phase of the twilight waltz, is a reverse Viennese Waltz with two complete turns and coming to rest in normal ballroom hold, ready to begin the sequence again.
Enjoy This Video Presentation of the Twilight Waltz
