Get Your Boots On: Popular Line Dances for Beginners

Line dancing is a fantastic way to enjoy music, stay active, and socialize. It’s a timeless and enjoyable activity that brings people together through coordinated movement and music. If you’re new to line dancing, starting with beginner line dances is crucial for building confidence. These simple, repetitive routines are easy to follow, making them perfect for newcomers. This article will guide you through some of the most popular and easiest line dances to help you feel confident on the dance floor.

Why Start with Beginner Line Dances?

At first, it can be a little overwhelming when you step into a country bar with all the dancing that is going on. It can be both exciting and terrifying! But don’t worry; it will all work out! Learning some very beginner dances and working your way down will help you get comfortable.

Essential Tips for Beginners

Before diving into specific dances, here are some tips to keep in mind:

Start Simple: Focus on dances with fewer steps and repetitive patterns.
Find a Good Spot: When first learning and taking a class it is tempting to hide in the last row! But as you may have already guessed, that’s a bad idea! As soon as the dance has moved on to the back wall, if you were in the back, you are now in the front! You can’t see anyone and everyone is looking at you!
Follow the Group: Pay attention to experienced dancers and follow their lead.
Practice: The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll become.

Also, check out the steps that line dancing is made of.

Popular Beginner Line Dances

Here are some of the most common and easiest line dances to get you started.

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1. Cupid Shuffle

The Cupid Shuffle is one of the most iconic beginner line dances. You will often see it at weddings, country dance nights at your local country bar, and even schools. Cupid Shuffle was choreographed by the singer Cupid and created simultaneously with his song "The Cupid Shuffle," which was recorded in 2006. When he set out to create it, it was with the exact intention of creating a line dance classic without a genre that everyone could dance to. That is all history!

While the song isn’t a country song, this line dance must be first since it’s arguably the most popular and one everyone has danced to (at bars, weddings, schools). It is straightforward since the lyrics tell you what to do next! “To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right… To the left, to the left, to the left, to the left… Now kick…” So, no excuses, you can do this! It for sure belongs on the list of beginner line dances.

2. The Wobble

The Wobble is a beginner line dance that’s a staple at country bars for sure. It’s high-energy and a floor filler. Everyone loves it, and you’ll see it at parties as well. The Wobble is another non-country line dance that is about as popular as the Cupid Shuffle. And another line dance created by the musical artist! It’s an easy line dance that is very fun and always a crowd-pleaser.

It is very common to see people doing the Wobble at weddings and parties as well as at local country bars, where it is sure to get everyone out on the dance floor. The Wobble can get a little long, though, with the song lasting over 5 minutes.

3. Electric Slide

The Electric Slide is maybe the most famous and recognized beginner line dance. It’s timeless and a must-know for weddings, nights out, and country dancing. While the Electric Slide was originally choreographed in 1976, Marcia Griffiths’s song "Electric Boogie" gave it popularity. It was in 1989 when it took off and for ten years was listed as the number-one dance in the world!

Today there are many songs used to dance the Electric Slide. "Achy Breaky Heart" is a popular go-to at a country bar, but so many others work great. It is simple enough:

Grapevine right: Take one step right with your right foot.
Grapevine left: Take one step left with your left foot.
Rock forward and back with a toe touch: Step back with your right foot, then bring your left foot to meet it.

It’s pretty easy (once you know it!). For beginner line dances, this one has to be on the list! The Electric Slide was actually the first line dance I learned about 7 years ago, and I did need a video to get that rock, toe touch, and quarter-turn all timed right.

4. Power Jam

Power Jam is a pretty common call-out and is aptly named. It’s pretty fast-paced, and the slides and heel taps and then the hop at the end that most people do are all great fun. This is a good one to get under your belt, and a live band is for sure going to have some songs for it.

There are a couple of slight variations I’ve noticed with Power Jam. Firstly, for the first two heel-taps to the front and toe-taps to the back, most people just do one tap and hold it for the extra beat. Note: the locally popular version for Power Jam in the So Cal. area is the San Diego Version, which is slightly simplified.

5. Cowboy Hustle

Cowboy Hustle is another fun, fast, and easy line dance similar to the Power Jam. I have confused and switched these for each other at times. They both tap the right heel forward and behind, so watch out for that! Like Power Jam, Cowboy Hustle can go with many songs and will get called out commonly.

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6. House Party

The next good one for beginner line dances to know is House Party! House Party is a favorite one at THE RANCH Saloon in Anaheim, and after all, it is co-choreographed by Kerry Kick, one of the weekly instructors there. It has a very current feel, danced to Sam Hunt’s song "House Party". It may feel like a lot of spinning to people new to dancing since, besides two step-turns there are 4 turns and shuffles (to make the four walls of the house!) But it’s always a fun one with a full floor. Another thing about House Party is its continuing popularity even though it is now 10 years old! This puts it in the category of Classic Line Dance to me.

7. Rocket To The Sun

Rocket To The Sun is a great one for this round-up of beginner line dances. Rocket To The Sun is a classic line dance from one of the best: Maddison Glover. In Rocket To The Sun, I love the transition. The 3/4 walk around at the end of the dance is a simple, but brilliant way to transition to the next wall! One more bit of news about Rocket to the Sun: a new dance was recently added to Copperknob called Rocket to the Sun (Chair Dance). The choreographer credit says: Maddison Glover & Jennifer Jones. Jennifer took Maddison’s classic line dance and modified it to be accessible to folks who cannot stand and dance easily. I love that she did this, and it ended up being very popular for a bit, reaching as high as #5 in Copperknob’s top 10! Thank you, Maddison Glover, for blessing this dance. Her wonderful dance was modified to a chair dance, so the residents of Keystone Commons, an assisted living community, could “dance”. It’s better to dance in your chair than not at all.

8. Tush Push

The Tush Push is a high-energy dance commonly performed to country music.

9. Boot Scootin’ Boogie

Boot Scootin’ Boogie is a line dance not often seen in So. Cal. but it is one I wish was. Soon after I became a convert to the country dance scene, as a long-time country music fan, I wondered, “Hey, what about Brooks & Dunn’s Boot Scootin’ Boogie?” I wondered if there was a line dance for a great classic that talks about line dancing! Well, sure enough, there is! If you love Brooks & Dunn as much as me and you want to have this one under your belt. On YouTube Bill Bader’s version is pretty common but in So. Cal. I’ve only seen people dance the Tom Mattox & Skippy Blair version. They both are 32 counts, but this one’s more of a beginner-line dance. You’ll see above that this one doesn’t have much love in the voting. Brooks & Dunn’s “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” popularized this dance in the 1990s.

10. Two Step Line Dance

The Two Step line dance is not to be confused with the Two Step partner dance! As explained in the video below from “Dancin’ with Patti” this is from the music video by Laura Bell Bundy found on YouTube. With only 16 counts, this is a very beginner line dance. Fun fact: Robert Royston also more recently choreographed the line dance seen in Midland’s Mr. Lonely music video.

11. Cowboy Up

Cowboy Up was a line dance I learned early on when I first started line dancing.

12. Copperhead Road

Copperhead Road, I would say is a true country western classic line dance that is very common to see at your local country dance hall. It has fewer steps than a typical line dance (24 vs. 32), so it’s that much easier to learn and master quickly.

13. Ah Si

Ah Si is a great line dance for new dancers. It is an Ultra Beginner Line Dance. While it is a very easy line dance to learn, I thought the first 8 steps with the touch steps forward and then back were a little different and a lot of fun. And then there are even more step touches. Note: Ah Si is a line dance that is great for the Christmas season - just use the song: Feliz Navidad. I’ve included it in my list of 25 Christmas Beginner Line Dances.

14. Rock Me

Rock Me is a great favorite line dance of mine! I am a big Darius Rucker fan and his song Wagon Wheel is a great song. The rocking steps choreographed to “Rock Me” throughout the dance fit so well.

15. A Little Bit Lit

A Little Bit Lit is a beginner line dance that is taught a lot on the weekends at the Ranch Saloon, where I dance. It is a good one for beginners. And like some other line dances on this list, it’s just a great country song to dance to. Lyrically, the song Lit is a lot of fun-a fast and fun song.

16. Rock It

This beginner line dance is a lot of fun. It’s a little fast, but try it out and stick with it. Rock It is also a line dance used around Christmas, danced to the song "Santa Claus is Coming (in a boogie-woogie choo-choo train)".

17. The Outlaw

Choreographer: Suzanne Wilson (Norco, CA Style) Music: Whiskey Drinkin’ S.O.B. The Outlaw is a pretty popular dance, but it is one of the line dances out there that isn’t to a country song.

18. Bang Bang

Bang Bang is another really easy line dance that should be simple for you to learn and add to your list. It is seen sometimes at the bars being taught to give people new to line dancing a good opportunity to get involved.

19. K is For Kicks

Choreographer: Christopher Gonzalez (USA) - April 2017 Music: Feel It Still - Portugal. For my 2nd to last choice for a beginner line dance, I chose K is For Kicks, a well-choreographed dance by Christopher Gonzales. This dance, like Rock It above, is also a dance that people love to use at Christmas time.

20. The Ten Step

The Ten Step is not a line dance! The Ten Step would be considered a partner dance. As such, you can dance it with a partner, but it is commonly danced individually, and it is so much fun that I wanted to include it. It is also easy! So, while it technically isn’t a “Beginner Line Dance,” it is a beginner dance that you’ll see called on any given weekend in many different dance halls! One common song to hear when it is called is "Devil Went Down to Georgia". The beat is fast and it’s a lot of fun when the band speeds up the tempo toward the end to challenge both the fiddle player and the dancers to keep up, ’til, of course, they can’t! So, if dancing with a partner, you do so in the sweetheart position or just holding hands. But, if individually, you get the fun option to spin during the shuffle steps that occur between the “10-step” part.

Other Popular Line Dances

Besides the dances mentioned above, here are a few more that are popular:

Cha-Cha Slide: DJ Casper’s “Cha-Cha Slide” has become a dance floor anthem with its clear instructions embedded in the lyrics.
Macarena: The Macarena, by Los Del Rio, took the world by storm in the mid-1990s.
Cotton Eye Joe: Based on a traditional American folk song, the “Cotton Eye Joe” dance is lively and energetic.
Watermelon Crawl: Tracy Byrd’s “Watermelon Crawl” brought this line dance to fame.
Slappin’ Leather: Slappin’ Leather is a fast-paced line dance that’s a favorite in country dance halls.

Understanding Line Dance Basics

Line dances are typically 16, 32, 40, or 48 steps (based on the level of difficulty). You may have noticed these numbers are all divisible by 8! Next (and the other major thing), line dances are known for having one, two, or four walls.

A one-wall dance means everyone will face the same direction when all steps are performed.
A two-wall line dance is when at the end of each sequence of steps, everyone has turned 180º, and you begin again facing the back - for these dances, you will always just face the “front” and “back” walls.
Then, with a four-wall line dance (the most difficult), at the end of the steps, everyone has turned 90º and “begins the dance” again facing one of the “side” walls.

Conclusion

Starting with easy line dances like the Cupid Shuffle, the Electric Slide, and the Cowboy Hustle, to name a few, will help you get comfortable on the dance floor. By mastering these popular line dances, you’ll be ready to join in the fun at any event. So, get your boots on and get ready to dance!

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