Dutch Waltz

The first waltz: forward edges only, in Kilian hold, built from progressives and swing rolls on a 2-1-3 count.

dance

Not checked yet. The mechanics on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

The dance

Waltz in 3/4, 138 beats a minute. The hold is Kilian. Both partners skate the same steps. 16 steps and 48 beats to one pattern.

One sequence on a 60 x 30 metre rink, drawn upright as the rulebooks draw it, starting at the dot and travelling anticlockwise. The faint half is the same steps skated again. Rinks vary, and on a smaller one the pattern shrinks to fit. Measured from the diagram in U.S. Figure Skating 2026-27 Rulebook, page Dance-6. Skate Canada's diagram of the same dance is drawn at a different size; allowing for that, its steps sit on average 1.4 m from these.

Step	Edge	Beats	How
1	LFO	2
2	RFI	1	progressive
3	LFO	3
4	RFO	6	swing roll
5	LFO	6	swing roll
6	RFO	2
7	LFI	1	progressive
8	RFO	3
9	LFO	3
10	RFI	3
11	LFO	2
12	RFI	1	progressive
13	LFO	3
14	RFO	6	swing roll
15	LFO	3
16	RFI	3

Edges are written foot, direction, edge, and a change of edge carries both letters. The steps and beats are read off the dance diagram in US Figure Skating's 2026-27 rulebook, and the words for Pr and SwR come from its key.

Both partners skate the same sixteen steps side by side in Kilian hold, and every edge is a forward one. US Figure Skating sets it as a first dance for that reason: with nothing travelling backwards, a skater can give their attention to fitting the steps to the music. Most of it is progressives and long swing rolls.

The count to listen for is the waltz’s 2-1-3. Each progressive run takes two beats on the first step, one on the progressive and three on the step after, and the rulebook asks for particular attention to holding each step for its proper count. The swing rolls take six beats, two bars of waltz, with the free leg swinging through in time with the partner’s.

British Ice Skating sets it at National 2 for pattern dance, beside the Canasta Tango, and New Zealand’s KiwiSkate assesses it on the first dance badge with forward swing rolls and progressives in its timing.

Appears in

In Australia's grades

None of the Australian level lists in this guide name it.