American Waltz

A closed-hold waltz of six-beat swing rolls and swing three-turns on semicircular lobes, where the hard part is keeping the couple's rotation smooth and continuous.

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, 198 beats a minute. The hold is closed. The partners skate different steps. 16 steps and 96 beats to one pattern.

Steps for the lead the follow

One sequence on a 60 x 30 metre rink, drawn upright as the rulebooks draw it, starting at the dot and travelling anticlockwise. The two partners skate side by side on one track; the switch shows where each one's steps fall and on which edge. 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-34.

Step	Hold	Lead	Follow	Beats
1	Closed	RFOSw3	LBO-SwR	3 + 3
2		LBO-SwR	RFOSw3	6
3		RFO-SwR	LBO-SwR	6
4		LFOSw3	RBO-SwR	3 + 3
5		RBO-SwR	LFOSw3	6
6		LFO-SwR	RBO-SwR	6
7		RFOSw3	LBO-SwR	3 + 3
8		LBO-SwR	RFOSw3	6
9		RFO-SwR	LBO-SwR	6
10		LFOSw3	RBO-SwR	3 + 3
11		RBO-SwR	LFOSw3	6
12		LFO-SwR	RBO-SwR	6
13		RFO-SwR	LBO-SwR	6
14		LFOSw3	RBO-SwR	3 + 3
15		RBO-SwR	LFOSw3	6
16		LFO-SwR	RBO-SwR	6

The steps are in the rulebook's own notation: foot, direction and edge, with Pr for a progressive, Ch for a chassé, SwR for a swing roll, XB and XF for a cross step behind or in front, 3 for a three turn, CSt and SSt for C and S steps, Op for open and Cl for closed. From the step chart in US Figure Skating's 2026-27 rulebook.

The American Waltz has very few steps: every edge is held for six beats, two full bars, and each lobe of three steps mirrors the one before on the other foot. The rulebook still calls it one of the hardest dances to skate well, because of how much rotation the couple builds up.

US Figure Skating asks the partners to keep their shoulders parallel with the centre of turning between them, so neither one whips round the other on the swing threes. The free leg swings straight from the hip, the threes are turned on count four with the feet close, and a bend of the skating knee marks each count one.

British Ice Skating lists it at National 7, one of five dances to choose from there. US Figure Skating tests it at Silver.

Appears in

In the UK's grades

British Ice Skating: Ice dance: National 7

No test syllabus recorded yet.