Rhythm Blues

A slow blues on forward edges in Kilian hold, with a promenade, two inside swing rolls and a run of cross steps behind.

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

Blues in 4/4, 88 beats a minute. The hold is Kilian. Both partners skate the same steps. 16 steps and 32 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. The dashed line is step 15 crossed behind, which the rulebook allows. 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-10.

Step	Edge	Beats	How
1	LFO	1
2	RFI	1	progressive
3	LFO	2
4	RFO	4	swing roll
5	LFO	2
6	RFI	1	progressive
7	LFO	1
8	RFI	2	progressive
9	LFI	4	swing roll
10	RFI	4	swing roll
11	LFO	1
12	RFI	1	progressive
13	LFO	2
14	RFI	2	cross step behind
15	LFO	2	may be a cross step behind, or an open stroke
16	RFI	2	cross step behind

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, SwR and XB come from its key.

Sixteen forward steps in Kilian hold, both partners together, at the slowest tempo of the first dances. US Figure Skating warns that this makes it look easier than it is: the timing, the depth of the edges and finishing each lobe on the right edge are what the judges watch.

It opens with a progressive run and an outside swing roll. Steps 5 to 10 are where the timing needs most care: step 5 is held for two full beats, steps 6 and 7 take one each, step 8 takes two, and the two inside swing rolls at 9 and 10 each start on the third beat of the bar. Strong progressives at 11 to 13 carry the speed into the cross steps behind that finish the pattern.

British Ice Skating sets it at National 1 for pattern dance, with the Novice Foxtrot. New Zealand’s KiwiSkate assesses it on the second dance badge.

Appears in

In the USA's grades

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