Country Two Step (Texas Two Step)

Country Two Step, often called the Texas Two Step, is a traveling partner dance done counterclockwise around the floor to country music, with a quick, quick, slow, slow rhythm. It is the signature couple dance of Texas dance halls and country western bars, and it is also competed on the country western circuit.

At a glance

Styles

Country Western

Time signature

4/4

Tempo

about 40–50 bars per minute (160–200 beats), typical WDSF publishes a range for each International dance. The NDCA publishes one figure for each dance it lists and lets the music director move it by one bar a minute (two for Nightclub dances). Where neither publishes a tempo, the range is typical, not a rule.

Hold

Closed hold

Competition levels

UCWDC divisions from Newcomer upward

Origin

Texas dance halls Name from the 1890s; lineage contested

The two step's exact lineage is murky, and accounts differ. The name goes back to the 1890s, when a lively "two-step" was danced to march music across the United States, and some writers trace that in turn to a nineteenth century two-beat waltz. Others connect today's country form more directly to the foxtrot and the one-step of the early twentieth century.

What is clear is where it took root. In the dance halls of Texas, many built by German and Czech immigrant communities, couples danced the two step alongside the waltz, polka and schottische to fiddle bands, and later to Western swing and honky-tonk. Because it was so strongly tied to those halls, it became known as the Texas Two Step.

Through the twentieth century it spread across the country western world, and it had a large boost in popularity in the early 1980s with the urban cowboy craze. Regional variants survive: dancers in Austin and San Antonio, for example, have long had their own local versions.

Country Two Step is a smooth, progressive walk. Couples travel counterclockwise along the line of dance, leaders usually moving forward and followers backward, with two quick steps and two slow ones. The best dancers glide with very little bounce, so the dance looks easy and unhurried even to fast music.

Partners hold a relaxed closed hold with a firm, comfortable frame, and branch out into turns, wraps and side-by-side positions without stopping the travel. Floorcraft is part of the dance: on a busy hall floor, faster couples pass on the outside and turning figures stay toward the center.

Basic count

quick, quick, slow, slow

Time signature

4/4

Tempo

about 40–50 bars per minute (160–200 beats), typical

Hold

Closed hold

Social Country Two Step has no governing tempo; typical music runs from about 160 to 200 beats per minute. The basic takes six beats: two quick steps of one beat each and two slow steps of two beats each. Some teachers and regions count it slow, slow, quick, quick instead, which is the same pattern starting at a different point.

In competition on the country western circuit, the dance is judged on smooth, level travel around the floor, timing, partnering and the variety of figures allowed for each level. The UCWDC's published music guidelines have given an overall competition range of roughly 168 to 192 beats per minute.

Basic figures

• Basic (Forward Progressive)
• Promenade
• Lady's Underarm Turn
• Inside Turn
• Outside Turn
• Left Side Pass
• Right Side Pass
• Sweetheart Position
• Wrap
• Shadow Position

Figure names are given as the syllabi write them, in English.

Country Two Step is a core event of the country western competition circuit. The United Country Western Dance Council (UCWDC) runs partner divisions in Two Step alongside Nightclub, Waltz, Polka, Cha Cha, East Coast and West Coast Swing and Triple Two, for Pro/Am, Pro/Pro and amateur couples, split by age and by level from Newcomer upward.

Some US ballroom studios also teach it as a social or nightclub dance, and a few ballroom competitions include it in their single-dance nightclub events. See the US competition guide and the levels guide for how divisions are organized.

Country Two Step is danced in Texas dance halls, country western bars and honky-tonks across the United States, and at country dance clubs in Europe and Australia. Many venues offer a beginner lesson early in the evening before live music or a DJ.

On a typical night it alternates with country waltz, East Coast swing and line dances, so a two step dancer can usually stay on the floor all evening.

1. Walk, do not bounce. Keep the knees soft and the head level as you travel.

2. Take the quick steps a little shorter and the slow steps longer and smoother.

3. Leaders, keep moving counterclockwise and watch the couples ahead of you; a collision on a busy floor is your responsibility.

4. Followers, take long, confident backward steps from the hip so you do not get stepped on.

5. Learn a basic Underarm Turn and a Side Pass early; with those two you can dance a whole song socially.

6. Wear shoes that slide a little. Boots with leather soles are traditional for a reason.

Country Two Step is danced to up-tempo and mid-tempo country music in 4/4: honky-tonk, Western swing, Texas country and modern country pop, often played by live bands in dance halls. Music with a steady two-beat bass line makes the quicks and slows easy to hear.

• Night Club Two Step

  Night Club Two Step, the California partner dance for slow ballads: its 1960s origins, the side basic and rock step, typical tempo, figures and tips.

• Foxtrot

  Foxtrot explained: its 1914 New York origins, Slow Foxtrot in International Standard and Foxtrot in American Smooth, tempos, basic figures and differences.

• East Coast Swing

  East Coast Swing explained: its Lindy Hop roots, the American Rhythm competition tempo, the triple step basic, key figures and where people dance it.

• West Coast Swing

  West Coast Swing explained: the slotted swing from California, typical tempos, the sugar push and anchor step, WSDC points levels and where to dance it.

• Waltz

  Waltz explained: where it came from, its tempo in International Standard and American Smooth, the basic figures, and how the two styles differ.

1. UCWDC: Partner competition styles and divisions
2. East Texas Historical Association: Dancin' Texas style, the origin of the Texas Two-Step
3. Texas Public Radio / KUT: Why is the two-step danced differently in Austin than in other parts of Texas?
4. Wikipedia: Nightclub two step (contrast and UCWDC tempo reference)

What this page was written from. DanceFlow is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sanctioned by any of these organizations.

Last checked against its sources on November 3, 2026.

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