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écrire une feuille de pas

How to Write a Step Sheet

by Peter Blaskowski

Introduction

You have choreographed the perfect dance. It fits the music and your personality. It is interesting, creative, and a sure-fire hit. Now you want to develop a comprehensible textual description of the dance.

Perhaps you wonder why some step sheets are easier to read than others. Often, one portion of a step sheet is easy to read, and another portion of the same step sheet is totally unclear. Why does that happen?

In this article I would like to address a few characteristics of step sheets that affect the reader's ability to understand what is written. I will do this by establishing a few "rules of thumb" that result in better step sheets. While following these rules is not mandatory, doing so will make your step sheets more accessible to more people. (Note that many top internationally-known choreographers already stick fairly closely to these rules. Not only do they have a solid grasp of choreographic principles, they also excel at presenting their ideas to others.)

The Rules of Thumb

The following are a few rules of thumb for anyone who is trying to turn their choreography into text.

RULE OF THUMB #1 - A step sheet is a 2-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional act.

A step sheet can never fully describe a dance. It can give a sense of how a dance should go, not describe it completely. Adding more words won't help. Just as a sculpture, river, or person cannot be fully described in text, neither can a dance. Accept this.

RULE OF THUMB #2 - K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sam)

The main characteristic of a great step sheet is simplicity. Simplicity means using the fewest and most descriptive words possible. To describe a step in the simplest possible terms, choose one from column A, one from column B, and one from column C. (Words in [square brackets] are optional.)

When you first begin writing your step sheet, you should be able to use the table above for most steps. However, you will soon see that the vocabulary provided by that table is inadequate. It is then time to learn the full line dance basic vocabulary, as shown in the following table:

If you are writing a dance that has difficulty level of Intermediate or higher, you can safely assume that the line dancer knows some basic combinations by name. You can save the effort of writing out individual steps by simply naming the pattern, using the following vocabulary list:

(You would think you could use the combination names in any step sheet, since step sheets are most often used by more fluent dancers as an aid to teaching. However, experience at Kickit shows that many, many rank beginners are trying to read step sheets as well.)

Nearly every move in every line dance created so far can be described using only the vocabulary in those tables. (Writing them in the specific order shown -- Column A, then Column B, then Column C -- is important for consistency, which is discussed in the next rule of thumb.)

Here is a printable copy of the tables on a single page.

Notice that the vocabulary tables will help control your step sheets in the followng ways:

1. Use of fractions. Directional language is learned by toddlers, so everyone understands forward, back, side, and diagonal. Fractions are taught to school-age children, so nearly everyone understands 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8. Geometry is taught later, and to fewer people, so a smaller group understands degrees like 180°, 90°, and 45°. That is why I prefer 1/2 and 1/4 instead of 180° and 90°, and diagonal(ly) instead of 1/8 or 45°. Use the numbers 1/2 and 1/4 rather than the words half and quarter.
2. Use of right and left, not clockwise and counterclockwise (or anticlockwise) to describe turn directions. Why? Digital watches.
3. No mention of my shoulders. You don't need to reference my right shoulder to describe a right turn. A line dancer who has progressed enough to attempt reading step sheets should have already been taught that the direction of a turn is specified by which shoulder moves back.
4. No improper words. It's forward, not forwards.
5. Many simpler words. It's back not backwards. Clap is identical to but simpler than Clap both hands together in front of you.

Nothing prohibits you from adding more text to your step sheet, but here are some additional hints for keeping step sheets simple:

1. Keep rock and recover together. If an instruction starts with "rock," then the following instruction must start with "recover." If an instruction starts with "recover," then the previous instruction must have started with "rock." Do not separate them. If there is a turn between the rock and the recover, consider calling it two steps (step/turn/step instead of rock/turn/recover.)
2. Keep styling separate. If you need to describe motions of the hands, arms, hips, shoulders, head, etc., keep those descriptions separate from the steps. For example,
   1   Kick left foot forward
During the kick, turn the head to the right and point your left index finger skyward
   is simpler to read and understand than
   1   Kick left foot forward with head turning right and left index finger pointing skyward
3. Avoid meaningless or ambiguous words. When a step sheet says to do something "with attitude" I'm stumped. I've seen a teenager lounge around the house with attitude. I've seen rock stars strut around a stage with attitude. I've seen soldiers march around a parade ground with attitude. Which of these (or the myriad other possible interpretations) is intended? When you perform and teach your dance, feel free to show the attitude intended. But writing "with attitude" in a step sheet is a case where more words do not better describe the river. If a word adds no meaning, omit it.
4. No exclamation points. Ever. Your dance is not so astonishing that it needs exclamation points.
5. "In place" means "without moving the foot". Some step sheets are written using "in place" to (incorrectly, I think) mean the same thing as together, beside, or next to. In my opinion, "in place" should always mean "where the foot currently is" so that "touch right toe forward, step right foot in place" is a forward toe strut, not a "touch forward, return to home and step down."

Which reminds me. Describing how to step "home" is difficult to make simple. For example, when your feet do that out-out-in-in thing, the out-out can be written simply (step right to side, step left to side). But the in-in is more difficult. How should I write the first "in" step? Step right toward left? Step right together? I think I prefer "Step right to home," but I'm afraid that has not yet become standard terminology among the step sheet writing population. Discussion is welcome.

RULE OF THUMB #3 - K.I.C.K. (Keep It Consistent, Kit)

Consistency implies saying the same thing the same way every time. This is sometimes called using a "single voice" throughout the step sheet.

"Step left foot to side" can also be written as "Step to the side with left foot." Both mean the same thing. But using both in the same step sheet leads to inconsistency, decreasing readability. When a step sheet seems understandable in one section, but obscure in another, the most likely culprit is lack of consistency. Using multiple voices in a single line of a step sheet (for example,
Step left forward, step right together, step forward on left
where the two identical forward steps are written differently) can cause a little hiccup in your reading comprehension, so that your brain has to work a little harder to decode the message. In that example, the first forward step is taken straight from the tables above, in ABC order. The second is in ACB order. Neither ABC nor ACB is better than the other, but using both in a single line or step sheet will cause that mental hiccup every time. I prefer to use ABC always.

With this sort of consistency in mind, I would further like to propose a single consistent way of describing turns. But first there are two important points to keep in mind:

1. Step sheets generally combine a turn and a step as if they were a single item, and
2. You cannot physically step and turn at the same time. You can either step then turn, or turn then step.

Once you understand that the turn must be separated from the step, you have a choice between two ways of describing a turn. You can choose to write either TURN-AND-STEP, or STEP-AND-TURN.

Let's compare descriptions of a "rolling vine to the right" in both forms.

STEP-AND-TURN VERSION:
TURN 1/4 right,
STEP right foot forward AND TURN 1/2 right,
STEP left foot back AND TURN 1/4 right,
STEP right foot to side

TURN-AND-STEP VERSION:
TURN 1/4 right AND STEP right foot forward,
TURN 1/2 right AND STEP left foot back,
TURN 1/4 right AND STEP right foot to side

(The actual step sheet would not include that weird capitalization of some words. I only used it here to highlight the words that give the two versions their names.)

I would like to suggest that we should all agree to use only TURN-AND-STEP when writing step sheets. I find it much easier to write, read, understand, and execute. There is one instruction for each of the three counts of the pattern and each instruction ends with weight safely on the floor, not floating around waiting for you to read the next instruction.

"But," you say, "what about that case where I step and then turn? How do I write that one?"

Simple. The turn becomes the lead-in to the NEXT step. If your phases are:
- Step right foot forward
- Turn 1/4 left
- Shift weight to left foot
- Step right foot forward
then the TURN-AND-STEP version is
step right foot forward, turn 1/4 left and step left foot in place, step right foot forward
which I find slightly cleaner than the STEP-AND-TURN version.

"But," you continue, "what if I have a group of 8 counts that has a turn after stepping on count 8. Shouldn't count 8 be STEP-AND-TURN?"

No. Put the turn before the first count of the next set of 8. Instead of:
8   Step right foot forward with toe turned out, turn 1/4 to the right
1   Step left foot to the side
you would have
8   Step right foot forward with toe turned out
1   Turn 1/4 to the right and step left foot to the side
Again, I find the second to be a better description of the steps.

"Aha," you counter, "What about when the turn is at the very end of a dance?"

That's a special case that rarely happens, but when it does, I like to see an extra line after the last count.
8   Step right foot forward with toe turned out
Turn 1/4 to the right to begin dance again

I have seen other solutions to the turn-at-the-end situation. A few step sheets show the turn at the beginning, before step 1, and then a note that says omit the turn on the first repetition of the dance. I think that adds more confusion than the turn at the end of a dance.

And finally, we come to my personal pet peeve.

RULE OF THUMB #4 - Do not use the term PIVOT when describing a turn, unless it is a real pivot turn

A pivot turn is a specific kind of turn, well-defined in all forms of dance other than line dancing. Many, many line dancers use the term incorrectly and there is no good reason for that.

Here is what line dancers (incorrectly) call a pivot turn:
Step right foot forward, turn 1/2 to the left and shift weight to the left foot in place

Here's how the rest of the dance world describes a pivot turn:
Step right foot forward, turn 1/2 to the right and step the left foot back
or
Step right foot forward, turn 1/2 to the left and step the left foot back

Notice that the line dancers' incorrect pivot turn has separated thighs and both feet stationary after the initial forward step, while a real pivot turn has thighs locked together and one foot moving to a new position on the floor after the initial forward step. Big difference.

There are some professionally trained dancers among the ranks of international line dance instructors who have tacitly agreed to "dumb down" their use of pivot to match what line dancers expect them to say. That doesn't make it right, and it does much to damage the credibility of line dancing in the eyes of the rest of the dance world.

If both feet stay in place after the initial step, just say turn or swivel. Don't say pivot.

(Also, do not call it a Military Turn. That is another specific dance step that usually starts with a back step or touch. It's an archaic term that served its purpose 15-20 years ago, but no longer belongs in line dancing.)

Conclusion

In this article I have tried to bring attention to a few characteristics of step sheets that affect your ability to read and understand them. I have introduced a few rules of thumb and a simplified line dance vocabulary that serve to improve the quality of dance write-ups. I hope some of this will be useful, and that step sheets become more and more readable over time.

One final note: When a dance is submitted to Kickit, we now try to convert it to the standard vocabulary, making our best guess on what is intended. We hope those who submit dances will review our re-wording and send corrections where needed, while checking their original text to see why it was misinterpreted. In the long run, we hope to see more dances submitted using this standard vocabulary from the start, so we can spend less time converting text.