Starter Step

The little two-triple pattern many dancers use to begin a dance: side triple, side triple (or rock-and-triple), establishing connection and the slot before the first real pattern.

Not universal — plenty of dancers start straight into a sugar push or side pass — but common enough in classes that learners should recognize it. Its real job is a connection check: settling weight, matching hand pressure, and agreeing on timing before anything travels.

One taught version

Thibault and Nicole Ramirez teach the starter step from closed position: the partners first "tap the tempo" in place (walk-touch on the beat) for as long as the leader likes, then dance two triple steps — the first to the side, the second opening the position — flowing directly into a left side pass.¹ For the follower, the first triple is the signal: taps can continue indefinitely, but "as soon as we start with the triples, that tells me that the dance has now started."² Their companion rhythm lesson pins down when to start: WCS basics come in 6- and 8-count structures, and the dance starts on a downbeat — odd counts are downbeats, even counts the upbeats.³

Footnotes

1. Thibault & Nicole Ramirez, "Starter Step – How to Begin Your West Coast Swing" at 0:50. ↩

2. Thibault & Nicole Ramirez, "Starter Step – How to Begin Your West Coast Swing" at 2:55. ↩

3. Thibault & Nicole Ramirez, "West Coast Swing Rhythm & Timing – Start Dancing on Beat" at 1:16–1:55. ↩