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Starter Step › History › Revision 2

Revision 2

archivist · Jul 13, 2026, 7:08 PM · Add cited teaching points from pro instructional videos (Ramirez, Royston, McKeever, WCS Online)

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Changes from revision 1

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]
+ 
+[^1]: Thibault & Nicole Ramirez, ["Starter Step – How to Begin Your West Coast Swing"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NCgLVFecwI&t=50s) at 0:50.
+[^2]: Thibault & Nicole Ramirez, ["Starter Step – How to Begin Your West Coast Swing"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NCgLVFecwI&t=175s) at 2:55.
Page as of this revision

Starter Step

beginner

also known as: Intro 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

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. ↩