Law 4: Dance holds and music

In the Waltz Hold the partners are directly opposite each other, one facing forward and the other backward, with their shoulders parallel.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.2 · recall

His right hand is on the woman's back at the shoulder blade, elbow raised, holding her close; her left hand rests at his shoulder, arm on his upper arm, and the other two arms extend at shoulder height.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.2 · recall

The Crossed Foxtrot is the Foxtrot Hold with crossed arms: his right arm passes behind her to her right hip, and her left arm passes behind him to his left hip.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.3.b · recall

In the Tango Hold the partners face opposite ways and are offset so that the front of his hip lines up with the front of hers; pressing hip to hip impedes flow.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.4 · recall

In the Kilian Hold both face the same way with the woman to the man's right and his right shoulder behind her left. In the Reversed Kilian she is at his left.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.5.a-b · recall

The man leads with his right hand, except in a reversed hold, where the leading hand is his left.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.6 · recall

Usually they face each other with arms extended to the side, one skating forward and one backward; sometimes the hold is skated back to back, as in steps of the Cha Cha Congelado.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.1.b · recall

In the Kilian both right hands rest over her hip bone; in the Waltz Hold the extended arms are at shoulder height; in the High Kilian one pair of joined hands goes slightly above shoulder height.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rules 705.2, 705.5.a, 705.5.e · applied

The Foxtrot Hold keeps the hand and arm holds of the Waltz Hold; the partners only turn slightly away from each other so that both face the same direction.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.3.a · applied

In the Tango Hold the partners face opposite ways but are offset, side by side at the hips (B). A faces directly opposite, the Waltz Hold; C faces the same way, close and staggered, the Kilian; D faces the same way, apart with arms extended, Hand-in-Hand.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rules 705.1-705.5 · applied

Her left arm reaches across his front to his left hand while his right arm goes across in front of her, both right hands clasped over her hip. In the plain Kilian his right arm crosses behind her back.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.5.a, d · recall

In the Open Kilian his left hand holds her left, his right rests over her left hip or behind her back, and her right arm is extended. It may also be skated reversed.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.5.c · recall

A Promenade is a kind of progressive skated in Open Hold, on the same or on opposite feet, taken from a forward walking movement in some ballroom dances.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 705.7 · recall

Tempo is the speed of the music, given in beats or in measures per minute.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 706.2 · recall

Rhythm is the regularly repeated pattern of accented and unaccented beats, and it is what gives the music its character.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 706.3 · recall

A measure is a unit of music defined by the periodic recurrence of the accent, and all measures hold an equal number of beats.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 706.4 · recall

The strong beat is the first beat of the measure, or of a group of two measures, and it carries the skating count of the rhythm.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rule 706.5 · recall

Beats are the regular divisions of the music; a measure groups an equal number of them, and some rhythms count their skating over a group of two measures.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rules 706.1, 706.4-706.6 · applied

Tempo may be given in beats or in measures per minute. Forty measures of three beats are 120 beats a minute and thirty-four measures of four are 136.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rules 706.2, 706.4 · applied

With a skating count over two measures, the weak beat is the first beat of the second measure, here count 4 (C); count 1 (A) is the strong beat. Count 4 of the American Waltz is the rules' own example.

Source: ISU Sports Rules S&P/ID 2026, Rules 706.5-706.6 · applied