How every dance is counted
The 109 counts in Count Studio’s library, written the way each dance is counted: the meter, how the beats group, the tempo range and where the count comes from.
Every count on these pages is in the app: pick it, set the tempo, and Count Studio counts it out loud, on screen and as taps you can feel.
Dance families
- Studio and street8-counts with “&” and “e & a”, ballet’s 3/4, tap, contemporary’s odd counts and cheer.16 counts
- Latin socialSalsa On1 and On2, Cuban casino and clave, bachata, merengue, kizomba, zouk and cha-cha.14 counts
- Ballroom, swing and tangoWaltz, foxtrot, quickstep, Latin ballroom, swing in 6s and 8s, tango and line dance.26 counts
- Classical and folkKathak tals, Carnatic talas, flamenco compás, Irish jigs and reels, Balkan meter, belly dance.48 counts
- FitnessZumba, aerobics, step and barre, in 32-count blocks and 8s.5 counts
Questions
- What is an 8-count?
- The everyday dance count: one count per beat, two bars of 4/4 per eight. Teachers count you in with “5, 6, 7, 8”, and most popular music is phrased in eights that add up to 32-count phrases.
- What changes between salsa On1 and On2?
- Both step on 1 2 3 and 5 6 7 and pause on 4 and 8. On1 (LA style) breaks on 1 and 5; On2 (New York mambo, as taught by Eddie Torres) keeps the same steps but breaks on 2 and 6.
- How is bachata counted?
- Three steps and a tap: 1 2 3 tap, 5 6 7 tap, with the tap (a hip lift) on 4 and 8. Count Studio’s bachata runs from 108 to 152 BPM.
- How do you count cha-cha?
- Ballroom Latin counts it “2 3 4 & 1”: the break step is on 2 and the chassé is 4 & 1. Social dancers often count “1 2 3 cha-cha”: rock step on 1 2, chassé on 3 & 4.
- How do you count a waltz?
- In 3/4, “1 2 3”, with the rise and fall over the bar. Slow waltz runs at 84–90 BPM and Viennese waltz at 174–180 BPM (WDSF tempo table, converted to beats per minute).
- How many beats are in Teentaal?
- 16 matras in four groups of 4. Sam is on 1, tali (claps) on 5 and 13, and khali on 9. It is played at vilambit, madhya and drut layas.
- What is the bulerías compás?
- A fast 12-count compás with accents on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Dancers often start the count on 12.
- How many 8-counts are in a cheer routine?
- A 2:30 routine at 144 BPM is about 45 eights. Cheer count sheets have one row of 8 boxes per eight, with sections for stunts, tumbling, jumps and dance.
- What is a 32-count line dance?
- A dance whose pattern is 32 counts long, four eights, before it turns to face the next wall. Longer dances run 48 or 64 counts; tags and restarts change the sequence.