Western promenade dances are a form of partner dance traditionally danced to country-western music, and which are stylistically associated with American country and/or western traditions.
Specific dances are often associated with a specific song or songs, for example "San Antonio Stroll", "Orange Blossom Special" and "Cotton-Eyed Joe".
In promenade-style partner dancing the partners (dance couple) dance side-by-side, maintaining a connection with each other through a promenade handhold. The man dances traditionally to the left of the woman. There is no leader or follower, as in ballroom-style partner dancing, because both partners execute the steps identically. However, the man does function as a leader in a limited capacity, when and if there is undertaken turns, twirls and other fancy arm maneuvers.
Famous quotes containing the words western, promenade and/or dance:
“In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The day of the sun is like the day of a king. It is a promenade in the morning, a sitting on the throne at noon, a pageant in the evening.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The city is all right. To live in one
Is to be civilized, stay up and read
Or sing and dance all night and see sunrise
By waiting up instead of getting up.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)