Cotton-Eyed Joe Line

Formation: Loose lines of solo dancers all facing one direction.
Music: There are lots of versions of “Cotton-Eyed Joe” available. Be aware that some have lyrics that you may find objectionable. “Cotton-Eyed Joe” on Lloyd Shaw E-35 is nice.
Footwork: Identical footwork for all dancers. For the energetic, do the first eight counts with a bounce on each step.

Download RTF file: Cotton-Eyed Joe Line

Prompts:
Intro or
13-16   – Tap heel twice;
    1-4   Toe behind, side in front;
    5-8   Side, behind, – Vine;
  9-12   – – -Twirl;
13-16   – – Heel twice;

Description:
    1-4   Tap the right heel forward twice. Tap right toe behind twice.
    5-8   Tap right toe to the side and bend knee to swing the right foot up and across in front of the left leg. Touch right sole with left hand. Tap right toe to the side and then bend knee to swing right foot up and across behind the left leg. Touch right sole with left hand.
  9-12   Vine Right: step to the side on right, step behind right on left, step to the side on right, touch left foot near right and clap.
13-16   Twirl: With right hand up “twirling a lasso”, take four steps to the left while spinning your body to the left once around.

Variation:
    1) Turn it into a four-wall line dance by twirling once and a quarter.
    2) Alternate the active right foot version above with an active left foot version with a vine left and twirl to the right.

Choreography by: (unknown)
Source: Internet research
Usage: This is a 16-count, one-wall line dance. This country dance became popular after the release of Rednex’s version of the classic folk song in 1994. It is simple but requires some balance and flexibility. Lots of energy is required to dance it with the bounce step.

Also see “Cotton-Eyed Joe Group” and “Cotton-Eyed Joe Mixer”

This page from http://dances.callerlab.org (CALLERLAB Dance Resource).