Point, Touch, Close

Let’s talk about the small things in line dancing—the little one-word commands that quietly keep the entire dance floor from dissolving into chaos. When instructors use clear, consistent words, it reduces what educators call cognitive load… and what dancers call “Wait, what foot are we on?”

Three of the most powerful words in a caller’s vocabulary are Point, Touch, and Close. Each one takes exactly one beat of music, one count, and conveys a surprising amount of information.
👆POINT
A point means touching the floor away from your body with a pointed toe. The important thing to remember: no weight goes on that foot.
A proper point looks especially elegant when the leg is straight and the turnout comes from the hip. For a side point, try touching the inside edge of your big toe to the floor—this creates a nice, sleek line instead of the “mysterious broken leg” look achieved when the leg is bent.
Many instructors use point and touch interchangeably, usually meaning “don’t put weight on it.” I suspect this began when some dancers developed an understandable reluctance to point their toes. After all, pointing inside a hard leather cowboy boot is about as comfortable as doing ballet in ski boots. Foot cramps are real, folks.
Still, let’s reclaim POINT as the proper term for touching the floor away from the body.

👇TOUCH
A touch is when you place the toe (or inside ball of the foot) on the floor next to the weighted foot. Again--no weight.
The touching leg is bent and under your body. Think of it as a polite little “hello” from your foot, not a commitment to stick around.
👈CLOSE
A close means bringing your feet together with a change of weight. The un-weighted foot is taking weight under your body.
In many classes you’ll hear the word together used, but close has fewer syllables, which makes it faster and cleaner when calling choreography.  It also gives you time for breathing and resting your voice.
For example:
Instead of: “Side together side”, You can call: “Side close side”

Test Your Dance Decoder
See if you can identify these common line dance moves using simple calling language:

1. 1. R-Point forward 2. R-Close 3. L-Point back 4. L-Close
2. 1. R-Forward 2. L-Close 3. R-Forward
3. 1. R-Side 2. L-Cross behind 3. R-Side 4. L-Touch
4. 1. R-Point side 2. R-Close ¼R turn 3. L-Point side 4. L-Close

Answers

1. Charleston Step
2. Triple Step (Shuffle)
3. Grapevine Touch
4. Monterey Turn 

So the next time you’re learning a new dance and the choreography starts looking like a bowl of spaghetti, remember: sometimes the simplest words carry the most information.
Point. Touch. Close.
Three little words… and suddenly the dance floor makes sense again. 🤠