Dance Theme Word Search Printable

Find 16 dance words, from Pirouette to Tango, then press New puzzle or print the sheet with its answer key.

Name Date

Dance Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

LHBDABMYTIGHTSU

TNYIXLEOIOUSVWQ

ANSARHYTHMEUTDT

DBABVOTTKLEAPRA

WATAONSTAOSPINN

HEFRTSFIOARZRMG

UDIREGHDVYEXOSO

LQLETTIHLQCAUCN

ARSTAISTUDIOEYD

UJDDPKFFRJTZTSO

GIGENATRWXAGTKS

TUTURHADAALSEBR

XHBISDEALCMUIEQ

OTEKPOINTEETFAK

NLEOTARDZXOTOTH

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

TapTAP
HulaHULA
WaltzWALTZ
TangoTANGO
PirouettePIROUETTE
BarreBARRE
PointePOINTE
LeapLEAP
SpinSPIN
RecitalRECITAL
StudioSTUDIO
BeatBEAT
RhythmRHYTHM
LeotardLEOTARD
TightsTIGHTS
TutuTUTU

16 of 24 words from the Favorite Dance Words list.

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Answer key: Dance Word Search

LHBDABMYTIGHTSU

TNYIXLEOIOUSVWQ

ANSARHYTHMEUTDT

DBABVOTTKLEAPRA

WATAONSTAOSPINN

HEFRTSFIOARZRMG

UDIREGHDVYEXOSO

LQLETTIHLQCAUCN

ARSTAISTUDIOEYD

UJDDPKFFRJTZTSO

GIGENATRWXAGTKS

TUTURHADAALSEBR

XHBISDEALCMUIEQ

OTEKPOINTEETFAK

NLEOTARDZXOTOTH

TAP, HULA, WALTZ, TANGO, PIROUETTE, BARRE, POINTE, LEAP, SPIN, RECITAL, STUDIO, BEAT, RHYTHM, LEOTARD, TIGHTS, TUTU

Next step Hide your own class's first names in a grid Print the music word search

All 136 words

Kinds of Dance 20

Ballet A formal art of turned-out legs, pointed feet and steps with French names.
Breaking A street style from the Bronx built on toprock, footwork, power moves and freezes.
Clogging An American folk style that drums out the rhythm with heel and toe.
Conga A long chain of people stepping three times and kicking, from a Cuban carnival tradition.
Contemporary A mid-twentieth-century style that borrows freely from many others.
Flamenco An art form from Andalusia in the south of Spain.
Hip-hop A family of street styles from the 1970s, spread by crews in the United States.
Hula A Hawaiian art that tells a song's words through movement.
Jazz A lively stage style with roots in the United States of the early 1900s.
Jig A lively folk form popular across the British Isles since the 1500s.
Limbo How low can you go? Leaning back to slip beneath a pole, as first done in Trinidad and Tobago.
Line dance Everyone in rows, facing one way, repeating the same sequence with no partners.
Lyrical A flowing style that blends classical technique with stage freedom, often to slow songs.

Show all 136 words (123 more)

Kinds of Dance, continued

Modern A concert style that began as a rebellion against the strict rules of classical training.
Polka A bouncy style that began in Bohemia in the 1800s, in what is now the Czech Republic.
Reel A folk form of Scottish origin that is also at home in Ireland.
Square dance Four pairs who start on the sides of a box and face its middle.
Stepdance An Irish style of fast, precise footwork under a body held still.
Tap A style in which metal plates on heel and toe turn the feet into a drum.
Tarantella A whirling folk form of southern Italy, quick and shaken along by tambourines.

Ballroom and Partner Dances 20

Ballroom The family of partner styles done socially and in competitions.
Cha-cha A Cuban style named for the scuffing sound of two quick steps.
Charleston A craze of the 1920s named after a harbor city in South Carolina.
Dip A figure in which one partner leans back, supported by the other.
Follow To read a partner's signals and move with them.
Foxtrot A smooth style for two, all long, flowing walks, developed in the 1910s.
Frame The steady shape that partners' arms and shoulders keep while they hold on.
Lindy hop An American style born in Harlem around 1928, the best known of its family.
Mambo A Latin style of Cuba that took off in the 1940s.
Merengue The national style of the Dominican Republic, a kind of walk set to music.
Partner The person you are paired with.
Promenade A figure in which two partners travel side by side, facing the same way.
Quickstep A light, speedy partner style that grew in the 1920s out of several older ones.
Rumba A style with roots in late-1800s Havana, built on drums and song.
Salsa A Latin partner style whose name is Spanish for sauce.
Samba A bouncing Afro-Brazilian style with fast feet and swaying hips.
Swing A family of social styles that grew up with big-band jazz in the 1920s to 1940s.
Tango A style for two, born in the 1880s along the river between Argentina and Uruguay.
Twirl A quick spin under a raised arm.
Waltz A whirling style for two, counted one-two-three, from German-speaking Europe.

Ballet Words 20

Adagio The slow, controlled part of class, all about balance and line.
Arabesque Balanced on one leg, the other reaching long to the back.
Ballerina A leading female performer in a classical company.
Barre The waist-high rail on the studio wall, and the exercises done with a hand on it.
Battement A beating action of the working leg, repeated quickly.
Chassé A gallop-like slide with both knees soft; French for chased.
Coda The last and showiest part of a grand piece for two; the name means tail.
Fondu Lowering smoothly on one leg as if the standing knee were melting, which is what the name means.
Glissade A small traveling step that links bigger ones; the word means glide.
Jeté One leg is flung out and the body follows it through the air; French for thrown.
Pas de chat A light spring to the side with the knees pulled up high; in French, a cat's step.
Pirouette A whirl on a single leg that does not travel.
Plié Knees fold out over the feet and straighten again, back kept tall.
Pointe Balanced on the very ends of the toes, in shoes built stiff enough to allow it.
Port de bras An exercise for the arms alone, sweeping them through their set shapes.
Relevé Up you go, heels lifting high; the name is French for lifted.
Révérence A grand gesture of respect to the teacher and the pianist when class is over.
Sauté Added to a step's name when it is performed off the floor; French for jumped.
Tendu A pointed foot brushes out to the front, side or back and returns; French for stretched.
Turnout Rotating the legs from the hips so that knees and feet face away from each other.

Steps and Moves 18

Ball change Two quick shifts of weight, from the front of one foot to the whole of the other.
Box step A basic pattern whose moves land on the four corners of a square.
Curtsy A dip of respect: one foot slides behind and the knees soften.
Do-si-do Two people circle each other back to back and return to place without turning.
Flap A common tap step, also done as a running string of them.
Glide To travel so smoothly that the feet seem never to leave the floor.
Kick A sharp swing of one leg, as high as it will go.
Leap Pushing off one leg to land on the opposite one, as far along as you can.
Lift One performer raising another off the ground.
Moonwalk A trick that slides the feet backward while the legs seem to be walking forward.
Pivot A swivel on the ball of one foot to face a new way.
Sashay To slide sideways with a step-together-step; the word comes from the French for chased.
Shimmy A quick shaking of the shoulders and body.
Shuffle A common tap step; add a ball change and it becomes a favorite combination.
Spin A fast turn in place, on one foot or two.
Split Legs stretched in opposite directions until both rest on the floor.
Stomp A heavy, flat-footed stamp.
Time step A set rhythm pattern that tappers learn early and vary endlessly.

On the Stage 19

Applause The crowd's clapping at the end.
Audition A tryout in front of the people choosing the cast.
Battle A friendly face-off in which crews or soloists take turns trying to outdo each other.
Choreography The art of making up the moves and setting them in order.
Duet A piece for two.
Encore An extra piece given because the crowd will not stop clapping.
Formation The arrangement of a group on the floor: lines, a circle, a V.
Freestyle Moving on the spur of the moment, with nothing planned.
Judge The person who scores each entry at a competition.
Performance The real thing, in front of an audience.
Recital The yearly show in which every class performs for family and friends.
Rehearsal Going through the whole piece again and again until it is ready to be seen.
Routine A worked-out sequence of moves set to one piece of music.
Showcase An informal show that puts new work or new students on view.
Solo A piece performed by one person alone.
Spotlight A bright circle that follows the soloist wherever they go.
Studio A room with a sprung floor and a wall of mirrors, where classes are held.
Theater The building with the seats, the curtain and the lights.
Trio A piece for three.

Rhythm and Movement 19

Balance Holding steady over one small base.
Beat The steady count underneath the tune.
Clap To strike the palms together in time.
Eight count A dancer's way of numbering the beats of a phrase: five, six, seven, one more, then go.
Energy How much force goes into a move: sharp, soft, heavy or light.
Flow How smoothly one move pours into the next.
Groove The easy, rocking feel that makes a body want to move.
Level How high or low a move is: on the floor, standing, or in the air.
Musicality The skill of showing the music's accents and moods in the body.
Percussive Describes movement that is sharp, with sudden starts and stops.
Phrase A short run of moves that belongs together, like a sentence.
Posture How the spine, shoulders and head are carried.
Pulse The heartbeat of a piece, felt even through a silence.
Rhythm The pattern your feet make when they keep time with a song.
Snap A click of finger against thumb.
Space The room around a body, and how a mover uses it.
Sustained Describes movement that is slow, smooth and unbroken.
Timing Landing each move exactly when the music asks for it.
Unison Everyone doing the same move at the same moment.

What a Dancer Wears 20

Bun Hair twisted into a tight knot at the back of the head.
Cane A slim walking stick twirled as a prop.
Clogs Hard-soled shoes that turn every step into a knock.
Costume What is worn for the show instead of practice clothes.
Fan A folding prop snapped open and shut with a flick of the wrist.
Glitter Sparkly specks for the face and hair on show day.
Kilt A pleated plaid skirt from Scotland, worn for its traditional steps.
Kneepads Cushions strapped on for floor work.
Leg warmers Knitted tubes from ankle to knee that keep the muscles cozy.
Leotard A snug one-piece that covers the torso and leaves the legs free.
Ribbons The satin ties that wrap around the ankle and hold a toe shoe on.
Sequins Small flat spangles stitched to a show outfit so it sparkles under the lights.
Skirt A wrap of light fabric tied at the waist for class.
Slippers Soft, thin-soled shoes for class, held on with elastic.
Sneakers The street shoes of choice for a crew.
Tiara A small jeweled crown for a princess role.
Tights Thin, stretchy legwear that goes under a one-piece.
Top hat A high, stiff prop for the head, flat on top, from old stage numbers.
Tutu A skirt of tulle, soft and bell-shaped or short and standing straight out.
Unitard A snug one-piece that covers the legs as well as the torso.

How this list was compiled: Dance words chosen and defined for this site in seven themed lists (kinds of dance, ballroom and partner dances, ballet words, steps and moves, on the stage, rhythm and movement, what a dancer wears), with a favorites list, an easy list and a hard list. Where a clue says where or when a dance began, it follows the English Wikipedia article on that dance; ballet terms follow Glossary of ballet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet, tap steps follow Tap dance, and other steps follow Glossary of dance moves; all were read on 2026-10-03 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Spellings were checked against Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/. Every meaning is in our own words. French ballet words keep their accents in the list and lose them in the grid. No dancer, company, show, song or brand is named. Licence: own work

How it works

This dance theme word search printable opens on favorites such as Tap, Hula, Waltz, Pirouette and Tutu. Seven more lists cover kinds of dance, partner dances, ballet class, steps, the stage, rhythm and what a dancer wears.

Read the full guide

A dance word search, printable list by list

Pick under Start from a list. Kinds of Dance runs from Ballet and Hip-hop to Flamenco and Hula. Ballroom and Partner Dances has Waltz, Tango and Cha-cha. Steps and Moves has Shuffle, Moonwalk and Do-si-do, and What a Dancer Wears has Leotard, Tutu and Leg warmers.

Ballet word search, printable from the Ballet Words list

Pick Ballet Words for a puzzle of class terms: Plié, Tendu, Pirouette, Arabesque, Barre and Pointe. Accents drop out of the grid, so Jeté is hidden as JETE.

Easy Dance Words has short ones such as Tap, Jig, Reel and Spin.
Two-word terms lose the gap in the grid: Pas de chat reads PASDECHAT, and Hip-hop reads HIPHOP.

Questions and answers

What kinds of dance are in the word search?

Kinds of Dance has Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop, Modern, Flamenco, Hula, Clogging, Polka and the Italian Tarantella. Ballroom and Partner Dances adds Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Salsa, Samba, Rumba, Mambo, Merengue and Lindy hop.

What do the French ballet words mean?

Plié means bent, tendu stretched, relevé raised, sauté jumped, jeté thrown, chassé chased and fondu melted. Glissade means glide, and pas de chat is step of the cat. All nine are in Ballet Words, each with its own clue.

Where do the waltz, the tango and the polka come from?

The waltz comes from German-speaking parts of Europe in the 18th century. The tango took shape in the 1880s beside the Río de la Plata, between Argentina and Uruguay. The polka began in Bohemia in the 1800s, a region now in the Czech Republic.

Why are Step and Hop missing from the lists?

Each would be found twice. STEP is spelled inside QUICKSTEP, STEPDANCE and two more entries, and HOP inside HIPHOP and LINDYHOP. To put either one in anyway, type it at the end of the word list under the grid.

All 136 words

Kinds of Dance 20

Kinds of Dance, continued

Ballroom and Partner Dances 20

Ballet Words 20

Steps and Moves 18

On the Stage 19

Rhythm and Movement 19

What a Dancer Wears 20

How it works

A dance word search, printable list by list

Ballet word search, printable from the Ballet Words list

Questions and answers

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