I recommend this DVD lesson to anyone who wants to jump in to country dancing! Why? Read below and get all the details...

The Country Western Dance Sampler was made for you if:

• You're new to dancing and don't know where to start.
• You love country music and want to be able to dance when you go out.
• You want to know enough about dancing to not look foolish in front of others.
• You want a fun new hobby to do at home.
• You're a beginner and this is your first time dancing.
• You get frustrated while trying to learn to dance in a group.
• The private dance lessons you're taking are expensive and not what you expected.
• You wish your dance instructor would teach at your pace.
• You know how to dance but want your spouse/partner to learn.
• You don't want to deal with potential high pressure sales at the dance studio.
• Remembering what you learned is difficult after your dance class with nothing to go back to.
• You dread having to schedule your dance lesson around a time that works for your local dance instructor.
• You're getting ready to go out to a club, an event, or on a trip where there's country dancing and you want to join in on the fun.

What dances and moves are taught in the Country Western Dance Sampler?

• Rules of partner dancing
• 4 Connection Points

Two Step

• Two Step rhythm
• 6 Count Basic
• Progressive Basic Step
• Leaders and Followers moving together in progressive basic
• Closed to skaters move
• Follower's Inside 1.5 turn Release
• Closed to Skaters to Inside Turn Release Combo

Swing Dancing (East Coast Swing)

• Swing rhythm
• 6 Count Single Time Basic
• Rock Steps
• Open Dance Position
• Closed Dance Position
• 6 Count Triple Time Basic
• Left Turns
• Closed to Open Dance Position Transition
• Follower's Outside Underarm Turn to Inside Underarm Turn Combo
• Right Turns

West Coast Swing

• Open Dance Position with 6 count basic
• Right Side Underarm Pass
• Left Side Pass

Polka

• Polka rhythm
• Lilt
• 4 Count Basic
• Turning Basic Step
• Progressive Basic Step

Triple Two Step

• Triple Two Step rhythm
• 6 Count Basic
• Progressive Basic Step
• Right Turning Basic Step
• Left Turning Basic Step

What are the Technical Details for the Country Western Dance Sampler?

• Name: Country Western Dance Sampler
• UPC: 857132001180
• Actors: Shawn Trautman, Joanna Trautman
• Level: 1st Time Beginner
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Region Encoded
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Dance Videos Direct
• Run Time: 87 minutes

My candid take on the Country Western Dance Sampler:

This was a fun DVD for Joanna and I to do. We love country dancing and this was a natural fit for us.

The style is very relaxed and comfortable and is one that welcomes almost anyone to the dance floor. This DVD includes nearly an hour and a half of dance instruction on the Two-Step, Swing, West Coast Swing, Polka, and Triple Two-Step, and provides a great intro lesson into each of the dances.

Specifically, we put this DVD together because we had a number of requests for folks who wanted to learn country dancing, but had no idea what that meant. It's very common. What we did in this DVD is provide a broad overview of country dancing in general (how to dance it, what to look for, etc.) and then broke down each of the dances into manageable pieces that get you comfortable. For example, we teach the basics of Swing in a way that allows you to dance along with us. Just like in the Ballroom & Latin Dance Sampler and the Slow & Romantic Dance Sampler, we go through the basics and then a couple of turns, then we practice it with music. It's broken up so you can spend a few minutes a night learning and working on a single dance, then go on with your day or go out dancing.

The country dance lessons you'll get out of this one will be enough to get you started and you'll be happy with your purchase. You'll enjoy the dancing and look forward to going out and dancing with your friends.

The official product description for the Country Western Dance Sampler:

Get ready for the next event or a hot night at the club as you learn the five most popular country western dances from Shawn Trautman, world-class dance instructor and author, with Country Western Dance Sampler.

Dances included in this DVD are:

• Two-Step
• Swing
• West Coast Swing
• Polka
• Triple Two-Step

The Country Western Dance Sampler is packed with over 90 minutes of easy to follow instruction in a “what you see is what you dance” format. More than just basics and the moves listed above, you’ll learn about connection points, proper hand placements, creating the lead, transitions and combining moves. To further enhance the instruction, a full breakdown of footwork for each move from both the leader and follower perspectives is given.

Filmed and produced with Picture-In-Picture technology from multiple camera angles, you'll be impressed at how simple this DVD makes country western dancing for you.

Shawn Trautman has been a coach and mentor to numerous World Champions as well as countless social dancers since the early 1990's. Shawn welcomes people from all walks of life regardless of shape, size, or ability to his classes. His broad experience in both dance and Advanced Learning Techniques makes his methods of instruction innovative, easy, and fun. If you're ready to learn and have fun, Shawn Trautman's Dance Collection is the way to go. Order your copy today, and be country western dancing by next weekend!

Where to get the Country Western Dance Sampler at a discount:

• Ballroom Starter Kit
• The Country Western Starter Pack (5 DVD set)
• The Beginner Super Set (10 DVD set)
• Custom Combo Pack (3, 4, 5, 6, & 10 DVD sets)
• The Entire Collection (all 25 DVDs)

How to order the Country Western Dance Sampler:

• Select the "Purchase Now" button above and complete your checkout. Our secure shopping cart is powered by Network Solutions and Authorize.net.


• Call during regular business hours:
  (9-5pm, Mon-Fri): 727-738-1145 or 877-326-2301.


• Send check or money order to:
  Dance Videos Direct
  22127 U.S. HWY 19 N
  Clearwater, FL 33765

When and how will your order ship?

• All orders are shipped the Same Day if received by 3pm EST.
• Orders placed on weekends/holidays are shipped out next business day.
• We do not ship orders on U.S. Federal Holidays.
• Click to see 1st Class, Priority & Express Shipping rates

Customer Comments

These are some of the many customer reviews submitted to us about the Country Western Dance Sampler:

"Excellent beginner instruction! The Trautman videos are the easiest to follow dance instruction I've ever seen. The higher price is just about the only reason I can't give the Country Sampler a 5 star rating. Here are the things that will keep me buying Trautman videos despite the higher-in-comparison pricing:
1. The sampler videos are a great way to get exposed to many different kinds of dancing and to decide which ones to explore more fully. (If you find a dance style you really want to learn about, you can always buy the DVD specifically for that dance with the more advanced instruction)
2. From the very beginning Shaun and Joanna are dancing together. (In other series like "Invitation to Dance" the lady spends half the time standing around doning nothing while the male instructor shows the leads what to do.)
3. The tidbits that Joanna throws out for the follows are very helpful. It's nice not to having everything in a dance video taught from the leads point of view -- instead both parts are taught together as they are meant to be danced together.
4. There is a good focus placed on how the leader lets their partner know what's coming by using the proper holds, arm positions, pressure in the hands, etc. After all, fancy steps are no good if you and your partner aren't dancing the same ones.
5 . The demonstrations generally use a sideways position that lets both partners see what their feet should be doing, but they also show you from different views when this is needed.
6. The basic steps that are taught are easily enough for me to go into a dance hall and not feel like an idiot, and it leaves me competent enough that I can seek out the competent and better dancers to partner with and I can then learn the more advanced moves from them. (This probably only works for the following partner and not the leader....)" Lisa D., unknown

"First rate! My wife and I are new to ballroom dancing in the last year. We've taken some lessons, but found that we needed the extra help of videos that we can use on our own schedule in our home and we've tried a bunch of them. This DVD and the whole series of new videos from Shawn Trautman have been a godsend and much more useful to us than the others we've tried. We are actually doing the dances within a short time and having fun, rather than getting aggravated with one another. Trautman's emphasis on the differing roles of leader and follower and the very clear demonstrations of those roles have helped us enormously. These DVDs include much more music and time to practice the new steps than most videos, rather than just watching an instructor do a step and go to another step. We like this video a lot and strongly recommend it. On a side note, the logistics/timing of shipping and subsequent email communications with the company were, after many frustrations with other online outfits, the best we've seen." J. Sheffer, unknown

"Excellent Instruction. Another great DVD. Shawn Trautman has a unique ability to give excellent instruction that is detailed, clear and presented in a logical order that is easy to learn from. All of the lessons on this DVD were easy to follow and the picture-in-picture close-up shots of their feet were very helpful. The lessons move at a pace well-suited for someone who likes detailed instruction yet wants to keep moving forward at a good clip. I love country music, and the music selection on this DVD was energetic and kept my interest. During the 2-step lesson, I was inspired to pick up my guitar to see if I could figure out the picking pattern - VERY COOL! We went through this DVD just one time and felt very comfortable, even though the polka wore us out (who would want to dance that one over and over??) :-) Five stars." Ann M., Dallas, TX

"Clear, very practical" Paula A., Yoakum, TX

"Great mix of dances! I play in a country band in Reno, Nevada and I bought some of these dvds to educate myself on what the crowd expects. This one was extremely helpful. It gave me a great overview of the most popular dances. Not everything is two-step and it's great if you can know what else everyone is doing. This dvd does have some great two-step but its also got all the other ones you need to know to be up with everybody. Excellant sampler!!" Shane P., Reno, NV

"I liked it! I received a follow up email from Shawn and I liked the DVD very much, as well. Great instructions!" Marian R., Unknown

"Easy instruction. I could learn how to do a dance I have never done before" Matthew H., Las Vegas, NV

"BOOTS AND HAT TIME! I FOUND THIS DVD PUTTING ME IN THE MOOD FOR BOOTS AND HATS.THE WAY SHAWN AND JOANNA TEACHES HOW TO HOLD EACH OTHER MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.IT'S ALL IN THE PATTERN OF STEPS THEY TEACH.THIS ONE IS ENERGICING AND INTERTAINING.JUST GREAT. " Peggy W., VA

"GREAT! HAPPY AS CAN BE" JUDITH A, Unknown

Where can you find more info on Country Western Dance Lessons?

Call our studio directly at 877-DANCE-01 or click the links below to read more on the following dance lessons:

• beginner dance lessons
• country western dance
• polka dance lessons
• swing dancing
• triple two-step
• country two-step lessons
• west coast swing dancing

What other Dance Lesson Videos are available?

Call our studio directly at 877-DANCE-01 or click the links below to read more about the other video lessons from Shawn Trautman Instruction:

• Ballroom and Latin Dance Sampler
• Beginner Cha-Cha
• Dance Lessons 101
• Essential Line Dances Vol. 1
• Essential Line Dances Vol. 2
• Hot Country Dancing for Couples
• Hustle for Beginners (Disco Style)
• Line Dance 101
• Party Line Dances
• Salsa for Beginners
• Slow and Romantic Dance Sampler
• Slow Dancing for Beginners Volume 1
• Slow Dancing for Beginners Volume 2
• Smokin Line Dances Vol. 1
• Smokin Line Dances Vol. 2
• Swing Dancing for Beginners Volume 1
• Swing Dancing for Beginners Volume 2
• Swing Dancing for Intermediate Dancers Vol 1
• Two-Step for Beginners Volume 1
• Two-Step for Beginners Volume 2
• Two-Step for Intermediate Dancers Volume 1
• West Coast Swing for Beginners Volume 1
• West Coast Swing for Beginners Volume 2
• West Coast Swing for Intermediate Dancers Volume 1