The next round of practicing together
On udansa connect, you can find people to practice Line Dance with. Meet up for Watermelon Crawl and count the five eight-counts together until you can change walls without stopping.
Country Dance Choreographies5 minutes
Watermelon Crawl Line Dance: Learn Tracy Davis’ 40-Count Routine
By Mary De LucaUpdated
- Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Davis is a 40-count, four-wall line dance.
- The sequence includes toe-heel triples, two Charleston sequences, grapevines, diagonal slides, hip accents, and two half turns.
- To the usual recording of Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd, the dance starts after a 16-count intro.
- The choreography is suitable for advanced beginners who can already control weight changes and turns.
The song sounds relaxed, but there’s a lot going on between the toe accents and the final turns. Once you know which foot is free after each section, the long sequence becomes much easier to follow.
What you need for this episode
- Flat shoes with a sole that lets you pivot without slipping
- Clear floor space for side steps and diagonal steps
- The recording of Watermelon Crawl by Tracy Byrd
- Confident weight shifts and small half-turns
- A clearly defined starting direction in the room
40 Counts Are Five Eights with a Wall Change
A count here is one basic beat of the music. The full sequence consists of five eights, then the same sequence begins in a new direction. The actual wall change happens on the left Grapevine on Count 23. You make a quarter turn to the left. If you start facing 12 o’clock, you finish facing 9 o’clock. The two half turns at the end add up to one full turn and do not change this ending direction.
In the instructions, R means right foot and L means left foot. A touch brushes the floor without transferring weight; a step transfers weight. The triples on 3&4 and 7&8 include an extra step between two basic beats. If this breakdown feels unfamiliar, the explanation of the Line Dance Shuffle Step can help, even though you stay in place here.
Watermelon Crawl is often classified as Beginner or Beginner/Intermediate. The fast original music, diagonals and turns make it more challenging than a first short beginner sequence. The overview of Line Dance Levels explains these differences. Keep your arms relaxed while learning, so you can focus on your feet.
Practice the complete sequence step by step
Count the intro
Start with your weight on L, R free. Count 16 basic beats of the intro to the commonly used Tracy Byrd recording as two sets of eight; Count 1 starts on the next beat. The intro may differ in differently edited recordings, so a fixed time in seconds is not suitable.
Do Toe-Heel and Triples
1: tap right toe next to L, knee slightly inward. 2: tap right heel next to L, toe turned outward. 3&4: step R-L-R in place. 5: tap left toe. 6: tap left heel. 7&8: step L-R-L in place. Now R is free.
Dance two Charleston sequences
9: Step R forward. 10: Kick L forward. 11: Step L back. 12: Tap R toe behind. Repeat the same four actions on 13 to 16: R forward, L kick, L back, R tap behind. Keep the kicks small and don’t jump.
Connecting Grapevines with a Quarter Turn
17: R step sideways. 18: L cross behind R. 19: R step sideways. 20: L touch next to R. 21: L step sideways. 22: R cross behind L. 23: L step forward with a quarter turn left. 24: R touch next to L, without weight.
Glide diagonally forward and back
25: Step R diagonally forward to the right. 26 to 27: Draw L in. 28: Touch L beside R and clap. 29: Step L diagonally back to the left. 30 to 31: Draw R in. 32: Touch R beside L and clap. Keep your weight on the supporting leg throughout.
Dance hip accents and half turns
33 to 36: Accent hips left, right, left, right; keep weight on L before 37. 37: R forward, 38: half turn left with weight on L. 39: R forward, 40: another half turn left with weight on L.
Put the eight-counts together into a round
Connect all five eight-count sequences first without music, then with the song. After count 40, immediately start the right toe touch again. Dance four rounds: Your ending directions are 9, 6, 3 and 12 o'clock, in that order. Don't plan an extra pause between rounds.
These differences keep the sequence clean
Like this
- Turn your toe only slightly inward on the Toe-Heel
- Keep your knee relaxed during the kick
- Keep your shoulders down while clapping
- Keep both feet free to shift your weight on each half-turn
Not like this
- Twist your supporting knee inward for Toe-Heel
- Jerk your leg straight during the kick
- Raise your shoulders when clapping
- Force your way through the turn with your soles glued to the floor
Check off your practice session
Before the music
Build-up
When connecting
Exercise
After four rounds
Control
Frequently Asked Questions
No, you dance Watermelon Crawl in lines without partner contact. Everyone starts facing the same direction and changes walls together. To learn it, a second person can count or demonstrate beside you, but they won't lead you through the steps like in a partner dance.
The 40-count sequence described here is repeated without any additional tags or restarts. A tag is an inserted section of steps, while a restart is an early restart from the beginning. When practicing to the recording mentioned, don't insert anything and start again at Count 1 after Count 40.
To practice, you can replace the last four counts with a right Rocking Chair. Step R forward, shift your weight back to L, step R back, then shift your weight back to L. This preserves the ending direction and leaves your right foot free, but it's a deliberate simplification, not Tracy Davis’ original sequence of steps.
Usually, the right touch at the end of the first Charleston sequence accidentally takes weight. Then R is blocked for the next forward step. Repeat only Counts 9 to 16 slowly and keep the right toe unweighted on Counts 12 and 16. Both Charleston sequences start the same way with R.
Write down the five eight-count sections as Toe-Heel, Charleston, Grapevines, Diagonals, and Hips with Turns. Add the quarter turn in the third section and the two half turns in the last one. A step note with counts helps you keep these changes of direction straight instead of confusing them with the section names.
