Line dancing is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. The dancers usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other. Unlike circle dancing, line dancers are not in physical contact with each other. Each dance is usually associated with, and named for, a specific song, such as the Macarena or the Electric Slide. Line dancing is practiced and learned in country-western dance bars, social clubs, dance clubs, and ballrooms. It is sometimes combined on dance programs with other forms of country-western dance, such as two-step, western promenade dances, and western-style variants of the waltz, polka, and swing.

Line dancing is characterized by leg movements completed on the spot as well as traveling steps side to side, rocking forwards and backward, and turns. The focus is usually on the legs and feet with hands by the side or on the hips, although some line dances have specific arm movements or claps and waves throughout the dance. As this is a social fun dance, some people move their arms in time to the beat of the music clicking, clapping, and waving them in the air.

The precise origins of line dancing are not entirely clear, but it is believed to have originated from folk dancing, which has many similarities. Contra dancing, a form of American folk dance in which the dancers form two parallel lines and perform a sequence of dance movements with different partners down the length of the line, probably had a huge influence on the line dancing steps we are familiar with today. Although many popular line dances are set to country music, the first line dances did not originate from country and western dancing.

In summary, line dancing is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. It is characterized by leg movements completed on the spot as well as traveling steps side to side, rocking forwards and backward, and turns. Although many popular line dances are set to country music, the first line dances did not originate from country and western dancing.