Stop dancing like that. it looks like you're just being sloppy and lazy. What are you dancing? What are you doing? I'm playing. (laughter) But you're not doing it properly. You can't do it like that, because when you turn back around you're not going to know where to go. (laughter) See the way you're doing it? Just do it proper, OK? A: The proper method for this dance is to do the first (slow, sloppy) part of the dance all the way through without turning around. When you turn around, you should be in front of her and in a position to do a series of steps back toward her to complete the dance. It's difficult to describe the steps and the specific details of this dance (how you're facing, etc), so I've linked you a video that teaches the steps with proper technique. However, most people don't even know to take the steps in this order - they will usually perform the move starting with the walk, and turning around halfway through and completing the rest of the dance while starting the dance with this dance step. A: There are many techniques for this dance, but this is the way I always saw it (no references or citations) and it really seems to me like they're doing it this way, so they must have studied it. (I didn't see how they end though, so it might be different) Start the dance facing her. If you're right-handed, throw the hand out front (with a flourish) to the side. (with the left hand, I think) (This is with a handshake but with the hand over the shoulder, so the right hand is out. Then the left arm is over the head, so you have to put the left hand down.) I don't see any other way you can come in this dance. I've seen many people trying to skip the right arm move and just jump in... if that is the case, I would say that they're doing it incorrectly (that's the right name for it...) The first "dance step" is moving the right arm (with a wave, rather than a flourish), and for the last step it turns around. I suppose that in some other dance the hand is in, but not when it's a two-handhandshake. If there is an "in" variation, I would have thought it would be mentioned, but I'm not aware of one. The instructions I read mention "throw out your hand and turn back", and the movement of the left hand doesn't seem to have any special purpose. Of course, the more advanced form might include a different way to come in. Edit: The way to turn around might not be the same as the "dancing" way. If it's a handshake, the right hand (if you're right handed) is on her right shoulder (for her to shake your right hand), and the left hand is straight out, in front. If you're left handed you're a bit more complicated, because (IIRC) you'd see the hand in back, between her and the wall. That's the way I see it when I'm playing. On the other hand, in the book "The Art of Japanese Dance" (I think I got the right one) it shows both left and right handed with the same motions in step 3 (dancing the dance): the right hand is in the air, then it comes down, then it comes back up (left hand), then the left hand, then down, and then the right hand comes back up, then the left hand goes down and right hand is out. No mention of a handshake there, but I suppose that if you had to do one, it would be pretty similar. You can read about the dance steps on the page you linked in the comments, and see the dance steps on the book cover (which I will post at the end, because of size restrictions.) A: Your understanding of the dance seems correct. As you continue to dance with your arm over your head, you swing the left hand in front and continue to wave the right hand out and towards her. At this point, she is expected to be looking at your left hand to indicate readiness for the handshake. At the beginning of the handshake, you turn sideways, using the handshake to complete your side turn and still facing her as you move to complete your handshake. A: I've seen many variations of the dance you linked. One was where the woman grabs the man's left hand, looks into the man's eyes, and then bows. It was then the man's turn to bow. They do it once. Then, with the woman facing her back and him facing his front, the woman is the one who shakes the man's hand. The next round they do it the other way, but then repeat. I've never seen it taught the way you've described, with one arm swinging with the handshake and another moving around and being a "wall" with a wave, so I wonder whether the dance is supposed to be performed with the hands held in different positions (handshake + arm over head) or whether one man wants to see both his hands while the other just wants to see the one waving. I found this picture that seems to agree with your description. The man's right hand appears to wave, and the woman's left hand appears to be behind her head, but it's hard to tell with the angle of the picture. This might be what they're doing. This is an even more old school dance, where the man gives a single clap to the woman, she goes to him and they start. The guy's hand seems to wave, the woman's hand is beside her face. But again, the hand waving the hand is obscured.