"The Dance" is a song written by Tony Arata and recorded by American country music singer Garth Brooks as the tenth and final track from his self-titled debut album, from which it was also released as the album's fourth and final single in April 1990.

[2] Country music singer Martina McBride covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.

On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, The Dance reached number one and remained there for three consecutive weeks until it was knocked off by "Good Times" by Dan Seals Released near the beginning of his career, "The Dance" was a hit single around the world, including the United States, Europe, and Ireland, charting inside the British pop top 40.

[5] In a 1994 Playboy interview, Brooks said, "unless I am totally surprised, The Dance will be the greatest success as a song we will ever do.

On February 6, 2014, "The Dance" was performed by Brooks on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC.