dancing, anywhere other than in your own livingroom at 2am with an empty bottle of peach schnapps, can be a difficult proposition for people. for some folks (mainly folks with one of those pesky y chromosomes) the very thought of dancing can induce sweating, excuseus lameus, and ulcers. there are occasions, however, when a bit of rug cutting is all but mandatory- say you’re on a hot date with ginger rogers, at your own wedding, or out at night in europe! what do you do then? fear not left footed clods and stone faced stoics! we care about you here at the nonist and as such we now offer you tutelage in that hippest most cutting edge of all modern dances, the foxtrot.
first the tiniest bit of history:
The origin of the Foxtrot dates back to 1913 when the popular music of the time was ragtime, a fast, bouncy straightforward predecessor to jazz. The name `foxtrot’ is said to come from Harry Fox, a vaudevillian actor and dancer. The prevailing social dances at the time were the wild animal dances that were being tamed by Irene and Vernon Castle’s new Castlewalk, derived from the two-step. Harry Fox’s `trot’ or the foxtrot, combined one-steps (quicks) with two-steps (slows, or walks) plus some hops and turns. In its original incarnation, it was actually fairly complicated. However, the concept of combining quick and slow steps paved the way for the Foxtrot to become the foundation of many partner dances. As popular music changed in the following years, so did the dance. By the mid-30s the Foxtrot evolved into the smooth and fluid dance seen on dance floors today. -by iska ziver.
now some very simple instructions from the book how to dance, by robert e. parson. originally published in 1947:
the foxtrot
once the dancer is able to define with precise movement the difference between progressive and sideward-close, the arrangement of varied combinations suitable for the foxtrot becomes a matter of fixing in one’s mind a pattern consisting of a predetermined number of progressive steps to be followed with a sideward-close. such arrangements may contain dips, pivots, left and right turns, cross steps, etc. these are all derivations of the basic progressive and sideward-close movements.
the combinations described (in the diagrams below) are but a few of the many that are applicable to music played in 4/4 time. once the knack of applying the basic principles outlined in the foregoing has been achieved, other combinations will suggest themselves.
ok, got it so far? “sure, piece of cake!” good, here are the diagrams (click all for full size version)
there! easy as that. a blind two-toed sloth with glittery bits of goldshlagger in his teeth could do it. now fire up some of these fine popular songs…
fire! (an “alarming” novelty) fox trot
and get to it!
hey, no need to thank us.