Foxtrot

The Foxtrot was invented by Harry Fox in 1914.  He was a Vaudeville performer and he based his Foxtrot on the One-Step and it was originally done to Ragtime music.  By the 30’s it had evolved into a more smooth dance and was done to popular music from that time.  It’s one of the most versatile Ballroom dances because it can be danced to so many different kinds of music and because, really, there’s no limit to the variations that can be done.

Here are some basic figures for the Foxtrot.

Basic Box: Tom will face LOD.  He steps (slow) forward on his left then a small (quick) step with his right to his right and another small (quick) step to bring his left to his right.  Tom then steps (slow) back on his right foot, a small (quick) step with his left to the left and another small (quick) step to bring his right to his left.  He’s made a small box.  Alice has the same steps, the same slows and quicks, but she will begin facing RLOD and will begin with a (slow) step back on her right.  The two parts complement each other.

Traveling Box: Tom moves forward in LOD, Alice will move backwards.  The couple will do half a box as usual.  For the second half of the box, Tom will step forward (slow) on his right and Alice will step backwards (slow) on her left.  Each will quick-quick as usual.  The couple still walks s-q-q and still alternates feet in the same way, but is always moving LOD.

Quarter Turns Left: Usually done after a basic box.  Tom will step his left foot forward and out to the left and will turn his left toe to point to the wall to his left.  This is “slow.”  The “quick-quick” steps are used to align the couple so they have turned exactly 90º.  Tom then steps (slow) back and out on his right foot, so that his right heel points out – a little pigeon-toed.  Quick-quick to completely align the couple.  Repeat the above to make four quarter turns, or one complete time around.  Alice begins by stepping (slow) back and out on her right with her right heel out – pigeon toed – and will use the quick-quick to align completely.  Then she will step forward on her left (slow) and use quick-quick to align completely.  She’ll repeat these two s-q-q’s to make one complete rotation.

Quarter turns Right: Right quarter-turns begin with half a box, in order for Tom’s right foot to be ready.  Tom steps (slow) forward and diagonally right with his right foot, so that his right toe points out.  He’ll use the quick-quick to align himself to the next wall.  He’ll step slow again back and out on his left foot, so that he’s pigeon-toed, and will use quick-quick to align himself completely.  Repeat to get once around, and add an extra half a box (starting back on the right) to finish.  Alice will begin with half a box, back on her right.  Her first step in the box will be (slow) back and out on her left, so she’s pigeon-toed, and she’ll use quick-quick to align fully.  The next slow step will be forward and out on the right, toe pointing out, with quick-quick to align.  Repeat to get once around, and add an extra half a box (starting forward on the left) to end it.

Promenade: A couple may promenade for as many slows and quicks as he leads – this can even mean only slows or only quicks.  Here’s a brief explanation of how to use both.  Tom and Alice will begin in Open Position facing LOD.  They’ll walk for two slows, each on their first foot (Tom’s left, Alice’s right).  Tom will give Alice a little pressure on her back with his right hand in order to bring her into closed dance position, so that their joined hands are still pointing LOD.  Each will step quick-quick starting again on their first foot.  This repeats as many times as he feels like repeating it, in whatever combination of slows and quicks he likes.

Turn her Under: A turn may be added during a box or a promenade.  Tom should begin to lead it on the downbeat so that Alice can begin the turn on her first foot.  Alice may do whatever footwork necessary to stay on the beat and have the correct foot free at the end; Tom must keep up the same footwork he was doing before.

Grapevine: While quick-quick-ing, Tom will begin a grapevine by crossing his right over his left.  Alice will follow his lead (his feet, and he’ll give pressure with his right hand) and begin by crossing her left over her right.  Each will alternate crossing in front, crossing behind, to make a grapevine.  Either may cross in front twice at any time to change the look of the grapevine.

Pivots: Pivots can be used almost any time.  Here’s an easy way to get into them.  While promenading slow-slow-quick-quick in open then closed, Tom can trade four pivots for two quicks.  He’ll promenande in open with left (slow), right (slow), and then will take a big left step all the way around Alice to cut her off and begin pivots.  He’ll pivot left-right-left-right all in quicks.  Alice will notice being cut off by Tom – her right step will have naturally gone between his feet because of his very big left-foot step, and she’ll pivot right-left-right-left.  Both will return to slow-slow-quick-quick (or whatever else he leads) afterwards.