Foxtrot is a dance with an interesting history and no less interesting technique of performance

Foxtrot is a pair dance, which is part of the classical ballroom. It is considered young, since it appeared only in the first half of the 20th century. Characterized by the smoothness of movements, grace and playfulness, and most importantly - soft "fox" steps. Also note that the foxtrot is a dance that has been developed in two directions, among which fast-paced performance and slow. Because now we will consider the history of this dance, its features and varieties in detail.

How did Fox's trot appear?

Traditionally, the name of this dance is associated with Harry Fox, a famous participant in various contests and vaudevilles of the early 20th century. Then in New York, he performed at one of the dance floors with his troupe, and they performed ragtime. Judges and spectators paid attention to the extraordinarily soft steps of the dancers, which were comparable with trot movements. So they attributed this new movement the name of the main choreographer, which soon grew into the name of a separate dance. It should be emphasized that in the view of people of those years the foxtrot is an energetic, bright and impressive spectacle. He consisted not only of trot steps, but also of jumps, swings with legs, sharp jumps and shifts of poses. After the First World War, his choreography was significantly transformed. The steps became sliding, the movements more smooth, like the transitions, and the pace slowed.

What is the foxtrot today?

If we draw an analogy with the rest, so to speak, "orthodox" ballroom dances, then the foxtrot is something free, devoid of certain rules and accuracy of action. First, in this dance for the first time began to use the direct position of the feet, instead of the reversal, which greatly simplified the work of the performers. Secondly, slow steps here alternate with fast ones, which makes its rhythm unique and unique. Against the backdrop of such a variety of small mistakes and errors of dancers remain invisible. Foxtrot is a dance that is performed in a rhythm of 4/4, and its pace depends on the type (see below). The sequence of steps is as follows: slowly, slowly, quickly, quickly, slowly.

Types of foxtrot

As we have already said, this dance in the classical version is divided into two types - slow and fast. In the people there is also a third type - "soshial". He is deprived of any choreographic wisdom and is based only on the rhythm, steps and improvisation of performers. In all cases, the dance is accompanied by the following techniques:

• 1st connection. Step-feather, then left turn, triple step, then follow the right turn, again pitch-pen and after 1-4 left-wave weaving.
• 2nd connection. Turn along the side of the hall (impetus), after the feather finish, finished DC, then the telemark open with feather-ending, 1-6 left waves, again impetus and feather finish.

A slow dance

The king and one of the main "pillars" of the classical program is the slow foxtrot. Ballroom dances had earlier had a lot of differences with this new trend, because it was slightly modified, which allowed to include the new "Sloufoks" in the classical program. The main characteristics - grace, lightness, smoothness, plasticity and grace. When the dancers perform sloufoks, a feeling is created that they float above the parquet floor. It is important at the same time to make the slopes of the body, in particular to the sides, and to maintain the balance. It is believed that it is the slowest foxtrot that is most difficult to learn how to dance , since all errors are more evident when the tempo is more smooth, and it is more difficult to keep the balance. The size is 4/4, the tempo is from 28 to 30 cycles per minute.

Quick foxtrot

This variety of dance has been known by everyone as a quickstep. Its development was strongly influenced by the rhythms of jazz, as well as the world famous Charleston dance. For the quickstep performance, excellent technique and 100% balance is required. Here, those same "fox" steps were preserved, as in the original version of the dance, which alternate with jumps and swinging feet. Auxiliary movements - turns and progressive steps, chasse, turns and so on. Quickstep is executed in the same size - 4/4, but for one minute there are 50-52 measures. Thus, the number of beats in the same minute is 200.

The Folk Foxtrot

It's worth saying that this version of dance is suitable for people who just love to relax and at the same time touch a little, but do not go deeper. In the variant "soshial" the rhythm and size, sequence of steps, transitions and chassis were preserved. However, this type of choreography has lost its identity, since it does not trace progress. The fact is that the foxtrot is a dance that requires a lot of space to disperse the performers. Since the social option is performed in clubs, restaurants and other establishments not designed for ballroom dances, there is no place there. Because people just left the basic elements of the style, and everything else is already improvisation and a retreat from the classics in order to make the dance easier and more accessible for all comers.