F. Leslie Clendenen's 1914 compilation, Dance Mad, is full of sequences of varying levels of difficulty for many of the popular dances of the 1910s. This one caught my eye as being a short (sixteen beats) and simple introductory one-step suitable for getting beginners dancing quickly and for teaching the lead for rhythm changes between one-step and two-step. Clendenen gives it no special name or attribution, just "One Step."
Directions are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. Starting foot is left for the gentleman and right for the lady. Begin in normal ballroom position, with the gentleman facing along the line of dance.
Counts Steps
1-2-3-4 Back the lady four steps
1&2 Two-step (step-close-step), angling diagonally forward to the left
3&4 Two-step (step-close-step), angling diagonally forward to the right
1-2-3-4 Back the lady four steps
(Turn a quarter clockwise)
1-2-3-4 Slide left foot along line of dance (1) close right to it with weight (2); repeat
(Turn a quarter counter-clockwise so gentleman faces line of dance, ready to repeat)
The angling to the left and right on the two-steps rather than moving straight forward along the line of dance cues the lady to perform a two-step rather than simply walking. Clendenen describes this as "throwing [the] body slightly to [the] side on the 2 step" and moving "quite freely at left and right of partner."
An interesting variation, not given in the source but compatible with period practice, would be to turn clockwise rather than counter-clockwise at the end so that the sequence is then repeated with the gentleman backing up. The mid-sequence turn will then be counter-clockwise. This will not result in full turns, but the dancers could alternate backing the lady and backing the gentleman.
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