- Era: 1880s into very early 1900s
The three-slide racket extends the two-bar repeat pattern of the one-slide racket previously described into a four-bar pattern which has a more galop-like feel and is somewhat easier to initiate. It is described in the major dance late-nineteenth-century dance manuals of M.B. Gilbert and Allen Dodworth and in two minor compilation manuals, one of which (Cartier's Practical Illustrated Waltz Instructor) names it "The Wave."
The instructions below are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. The dancers start in a normal late-nineteenth-century ballroom hold with joined hands angled forward at a diagonal along the line of dance. Like the one-slide racket, the three-slide racket follows a zig-zag track along the line of dance; there is no turning involved.
How to dance the three-slide racket (four bars)
1 Slide left foot diagonally forward along line of dance
& Draw right foot to left
2 Slide left foot diagonally forward along line of dance
& Draw right foot to left
3 Slide left foot diagonally forward along line of dance
4 Draw right foot to left, displacing left (into second position raised) (="cut")
& Draw left foot to right, displacing right (cut)
1 Slide right foot diagonally forward along line of dance
& Draw left foot to right
2 Slide right foot diagonally forward along line of dance
& Draw left foot to right
3 Slide right foot diagonally forward along line of dance
4 Draw left foot to right, displacing right (cut)
& Draw right foot to left, displacing left (cut)
The mnemonic is "one and two and three...cut-cut, one and two and three...cut-cut" in the rhythm quick-quick-quick-quick-slow-quick-quick (x2). Each series of slides is made at angles, first diagonally left forward then diagonally right forward, with the change of angle occurring on the pairs of cuts.
Leading the Three-Slide Racket
The similarity between the three-slide racket and the four-slide galop -- the moves are identical for the first three beats -- makes it difficult for the follower to tell which move is intended. The leader needs to carefully control the momentum so that the dancers cease to move sideways on "3" above preparatory to the cut-cut on "4&." This pause in the sideways movement distinguishes the lead from that for the four-slide galop, in which the sideways motion continues through "3&4." Compare:
Three-Slide Racket:
1&2&3 4&
sideways cuts in place, changing angle
Four-Slide Galop:
1&2&3&4 &
sideways hop, generally making a half turn
Initiating the three-slide racket from the end of a full turn of polka (two bars) or full four-slide galop sequence (four bars; see the description of the galop here) is done by the gentleman hopping lightly on the right foot on the upbeat (&) and then commence the first slide with the left foot along the line of dance. Ladies will hop and commence on the opposite feet. Alternating two full turns of polka (four bars) with four bars of three-slide racket will align better with the music than making single polka turns.
While it is possible to alternate two bars of four-slide galop with two bars of three-slide racket, doing the galop with the left foot lead followed by the racket with the right foot lead, I don't really recommend it, as doing two moves that are so similar will require such concentration and such a strong lead to handle the constantly-shifting rhythm that it will interfere with the pleasure of the dance. Merging them into a sort of mutant eight-slide galop by adding an extra close at the end of the four-slide galop instead of hopping and turning and then initiating the three-slide racket with the same leading foot is more workable, resulting in a long diagonal sequence of six slide-closes and a slide-cut-cut as follows:
2b Slide-close-slide-close-slide-close-slide-close (four-slide galop plus close of feet; no turn)
2b Slide-close-slide-close, slide-cut-cut (three-slide racket)
4b Repeat to the other diagonal
The lead on the fourth bar must be very firm, since the lady will probably be expecting an eight-slide galop rather than a racket.
As with the one-slide racket, dancers do have the option of beginning the three-slide racket after a half-turn at the end of a four-slide galop, resulting in the gentleman dancing backwards along line of dance while the lady moves forward. Having the gentleman lead while dancing backwards is even more dangerous in a crowded ballroom with the faster-moving three-slide racket than it is with the one-slide racket.
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The three-slide racket is described in the following sources:
[Cartier?], Cartier's Practical Illustrated Waltz Instructor, Ball Room Guide, and Call Book (New York, 1882)
Allen Dodworth, Dancing and its Relation to Education and Social Life (New York, 1885, reprinted 1900)
M.B. Gilbert, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890)
Edna Witherspoon, The Perfect Art of Modern Dancing (London & New York, 1894)
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