The most popular “animal dances” of the early 1900s appear to have been the Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear.  But the F. Leslie Clendenen’s compilation manual Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914) offers a pair of one-step variations attributed to London dance teacher Walter Humphrey, who apparently found inspiration in the hopping of Australian marsupials.  I’ve never found these variations in any other source, so it’s not clear to me how widespread they ever were.  I would also have placed them a bit earlier, maybe 1908-1910, as by 1914 the animal dance fad was already well past and the smoother, more elegant style of Vernon and Irene Castle was making the one-step acceptable in respectable ballrooms.  It’s possible that Mr. Humphrey and/or English dancers in general had not quite caught up with the latest American dance fads, or that Clendenen was not as fussy in compiling his book as its subtitle, “The Dances of the Day,” suggests.

For both variations, the dancers both face line of dance.  It’s not clear whether they should retain joined hands in front or open up fully.  I find the latter more graceful, but how much of a priority grace should be while hopping around a ballroom imitating a marsupial is debatable.  Those wishing to study wallaby technique in detail may consult this National Geographic video this video of a wallaby hopping across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  (Edited 11/19/2025 to replace vanished video with a new one.)

Steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.

Kangaroo Hop
1    Short step forward left
2    Long hop forward on left foot
3    Short step forward right
4    Long hop forward on right foot

Wallaby Jump
1    Step forward left
2    Hop forward on left foot
3    Hop forward on left foot
4    Hop forward on left foot
5-8: repeat step and three hops on right foot

In both variations, the dancers need to actually travel forward on the hops rather than just bouncing in place.

As William Hamrick noted drily in The Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Handbook, wallabies have a different understanding of rhythm than kangaroos.