It's been quite a while since I got back to the plain old 1910s one-step, so here's a quick and easy sequence from Albert Newman's Dances of to-day, published in Philadelphia in 1914. It's an interesting little combination of side steps and natural and reverse half-pivots that I've never seen anywhere else.
The overall pattern of the half fade-away is an eight-count sequence divided into two parts and then repeated for a total of sixteen counts (eight bars) of music.
The first part, for which the gentleman's steps are shown in the diagram below, is a simple side-close-side-close, moving the left foot along the line of dance and closing with the right foot. The two dancers are in a standard closed ballroom hold, and the lady dances the same side-close-side-close on opposite feet.
Note that this is not a galop sequence; it's in normal one-step rhythm (1-2-3-4), not the 1&2&3&4 double-time of the galop. Newman refers to this side-close as a modified grizzly bear step, the original step having been too grizzly for the very proper Mr. Newman.
The second half of the sequence, shown below, incorporates a reverse half-pivot.
The gentleman steps side left one more time, then pivots counter-clockwise on the left foot to make a half-turn during the second count, landing on the right foot on count three. The fourth count is a close of the left foot to the right foot with weight. This leaves the right foot (left for the lady) free to repeat the entire sequence "over elbows," leading on the other foot, with the half-pivot being made clockwise. For the gentleman, this means pivoting on the right foot, landing on the left foot and closing right to left, with the lady dancing on opposite feet.
The entire sequence: side-close-side-close-side-(pivot)-side-close; repeat on the other foot, continuing the same direction along line of dance.
The half fade-away is fairly leadable; two important tips are:
1. For the reverse (counter-clockwise) pivot, make sure the gentleman's initiating side step with the left foot is shorter than the lady's side step with the right foot. If the gentleman is further along the line of dance than the lady, the pivot simply won't work. But if she is ahead, it's not hard to swing around her. For the natural (clockwise) pivot on the repeat, the reverse applies: the gentleman should make sure to step a bit further along the line of dance with his right foot to be slightly ahead of the lady when starting the pivot.
2. The pivot step itself takes two beats rather than the usual one. If the gentleman rises slightly, lifting his partner a bit, that helps cue the slow pivot with the foot landing on count three rather than count two.
While Newman gives the half fade-away as relatively lengthy sequence, there's no special reason that it couldn't be shortened to just the second part:
side-(pivot)-side-close, side-(pivot)-side-close
That enhances the effect of the slow pivot "fade-aways" that are the notable element in the sequence and eliminates the potentially tedious repeated side steps. One could even directly chain the half fade-aways to create a different eight-count sequence:
side-(pivot)-side-(pivot)-side-(pivot)-side-close
This leaves the second foot free to repeat the sequence leading on the other foot. This requires very good control of the momentum of the half-pivots and may be a little too teeter-tottery for most people's tastes.
A single half fade-away pivot is also a useful way to change the leading foot, or it could be interspersed into simple walking sequences just to liven things up:
walk-walk-walk-walk-side-(pivot)-side-close; repeat
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