The two-step of the 1890s and early 1900s was so simple to dance, and so aggressively condemned by many dancing masters, that it's actually fairly unusual to find a good description of it in a dance manual, though minor variations and sequences of dubious originality and debatable utility abound. English dancing master Edward Scott, in How to dance and guide to the ball-room (London, c1902), provides a rare overview of the basic dance as performed in Edwardian England.
Steps and timing
Scott specifies that the music for the two-step should be in 6/8, and explains that it is "practically our old friend
the galop performed with figures, in regulated sequences, and to a
different rhythm," though Americans, he claims, apply the name two-step to "any dance founded on the chassé movement, or that in which one foot appears to be chasing the other."
The basic movement of the two-step is a simple slide-close-slide done in 6/8 time. Scott describes it in detail:
The gentleman slides his left foot forward, his weight thrown thereon, and rests for two counts. At the third count he brings his right toe lightly up to the heel of the left, and at the fourth count immediately slides his left foot again forward, stopping on it for the second three counts of the bar. For the next bar he slides his right foot forward, sustaining his balance, while the left toe is brought lightly to the right heel, and the right again slid forward to rest and carry the weight for the next half bar.
The rhythm will be somewhat as if you said “right and right, left and left, etc., the and corresponding to the quick chasing step made with the toe of the opposite foot.
Scott calls this the chassé à trois pas or simply the "chassé movement". The rhythm is typical of jig-time dances and can be charted thus:
* * * * * *
1-&-a-2-&-a 1-&-a-2-&-a
It's generally unnecessary to break down the exact timing of each step in detail; dancers with any ear for rhythm will pick it up instinctively from the accenting of the music.
1. "The simplest": hand in hand alternating with turning. Side by side, holding inside hands, four chassé movements forward followed by taking ballroom position and doing four bars of turning. Repeat indefinitely, changing every four bars.
2. "The most popular": in line alternating with turning. In ballroom position, four chassé movements with the gentleman dancing forward and the lady backward, followed by four turning. Again, repeat indefinitely. A minor variation is to overturn slightly so that the gentleman ends up backing rather than the lady.
Scott warns that during the turning
...one must guard against a natural tendency to fall into the waltz step, as this breaks the continuity of the movement and destroys the character of the dance. It is the good waltzers who are more likely to fall into this error than the bad ones, who will find the chassé comparatively easy.
Variations
1. As a "continuous chassé". Four slides in a row in the same direction (two measures, one-a-two-a-three-a-four), turning halfway on the last and continuing on the opposite foot. Scott does not specify the direction of turn (natural or reverse) or whether the dancers make full turns or reverse direction every two measures so that the gentleman (or the lady) continually crosses back and forth. Note that full turns would be basically identical (other than being in 6/8 time) to the four-slide galop of the nineteenth century. The rhythm in 6/8 time may be charted as:
* * * * * * *
1-&-a-2-&-a 1-&-a-2-&-a
Once again, this is usually followed instinctively on the part of the dancers.
2. Alternating in line with continuous chassé. Four bars of the gentleman dancing forward and the lady backward (or vice-versa), followed by four bars of continuous chassé sequences as described above.
3. With the figure of the Alsatian Polka. The Alsatian Polka is a sequence dance which moves along and against line of dance, so the entire ballroom needs to be doing the same variation in order to avoid collisions. Scott specifies doing the figures with the chassé rather than the polka step, resulting in an eight-bar sequence as follows:
(start side by side, holding inside hands, starting on outside foot: his left, her right)
1b Two-step forward along line of dance
1b Hop and point inside foot forward; hop again and tuck inside foot, point down, behind the heel of the other, turning halfway to face against line of dance and changing hands
1b Two-step forward against line of dance (starts his right foot, her left)
1b Hop and point/tuck free foot as above, turning back again to face line of dance and taking ballroom hold
4b Two natural turns of continuous chassé as described above; basically, a smooth four-slide galop sequence
In conclusion, Scott notes that
...it is quite admissible to change the forward and rotary movement at each two instead of each four bars, if the more frequent alternation is preferred. Americans sometimes dance thus, but for my own part, I think the alternation at each half cadence decidedly preferable.
While Scott would likely have been dismayed at the thought, modern dancers will probably prefer to mix-and-match the above combinations (as well as early English sequences such as Tres Chic and Tantivy) to add interest on the dance floor.
Music
Jig-time marches such as those by John Philip Sousa were popular in this era and are perfect for the two-step described by Scott. Any all-Sousa album such as Sousa's Greatest Hits
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I've been trying to figure out the basic two-step and how it corresponds to 6/8 meter for AGES, but couldn't find a simple explanation anywhere. This is very helpful!!
Posted by: Matthew Butterfield | November 03, 2022 at 05:05 PM
Happy to be of service. :)
Posted by: Susan de Guardiola | November 09, 2022 at 11:51 PM