Earlier this year I talked about nine different variations from the handy little booklet Edna Stuart Lee's Thirty Fox Trot Steps (New York, 1916) in two mini-series, starting here (three posts) and here (two posts). My choice of sequences may have given the impression that Lee's collection was mostly odd little variations with (often) even odder names (Chaplin Trot, anyone?) That's because I was skipping over the simplest sequences given by Lee, since I have encountered them elsewhere and written about them, or similar sequences, in earlier posts.
Here, I'm going to give a quick rundown of eight very basic sequences that Lee included among her more unusual and/or unique ones so that it is clear that there was a certain basic repertoire overlapping what is found in many other sources.
1. The Straight Walk. The very first sequence in the book. It is simply walking for four steps, the gentleman starting forward on the left foot and the lady backward on the right. All steps are slow (S). Lee noted that
Four such steps are usually taken as a prelude to many of the steps to be described in the pages that follow, but, in a crowd or while thinking about what to do next, the straight walk may be continued for several counts.
I am amused that Lee was so straightforward about "thinking about what to do next".
She also offered some style advice:
...you swing into the stride, but with a freedom and grace quite different from the rigid, mechanical steps of the soldiers...It is the difference between the action of a blooded racer and that of a draught horse.
By all means, avoid walking like a draught horse while dancing!
2. The Plain Turn. Also number two in the text. This one is actually a bit of a puzzle; Lee called it "similar to the ordinary turn in the one step", but it is not either the spin turn or the traveling turn (pivots). I think it is best interpreted as the first half of a Pomander Walk, with the step out to Yale position implied:
...stop and turn completely around to the right in one spot, taking four steps for the turn and walking off again in the same direction as before. You will find it necessary to get around in three steps, then shift the weight to the right foot to complete the count and be ready to start off with the left foot again.
My interpretation of these instructions follows. The gentleman's steps are given; the lady starts on her right foot and dances backward for the first four steps. On the second four steps, she will be moving forward as they walk around each other, roughly right hip to right hip. All the steps are slow (S) again, rather than quick (Q); this is essentially one-step.
1234 Walk four steps forward as above, LRLR
(on the last step, the gentleman should step out diagonally to the left to Yale position)
1 Turn to the R, cross L foot over R stepping about 1/3 the distance around
2 Step forward R another 1/3 of the distance, continuing to turn
3 Step forward L, completing the turn
4 Short step forward R or simply shift weight to it
(end facing partner, ready to do the straight walk again)
I would suggest reading my previous post about the Pomander Walk for more detail and a diagram. Lee's turn is only the first half, without the about-face and second part.
Along with considering thinking time, Lee also kept the flow of traffic on the dance floor in mind:
In a very crowded room, this step may be reserved for the corners.
(Edited 7/3/24 to add: a similar sequence, in SSQQQQ rhythm, was described by the Castles in the pages of The Ladies' Home Journal in 1914; perhaps Lee copied it from them?)
3. Walk/galop variations. There are two of these: Lee's #4, The Meditation Glide, and #12, The Zigzag Glide. They are basically identical.
The Meditation Glide is simply four walking steps followed by a four-slide galop leading on the first foot (gentleman's left/lady's right) and a four-slide galop leading on the second foot. The galops do not turn. Lee implied that they actually went sideways (perpendicular to line of dance), but she also said:
The glides need not be exactly to the left or right, but may be in a diagonal direction if so desired.
I would definitely so desire; taking them diagonally allows the dancers to keep moving along line of dance rather than creating a terrible traffic problem.
The timing of this sequence would be SS SS QQQQ QQS QQQQ QQS. I don't love six-bar sequences, but one can always walk out of it with another four straight walking steps. The four-slide galops are just like those performed by Clay Bassett and Catherine Elliott in the short silent film "The Much Talked About 'Fox Trot" (1916), as I described here.
Lee offered a further style tip:
In order to get the dreamy, meditative effect of this step, it must be executed very smoothly and the sliding steps be made very short.
The Zigzag Glide is indistinguishable from The Meditation Glide except that the diagonal is specifically called for. The galop sequences are described as two sliding steps (slide-close) followed by a two-step, which is exactly the same in effect as a four-slide galop:
slide-close slide-close slide-close-slide
The Meditation Glide was described as four sliding steps each way, which in practice means the final close of foot must be omitted (to enable changing directions). That would be written out as:
slide-close slide-close slide-close-slide
I can't imagine why Lee would distinguish the steps except for The Meditation Glide possibly being danced directly sideways rather than on a diagonal. Since I would not do that anyway unless the dance floor were empty, I see no meaningful distinction here.
4. Walk/two-step variations. In Lee's booklet, these are #7 (The Barcarolle), #9 (The Viola Dana), #13 (The Reverse), and #14 (The Double Reverse Turn). These are similar to sequences given by Coll (1919), which I discussed previously here. The specific breakdowns follow. In all cases, the gentleman starts forward on the left foot and the lady backward on the right, feet alternating normally after that.
The Barcarolle: four walking steps and four two-steps, without turning. The rhythm pattern would be SS SS QQS QQS QQS QQS. This is not the most musically convenient sequence, since it occupied six bars of 2/4 music. I would prefer just two two-steps for a four-bar sequence. But the main takeaway is walking followed by non-turning two-steps.
The Viola Dana: two walking steps, one two-step, two walking steps, one two-step, again without turning. The rhythm pattern is SS QQS SS QQS. The second half will start off with the gentleman's right foot and the lady's left, though they are still moving in the same direction along line of dance. This is a nice, square, four-bar sequence. Lee suggested dancing it "as though tripping along a pleasant path on a bright June day."
The Reverse: two walking steps, one two-step half-turn, two walking steps, one two-step half-turn. The pattern is once again SS QQS SS QQS. During the second half of the sequence, the gentleman is moving backward starting on his right foot and the lady forward on her left.
The Double Reverse Turn: four walking steps and a full turn with two-steps. SS SS QQS QQS.
As is typical with Lee, the names of these steps are something of a mystery to me. A quick search tells me that a Barcarolle is a folk song of Venetian gondoliers; perhaps the two-steps were thought to resemble the rocking of a gondola? Lee claimed that
If danced with grace and feeling, it suggests Offenbach's beautiful passage in the Tales of Hoffman, although the time is somewhat different.
Not being an opera buff, I will have to take Lee's word for it. I note that as far as I can tell, there are no gondolas in The Tales of Hoffman.
Viola Dana was a silent film actress. I don't know whether she danced in any of her films or if the name was simply an homage.
The Reverse sort of makes sense as a step name, since the dancers are in reversed positions for the second half. The Double Reverse Turn makes no sense to me; that is not at all how I think of turning dances.
Personally, I don't think of these sequences by colorful names or teach them that way. They are just the four obvious combinations of walking and two-step.
A few last words
It's notable to me that the trotting part of the foxtrot is nowhere to be found in these sequences, which are only from 1916, just two years into the foxtrot's period of popularity. Learning all these sequences would give one a good basic foxtrot repertoire - easy to learn, but with a satisfying amount of variety.
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