This hesitation waltz sequence by Seattle dance teacher George G. Faurot (c1879-1954) was published in both editions of F. Leslie Clendenen's compilation Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914). Faurot himself was a native of Lima, Ohio, where his uncle Ben discovered oil and his brother Lee eventually became mayor. Faurot Park in Lima was donated by Ben and is named for him.
According to George's obituary, he fought in the Spanish-American War and then had a career in the oil industry before moving to Seattle, where he ran the Faurot Studio of Dancing with his wife, Nellie, for thirty years. The Faurots' residence in the late 1930s is now a historical site in Seattle. The building that housed their dance studio, the Oddfellows Building, still stands and is still home to a dance studio, Century Ballroom, though the Faurot Ballroom itself seems to have been in the first-floor space which is now the Oddfellows Cafe.
Interestingly, Lee, before becoming mayor, also seems to have dabbled in dance teaching before ending up in the insurance business and politics. A family passion?
Faurot's hesitation waltz consists of two sixteen-bar sections which Faurot noted can be used individually or combined into a single thirty-two-bar sequence. The first section moves against the line of dance at one point, so it's not a good sequence to do in a crowded ballroom unless the whole room is dancing in unison. The second section travels only intermittently, with two two-bar sets of in-place hesitations, but is more practical for general use.
The steps given below are for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite.
Part One (sixteen bars)
Closed ballroom hold, gentleman's back to line of dance.
1b Run backward three steps (left-right-left)
1b Rise on left foot, pointing right toe back, and hold
1b Run forward three steps against line of dance (right-left-right)
1b Rise on right foot, pointing left toe forward, and hold
1b Waltz half-turn (back left, side right, close left)
1b Step forward on the right foot (1) and pivot half-turn, keeping weight on right (23)
1b Step back left (1) and point right to 2nd (23)
1b Step back right (1) and point left to 2nd (23)
4b Repeat waltz, pivot, and step-and-points
4b Waltz four measures
Part Two (sixteen bars)
Closed hold, but both open up slightly side by side to face line of dance.
1b Balance forward left
1b Balance back right
1b Leap forward left (1), bring right foot forward with a slight tap or brush (2), hop on left, extending right forward to raised 4th position (3)
1b Leap forward right (1), bring left foot forward with a slight tap or brush (2), hop on right, extending left forward to raised 4th position (3)
1b Balance forward left with a slight bend of the knee
1b Balance back right, raising left foot slightly from the floor
1b Step back left (1) and point right to side (23)
1b Step back right (1) and point left to side (23)
2b Waltz complete turn (back left, side right, close left; forward right, side left, close right)
1b Step back left (1) and point right to side (23)
1b Step back right (1) and point left to side (23)
4b Repeat waltz turn and step-and-points
Performance Notes
(1) The waltz for this sequence would be the box-shaped "step-side-close" new waltz of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century rather than the older style.
(2) In Part One, for the pivot step, the lady steps across the line of dance with her left foot while the gentleman steps with his right foot between her feet. The free foot is carried around without weight.
(3) In Part Two, the second balance sequence is a slightly exaggerated version of the first one. Turning very slightly clockwise as the dancers come up on the balance back will help set up the next move, when the gentleman must step directly in front of the lady, back to line of dance.
(4) To combine the two sequences, simply underturn slightly on the last waltz turn in Part One to end side by side facing line of dance.
Reconstruction Notes
Part One is quite straightforward, but Part Two is a bit of a mess. I suspect a combination of typos and printing errors. Here's the original language from the seventh bar of Part Two onward:
Gentleman step across in front of lady on L. C. 1. and point R. to 2nd pos. C. 2, 3.
(Waltz 2 B. of music, making a complete R. turn. 8 B.)
(Step back on L. 1 point R. to 2 pos. C. 2, 3. 2 B.)
Step back on R. to 4th rear C. 1. and point L. to 2 pos. C. 2, 3. 4 B
Repeat the two figures in parenthesis. 2 B.
That simply doesn't work. The dancers are on the wrong foot for the waltz. Waltzing for two bars does not bring the sequence to eight bars; it brings it to nine. Stepping back left does not in any way add up to two bars, nor stepping right to four. And repeating only the figures in parentheses, which are three bars, not two, would make it a fourteen-bar sequence when Faurot specifically notes that it is sixteen.
I think that the repeat of the step-and-point was left out and that the parentheses should also enclose the "Step back on R" line. The cumulative bar counts are misplaced; "8 B." should appear at the end of the first line, the "2 B." on the "Step back" line should be deleted, and the final "2 B." converted to "4 B."
Here's how I believe it was meant to be written, with my additions in bold and deletions crossed out:
Gentleman step across in front of lady on L. C. 1. and point R. to 2nd pos. C. 2, 3.
Step back on R. to 4th rear C. 1. and point L. to 2 pos. C. 2, 3. 8 B.
(Waltz 2 B. of music, making a complete R. turn. 8 B.)
(Step back on L. 1 point R. to 2 pos. C. 2, 3. 2 B.)
(Step back on R. to 4th rear C. 1. and point L. to 2 pos. C. 2, 3. 4 B.)
Repeat the two figures in parenthesis. 2 B. 4 B.
My reconstruction above reflects this interpretation.
Music
There is no specific music for this hesitation waltz; Faurot simply recommends "any good lively waltz". Because these sequences have a liberal sprinkling of full-speed waltz moves mixed into the hesitations, I find it most comfortable at about 160-170 beats per minute. The Spare Parts recording of "Tobasco Ragtime Waltz" (1909) off the album Now Tango! works very nicely.
Special thanks to Nora for helping me test Faurot's hesitation waltz!
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