A variation for the one-step that is more often seen nowadays in the tango appears in period sources under a few different names: in the second edition of the compilation Dance Mad (St. Louis, 1914), it turns up as the "Castle Turn (Arabesque Turn)", while Troy and Margaret Kinney, in Social Dancing of To-day (New York, 1914) termed it the "Murray Anderson Turn". Both names were flattering references to noted dancers. The Castles, of course, were Vernon and Irene, the internationally famous dance couple. John Murray Anderson, who posed for the photos in the Kinneys' book, was a dancer and dance teacher, and eventually an impresario who started the Greenwich Village Follies, which in 1923 featured a young Martha Graham.
I don't think either Anderson or the Castles invented the move; it's stolen directly from Argentine tango. So I'll just leave it at "arabesque turn".
Genltmean [sic] crosses R. foot well across L. and transfers weight to R., C. 1. Slowly pivot on balls of both feet, at same time lady walks around partner in small circle, making a slight dip in walk. As his legs untwist, raise slowly on ball of R., L. raised out back 4 bars. -- Dance Mad
The man crosses the right foot in front of the left, and transfers his weight to it (i. e., the right foot). Simultaneously the woman, holding his hand in her hand (open position of couple), begins a walk around a circle of which the man's right foot is the centre. As his legs "unwind," he rises to the ball of the right foot, extending the left leg easily to the rear (see arabesque, chapter on ballet technique) and raising the left foot form the floor. The woman's walking movement should be smooth rather than accented. -- Social Dancing of To-day.
I think the step description is pretty self-explanatory, but the Kinneys helpfully provide a diagram:
There is no official number of counts for this step; it depends on how long the lady's steps are and how many it takes to "unwind" her partner. The one-step version of this turn is actually easier than the tango version because the speed makes it easier for the man to balance while unwinding. Note that the dancers are not traveling at all during the arabesque turn, so they should be sensitive to the amount of traffic on the dance floor and not start it in the midst of a fast-moving crowd. It's a nice move for the center of the floor.
Dance Mad gives no hint that the arabesque turn is performed in anything other than a normal ballroom hold, albeit opened up somewhat to allow for the gentleman's crossed-over right leg. The open position referred to by the Kinneys is explained as "the man and the woman side by side, facing in the same direction, joined by his hand on her waist, or by holding hands." The line "holding his hand in her hand" in the description of the move suggests that they are holding only hands, making the Kinneys' version potentially resemble the Castles' "wind-up" move in which the lady walks around the gentleman. That move does not include the crossover of the gentleman's leg, however. Holding only hands makes it more difficult to transition in and out of the arabesque turn (as well as for the gentleman to balance during it), so I would recommend sticking with something between closed (facing) position and promenade (side by side), with the hold opened up enough to accommodate the gentleman's crossed-over right leg.
The Kinneys suggest that a good following move would be the "One-Step Eight", which appears to be a version of the eight-step, which implies that the dancers exit into promenade position rather than face to face.
The extended leg at the end is not a dramatic pose, but more of a sweep out and back to prepare the left leg to swing forward for the first step out of the arabesque. The gentleman should keep some awareness of where the lead is (left or right foot on the first beat of the measure) so that he can exit with his left foot when the lady is stepping onto her right foot.
As for the style of the arabesque, the "chapter on ballet technique" referenced in the Kinney's description is not actually to be found in Social Dancing of To-day. That book is actually a reprinting of the social dance section of a different book by the Kinneys: The Dance, Its Place in Art and Life (New York, 1914) which does include a chapter on ballet technique. It's interesting to compare the illustrations (below) of the arabesque from The Dance with the photograph (which appeared in both books) of Anderson and his partner doing an arabesque in a gavotte. Anderson's technique is much more casual, with his leg bent almost ninety degrees, while his partner has a straight leg but doesn't raise it nearly as high as the ballet position, which is probably much safer on the social dance floor. I find the angle and straightness of her leg nicest for social dancing (though it is the gentleman, not the lady, who does the arabesque in this turn) but Anderson's bent leg is probably a reasonable approximation of what social dancers not trained in ballet were doing at the time.
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