The generically named One Step Hesitation is a short hesitation waltz sequence that appeared in the second edition of the collection Dance Mad, or the dances of the day, compiled by F. Leslie Clendenen and published in St. Louis in late 1914. It is subtitled "As Recommended by St. Louis Association Dancing Masters", and with no author listed, may have come from the hand of Clendenen himself.
Since the One Step Hesitation is almost entirely in the slowest possible type of hesitation (one step per bar of music), it calls for very fast waltz music or it will drag badly. I prefer 180 beats per minute and up for this type of hesitation waltz.
The starting position is a normal ballroom hold with both dancers facing the line of dance. The steps below are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. In general, forward steps are performed with a slight bounce to them: step (1), rise (2), fall (3).
The full sixteen-bar sequence:
3b Forward left, right, left; one step per bar
1b Hop on left and swing right foot forward (1), step forward on right into a dip (2, 3)
4b Face partner and step left sideways along line of dance, close the trailing foot; repeat step and close
(shift position slightly to the left so steps are entirely outside partner's feet)
3b Three steps left, right, left around each other, clockwise, right hip to right hip, like a pomander walk
1b Step strongly back on right foot into a dip (lady steps forward on left)
(shift position to the right)
3b Three steps left, right, left around each other counter-clockwise, left hip to left hip
(end with the gentleman facing line of dance)
1b Step strongly back on right foot into a dip (lady steps forward on left)
Repeat from the beginning
The last two dips are called "drop-dips" by Clendenen and are described fully under a different dance, the Dream Waltz, where each dip is referred to as "in reality a profound courtesy" by the gentleman, while the lady makes a "shallow dip" with the toes of her right (trailing) foot touching the floor.
For all three dips, the dancers need to rise again on the last beat of the measure in preparation for the next step. These are not "hold that pose" moments, but brisk lunges
The sequence is utterly straightforward to dance; the only real watch point other than coming out of the dips on time is the hop in the fourth measure. The dancers need to avoid the common pattern of step (1), hop (2), swing foot (3). In this dance, the hop is on the first beat of the next measure, so the dancers must step-rise-fall and then hop. The dancers will notice a perceptible pause, but if the music is suitably fast, it won't feel awkward.
As a reconstruction, it is also fairly straightforward. The only ambiguity is in the second half of the dance, when the dancers walk around each other for three measures. In Dance Mad, the One Step Hesitation immediately follows the Rye Hesitation, which includes the same move with the dancers walking around each other for three measures then dropping into the dip/courtesy on the fourth, though in the Rye Hesitation, the walk-around does not reverse. But the Dream Waltz, which follows after the One Step Hesitation, gives a slightly different turn called a "walking turn" in which the dancers shift their weight back and forth, more like a spin turn.
Since the language in the One Step Hesitation is most like that of the Rye Hesitation (both use the phrases "walk three steps" and "moving around partners"), I've chosen to adopt the same movements for the walk-around part of this sequence.
The One Step Hesitation can hardly be called a brilliant piece of choreography, but it is good for beginners because it incorporates common elements like the dips and walk-around. It's not recommended for the social ballroom dancing, given the long stretches where there is no forward motion, unless all the dancers are doing it at the same time.
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