I have done foxtrot and i have "trotted the fox". Foxtrot can be boring - somehow i have never heard the same thing said of any other dance - but the secret is to dance with a male or female that LIKES (at least not hates) foxtrot or you like to dance to a specific foxtrot song.

Sorry Don. The principle of using a second word to count the second beat of a slow is fine but the word AND is already defined as meaning half a beat stolen from the previous step, as KC mentioned, and this applies to standard as well as latin.

Phil; the idea of using two syllables when counting Slow is useful because it generally takes no longer to say Slow than it does to say Quick, so it is very easy fro the difference to disappear.

Our preferred alternative is to count slow-ly, quick, quick, or when exasperated by dancers rushing the steps, Slow-er, quick, quick.

Note, I'm sticking with the standard 2,1,1 timing here. Anything else can come in private lessons for advanced dancers.

remind me never to waste one on you

Foxtrot has many different rhythms. In fact most all dances have different rhythms. It is just that there is usually a rhythm taught to beginners that often becomes a standard for them. The rhythm usually taught to beginners is:

slow, slow quick quick (6 beats of music)

Keep in mind that patterns in dance don't necessarily match measures in music. So even though this rhythmic pattern has 6 beats, it still works with music in 4/4.

Another rhythm often used in Foxtrot is:

Slow quick quick

This rhythm is useful when you want to take a waltz pattern and use it in Foxtrot.

Another rhythmic pattern I like is:

quick quick quick quick quick quick slow

The quick steps are all down with side-together steps. (for the leader, this would be to the left) On the slow you step around your partner.

Then you repeat the pattern

quick quick quick quick quick quick slow

-- but this time stepping to the right

Nightclub Two step (NC2S) is another dance that has different rhytmic patterns, although I seldom see anyone doing anything but quick quick slow with Nightclub Two step. One of my favorite NC2S patterns is a leader's walk around with all slow step steps...or a double slow step (step and hold for two beats) to the left followed by a double slow step to the right (with a lot of swaying action).

A lot of this notion of rhytmic variation I owe to Gene Russo who used to teach at the Elegance Ballroom in San Francisco.

hello, i was assigned by my school teacher to learn the foxtrot and said it can learned over the net.. can anyone please answer some questions i have?

-may i know what "CBMP" might mean?
-from the name -foxtrot- it sounds like an upbeat dance. is it?
-related to the second question, what kind of songs might it be ompatible with?

i hope someone will answer.. i have little time left.

thanks in advance!

The word "a" sometimes refers to a time value of a quarter-beat (as in "1-e-&-a..." etc). But it can also refer to a time value of one third of a beat (as in "1-&-a..." etc). This is true of music which is "swung" -- most notably Foxtrot and Swing.

Either way, the "a" count is much closer to the following beat than it is to the previous beat. Mathematically speaking, as "beginner" points out, it is a part of the previous beat. But human beings will tend to percieve it musically as being connected to the following beat.

Regards,
Jonathan

To Phil Samways. If you go to the technic book, International Style, things can get very complicated, that is hard at first to understand. The Feather Step in the Foxtrot, starting on the mans right has four steps. The last step if followed by a Reverse Turn becomes the first of the Reverse. The Reverse starting on the mans left foot has seven steps finishing with a Slow on the left foot. This is usually followed be a three step which starts on the mans right foot and finishes, Yes you've guessed it on the right foot which can also be the first of the Natural Turn.Actually to dance a good foxtrot one does not need to know most of the above. To get to the main issue I think I should explain again. I find it much easier to count a Slow that is two beats. as Slow And. The Slow being one beat, the And being also one beat.But as Shakespeare said. "A Rose by any other name is still a Rose". Call it whatever you like to call it, just make sure a Slow has two beats.I still take my hat off to the writter of the technic book. Hats off to Alex Moore who put it all together in 1936. Some things have altered but the foot work has not. It is still the same today as it was then..

The Foxtrot basic takes 6 beats of music. The slow is 1,2 the second slow is 3,4 and the quick,quick is 5,6

I have to agree with KC and disagree with Don on this one.
You can't count a foxtrot reverse turn Slow - And- Quick-Quick as this is 4 steps and the reverse turn only has three.
I think we're talking about the same thing but in different ways.
The slow can be 1- and -a -half beats, and the following quick another 1 - and -a -half. This is a matter of an individual dancer's interpretation (that's how i dance it in fact, but there are other interpretations). This is one of the factors which make the foxtrot such an enjoyable and satisfying dance (when danced well, of course!)
I'm VERY uncomfortable with the idea of a slow being called slow-and. Why is there a problem taking 2 beats (or 11/2) on a slow, and still calling it a slow?

Is it worth pointing out that Ballroom Dancing in all its forms is an Art and not a Science. If you talk about spilt beat values how would one explain a Volta which is 3/4 1/4 . Or a Botofogo which is 3/4. 1/4. 1.I have two tapes on the Modern Waltz where in both tapes they split 3 beats in the first three of a natural and any other part of that dancee into 6 half beats. Both count out loud, 1 and 2 and 3 and.( lowering on the last and). If your wondering on what beat the feet close , it's on an and. Both of these gentlmen are top coaches in the UK, it would be hard to contradict either.