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Find Out About the Foxtrot, A Popular and Useful Ballroom Dance!

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country dancing in Mesa AZWelcome to a week of everything you want to know about popular social ballroom dances! From the elegant Foxtrot to the playful Bachata, we’re going to explore the rich history of several dances that we teach here at Dance FX Studios in Mesa, Arizona. Are you excited? Me too! Today, let’s take a look into a timeless and gorgeous ballroom dance also known as the Foxtrot.

First, let me start by painting a picture of what the Foxtrot looks like. Foxtrot has a smooth, “stroll in the park” type feel, similar to the waltz, but without the dramatic rise and fall. It is also in 4/4 time, instead of ¾. One unique factor about the foxtrot is that it introduced the idea of using both quick and slow steps in the same dance. This incredibly fun and beautiful ballroom dance is useful to know for weddings, jazz or big band concerts and songs that correlate to Swing dancing.

Did you know that the Foxtrot was invented just after the turn of the century, when ragtime music was gaining popularity? Now, there is some dispute as to who the inventor of this dance truly is, so I will present several different angles.

Depending on who you ask, some people might tell you that Arthur Carringford is the mastermind behind the foxtrot. Arthur was ‘the black sheep’ of his family and he found himself living on his own around age 15. To support himself, he performed an array of random jobs, including a circus performer and a baseball player. Eventually, work led Carringford to San Francisco, where he was hired by a music publisher to sing in the vaudeville theatres. It was there that he took on the stage name “Harry Fox”, after his grandfather. After the earthquake in San Francisco and the fire of 1906, he decided to head east to New York. There he met Yansci Dolly of the Dolly Sisters, who he later married. It was shortly after their wedding that they were seen dancing this new style, which happened to put everyone in a good mood. People started referring to the dance as “Fox’s Trot” and then eventually, just foxtrot. Interesting stuff!

The next creation story begins with Vernon and Irene Castle, who saw their claim to fame in New York and Paris. The Castles were not just ballroom dancing superstars, but entrepreneurs as well. 1914 was an especially busy year for them. They opened up the restaurant “Sans Souci”, a dancing school named “Castle House”, as well as a dance club called “Castles by the Sea”. During that same year, they starred in the Broadway hit, “Watch Your Step”. Some say that this show in particular saw the creation and refinement of foxtrot. Now, even their story has an alternate ending!! At Castle House, the Castles taught all of the latest dance steps. It was here that they began teaching people the foxtrot. Originally referred to as the “Bunny Hug”, the Castles claimed that they had seen people doing this style of dance for over a decade in colored dance clubs.

We cannot discuss foxtrot without mentioning the creative genius of W.C. Handy, who composed “The Memphis Blues” in September of 1912. In his autobiography, Handy mentions that the foxtrot merged because of this song. Vernon and Irene Castle hired musician James Reese Europe to play regularly at Castles by the Sea. James played blues and ragtime music, including Handy’s “The Memphis Blues”. As the Castles promoted the new dance in their club, this song and foxtrot became synonymous.

Regardless of who created the foxtrot over one hundred years ago, we can still utilize this amazing ballroom dance style just as much today. While most people associate foxtrot with artists like Frank Sinatra, there are plenty of current artists whose music we can dance foxtrot to. Musicians such as Michael Buble, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Sam Smith and even Adele have records out there that provide that light-hearted feel that foxtrot calls for. The foxtrot is a cousin to the Country two step, so it’s also easy to transition between swing and two step music, just as it is between swing and foxtrot music.

Not only do we teach foxtrot for social dancers, but we have also choreographed first dances for weddings to foxtrot routines. Here at Dance FX Studios, we make learning the foxtrot a “walk in the park.”

What Learning to Dance Can Reveal About You…

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social ballroom dance lessons near Tempe ArizonaHe has agreed to take Private Dance Lessons. He’s been working diligently one-on-one with his instructor to be a great leader on the dance floor, just so that he can sweep you off your feet one day. Now the time has come for him for him to take you out dancing to your favorite Country bar. Tonight is the night! The pressure is on, and boy can he feel it!

You get on the dance floor and he freezes. So what do you do? You begin pulling him around the floor, like you’ve always done before. In no time, he’s ready to leave. “What’s the point of taking lessons if you can’t use what you’ve learned?”, you ask. Here comes the beginning of the end of any chance you have of your man wanting to dance again. What a shame that you two are going to miss out on the joys of spending your date nights out dancing!

Before you start scratching your head and wondering why, can you relate to this story? Are you the woman who has been trying to “help” your man to be a confident social dancer by turning yourself or pulling him along the dance floor? If this is you, please know that you’re not alone. Of course you want to enjoy Country dancing with your man! Of course you wish he could just be comfortable enough to want to join you anywhere, anytime for a dance. Of course he’s sick of watching other guys Two Step the night away with his wife. And of course it is not your fault that you have to take over on the dance floor because you are just trying to help, right? Well, maybe not.

Unknowingly, and quite ironically, you are both the reason why he started taking dance lessons, and the reason why he still cannot dance with confidence, both at the same time. As a result of his night out Country dancing with you, he feels inadequate and defeated, and may not want to venture out onto another social dance floor anytime soon. In his best efforts to please you, he did not reach his goal of putting a smile on your face on the dance floor, and has therefore failed. Did you know he felt this way? I doubt you did or I’m betting things would have played out differently.

The wonderful experience of learning incredible social dances like Country Two Step, Swing and Argentine Tango is that you are not only exploring how to move properly on a dance floor, but you are seeing things about yourself in the process of gaining a new skill, so you can grow as a person. This is the best part, in my opinion, of stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new and challenging like adult dance lessons.

In the scenario above, she may have learned that her need to control the situation at the Country bar in order to have a good time may have overshadowed his need for a calm and patient partner on his first night out dancing. Had she given him a minute to settle in and shake off his nerves, he may have been able to perform better. This is quite common, as I mentioned before, and it is most probably something that she would be willing to fix if it were brought to her attention.

Teamwork is a huge aspect of social ballroom dancing that is key for developing a successful partnership on the dance floor.  Sometimes, though, we can stand in our own way by not supporting our other half, or by blaming each other when things don’t go quite right.  As your guide through this process, I take this as an opportunity to help bring a couple closer together, which will in turn help you to make more progress on the dance floor. That’s a great thing! With a few ideas and recommendations, it can be a simple fix. And this is why I like to think of myself as a dancing therapist. 😉

Lastly, social insecurities can hold you back in a big way from having fun with social dancing. If you’re looking to push past that, take Private Dance Lessons and learn your stuff so you can have the confidence to get onto any dance floor without caring what anyone thinks. Partner or not, you absolutely can be an amazing social dancer!

Many insecurities and issues that we have can be not only revealed, but resolved through the process of learning to dance. My best advice is to find a local dance studio for adults that takes a true interest in the real reason why you want to begin learning to dance. You may not even know the deeper reasons that you have been drawn to this new hobby, but if you find the right place to learn, you should be waltzing out of that studio down the road with your head up high, full of confidence and proud that you know the coolest hobby ever…social ballroom dancing!