Hi

I'm new to Foxtrot and I'm puzzle by the count of the step.

Slow - Slow Quick Quick or 1- 1 1/2 and 1/2 ?

but it is a 4/4 ?!

How should i count ?

Thnaks

You're right, Don. The approach you outline is used at advanced (sc. International Standard) levels. Check any number of Blackpool Dance Congress videos featuring Hillier, Sinkensen, etc. Or, if you're really ambitious, book a lesson with them when they're over here.

This is a reply to Bos:
You can find out about foxtrot on the web, but you'd need a good dance teacher to be able to dance it even reasonably.
the dance gets its name from a guy called Sydney(i think) Fox, who invented it in the 1920's
As the for music, Dronak is right about many frank Sinatra songs being gorgeous foxtrots. My own favourite is "without a song" recoerded with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra in 1940. However, this isn't much help to you, since you probably won't find this on the internet. so here's a link to some more modern ones:
http://www.dancelifeinternational.com.au/ItemList.asp?Type=5

Hope this works
The page gives you lots of dance CDs. Look for "Best of Ballroom Music Part 1" and click on the foxtrot tunes. You'll get a chance to hear typical foxtrot music.

The basic foxtrot that I know is Slow (2 beats), Slow (2 beats), Quick (1 beat), Quick (1beat).

The way you were counting each basic ends up being 3 beats, and the way I'm doing it ends up being 6 beats. Neither of these really match 4/4 time, do they?

However, if you do two basics the way I count then you end up with 12 beats, or three measures (4 beats per measure), and your next step is on the "1" of the fourth measure. Basically part of the time you aren't starting on the one beat, but on the three beat.

Does that help?

Kevin

Regarding Foxtrot Timing.It is as I was always taught easier to count a Slow which has two beats as Slow and. And being the second beat. A Reverse turn which has a Feather Finish at the end , is Slow and. Quick Quick. Slow and. Quick Quick. finishing with another Slow and. This of course the International style. If you wish the Slows can be counted as 1 2. and the Quicks 3 4.There is a problem for beginners and that is to make sure you are dancing with the music
which is not 3 4. 1 2. but 1 2.3 4.The former is dancing out of rhythm .

CBMP = Contrary Body Movement Position. It's not a very easy topic to explain so try the dictionary on this site (I'm pretty sure one exists) or look for threads on it here (I wouldn't be surprised if we've covered it before).

I wouldn't really call foxtrot an upbeat dance, not like swing/jive and quickstep are. Foxtrot has more of a strolling/walking feel to it. It's kind of an easy going dance, smoothly flowing along.

Foxtrot songs -- many Frank Sinatra songs are foxtrots, I believe. Medium tempo, flowing music that's in 4.

I realize this may be a bit vague, but I hope it's of some help. If you search around the web some more, I bet you can find more information. Good luck.

--
James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall

Remember that group who used to sing "Look what the've done to my song Ma". I attended a lecture just reciently when the lecturer , a former International Dancer demonstrated the way some top dancers are dancing the Feather Step , Foxtrot of course. Introductory step on one beat 4. Contra Body movement only on 1. Heel
lead on beat 2 followed by Quick Quicks in the normal manner. In other words the feet are moving on quicks with the use of the body taking up one beat also. Try it,its great.But I wonder , what next?.

I realize that you can count in the way you want and in the language you like as long as you make your step and I believe that at advanced level, a slow doesn't always mean 2 beats, it could be more or less depending on dancer's interpretation. I did see world class dancer did SQQ on more than 4 counts and they stay more then 3 beats on a slow.... as well as Q could be extended to more than one beat...

However, at beginner level, for learning purpose, personnally, I tend to agree with Phil that counting AND (after slow) may be confusing for some. I prefer to count only when I actually make steps. Thus when I hold for more then one count, it's just a simple sloooooowww, or if I want to know how long I need to hold, than I'll count slow,2,3... (it's just a personal choice) In fact, this apply pretty well to step such as "chasse", for example, I will count SQandQ because I do step on the AND and it's 1/2 beat or half beat, and where S is hold 2 beats... and this is not only applied to foxtrot but as well to waltz, tango, quickstep..

at last, I read interesting discussion about counting at

http://www.dancesport.uk.com/tid-bits/
Issue 4: "a and &"

[quote]When we split a beat and add an extra step, this is commonly referred to as "syncopation". This "split beat" can be danced as "a" or "&". The beat value of "a" is ¼ while "&" represents ½ beat. It is also very important to remember that "a" or "&" belongs to the beat that is before and not after.[quote]

So when no step are added then ... I just enjoy the music.

cheers,