While it's tempting and probably very common to teach Foxtrot sequentially, I find much greater success to work conceptually. It's much more effective, not to mention memorable, to teach the elements out of order and then string them together towards the end of the class.
This approach is not without its dangers, however. You must be very good at pacing, because if you run out of time before finishing, your class will be left without having really danced anything at all. Furthermore, this approach is not for the A.D.D. instant gratification crowd... It requires a considerable amount of patience, as they will not be able to dance a repeatable sequence to music until the very end of class. Of course, the same could be said for Foxtrot in general. So if you have a group of people truly interested in learning Int'l Foxtrot, it's a good sign they might be candidates for this method of teaching.
In the simplest of terms, I like to think of the Int'l Foxtrot as being very similar to most other smooth & standard dances, in that the fundamental sequence of movement is the two-way turn. The two-way turn is a sequence of two turns (typically two measures each) and two changes (typically one measure each). This amounts to six measures total, which can be initially presented to a class as two 3-measure sequences, which are near mirrors of each other. When presented in this manner, the Foxtrot will not be intimidating for either student or teacher.
The three measures to be taught, in order, are (1) the heel turn, (2) the change (e.g. Three or Feather), and (3) the passing turn (e.g. Feather Finish or 4-6 Natural Turn).
I attack the heel turn first thing head-on, by teaching it as a series of actions (e.g. step, close, turn, change weight, rise, step) to both men and ladies together. (This helps men understand what they're leading). The action consists of 1/4 turn, finishing checked on the forward step, so that it can be repeated in the opposite direction. The exercise has them repeating natural, reverse, natural, reverse, back & forth with 1/4 turns from one wall to another. Then I teach man's parts to the men, and put them together to do the same exercise as a couple.
Next I add a "prequel". That is to say, I tack measure 1 on to the beginning of the heel turn, which is actually measure 2. Three walks, *then* heel turn. This exercise is also repeatable, however, you will continue to dance the same direction of turn over and over, since you are now dancing and even number of steps (e.g. LRL, RLR). A good solution is therefore to have the class dance a series of, say, four repetitions in one direction, then change feet, and dance four in the opposite direction.
Up until this point the class has been dancing quarter turns only, aligned towards walls. At this point I usually introduce the alignments, the concept of diagonals, and challenge them to add an extra 1/8 turn to the heel turn measure. I now have the class dancing the first measure toward either DW or DC (depending on which foot starts), and finishing the turn down LOD.
The last measure to be taught is the passing turn. Once appended to the end of the sequence, the class can dance two individual 3-measure sequences, which can then be linked together to create a two-way turn, Foxtrot style. Although the sequence can be linked together with either part first, since this is Foxtrot, one would expect to start with the RF toward DC into the Feather and Reverse Turn.
In writing, this may appear horribly convoluted and complex. But trust me, in practice it has just the opposite effect. If you have reservations, have a non-dancing friend volunteer to be your guinea pig. In a group setting, this will take an hour, but one-on-one, you can tackle it in 20-30 minutes.
Good luck with your class.
Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com
