Fox -Trot (foxtrot)

Fox Trot:  developed by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox in the summer of 1914. Born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, he adopted the stage name of "Fox" after his grandfather.

Fox Trot: a ballroom dance that has a regular step of slow-slow-quick-quick (with slow = 2 beats) or 1-2-3-4-5-6. Music for the Foxtrot has a flowing, perky quality and adhered to 4/4 time, so that steps are regular.

Fox Trot:  a series of trotting steps.

The Fox-trot originated in the Jardin de Danse on the roof of the New York Theatre. A dancer for the New York theater, Harry Fox married Yansci Dolly, of the Dolly sisters and the two were seen doing a sprightly trotting dance steps between regular shows at the theater to ragtime music. The result was a crowd pleaser, and the audience referred to his dance as "Fox's Trot."  That same year, the American Society of Professors of Dancing standardized the steps of the Foxtrot.

The dance was introduced to the public with Oscar Duryea, an established choreographer of the time. His dance team introduced the Foxtrot as a rolling smooth glide (international style) that moved in large steps across the room, because the trotting step was too much for ladies.  Therefore, the Foxtrot was known by this name, although the trot did not remain for “International style”, but for “social dancing” only, which conveys its purpose and limitations.

Because of its mixed slow and fast steps, it is easy to keep the steps in a contained area. This does not mean that the Foxtrot cannot cover a lot of ground, however. Anyone who has watched a dance competition knows that couples can clear a room when dancing in earnest.

The Foxtrot was the most significant development in all of ballroom dancing. Dancers who do the Foxtrot have noted that there are an unusual number of variations, which permits more flexibility, that can be performed with the combination of quick and slow steps, thereby, giving much greater dancing pleasure. For some, it is the hardest of the ballroom dance series.

Variations of the foxtrot include the Peabody, the Quickstep and Roseland foxtrot. Faster foxtrots turn into Swing and Jitterbug.  Even dances such as the lindy and the hustle are derived, to some extent, from the foxtrot.