What's it all about, Foxtrot?

(crossposted at SYTYCD Social)
In week 1's competition, the charismatic Russell was rather unjustly placed in the bottom 3 and forced to "dance for his life" on the show after performing a foxtrot with choreographer/pro dancer Melanie LePatin due to Noelle's injury. I thought he did a good job and that another dancer should have been sent to the B3, BUT in exchange, we did get to see Russell perform his fantastic solo. So for Top 14, he and Noelle were asked to do the foxtrot together that they couldn't do because of her injury. I thought they did quite a good job for non-ballroom dancers.



But what are the judges looking for in a foxtrot? Why is it, as Adam said, the second most dreaded dance after quickstep?

Here's what a foxtrot looked like in the '20s with some vintage footage.

Ramp up the energy and break out of the closed hold, and you'll get the later popular dances like the Charleston, the Balboa, and all the variants of swing dancing, and a very fast foxtrot became the quickstep!). The foxtrot was a hit popular dance that burst on the scene at the beginning of the 20th century, (probably when vaudeville met higher class showdance by pros like Vernon and Irene Castle) People danced the foxtrot to American popular music-ragtime, and later swing. They played the songs on the cutting edge technology of the "talking machines" --Gramaphones or Victrolas.

Dance studios such as the Arthur Murray or Fred Astaire franchises codifed the steps to teach these popular dances to the public. With the emergence of competitive dance ballroom dance, the social dances were morphed into versions that aren't casual and spontaneous, but emphasize skill, technique, recognizable steps and patterns, and are aimed at an audience rather than at the couple's pleasure. You can still learn to dance the foxtrot as a social dance at dance studios, and if you are bitten by the bug, you can go on to learn the competitive styles, which require years of practice to dance well.

The novice starts off with these basic steps done to the "slow slow quick quick" pattern that introduces a gentle jazzy syncopation into music with 4/4 time. (Click to see quick basic lesson in basic steps at the beginning/social"Bronze level"). It's a great social dance because it's adaptable to any mid-tempo 4/4 music--country, big band, pop-- and you can talk to your partner while moving around the floor because you don't have to get out of breath!

There are two main types of competitive ballroom dance (aka International Dancesport): American and International. What we see on DWTS or SYTYCD is choreography derived from one or both of these competition styles of foxtrot, but the shows do not hold the choreographers or the dancers to the competition rules. To hide the lack of technical expertise on the part of the newbies, ballroom choreographers will throw in all kinds of flashy moves and tricks, exciting lifts, spins, and elements that would not normally allowed in the "strictly ballroom" world. Where the lack of technique shows is in the basics. You can't fake it if you don't know how to do it right. What makes a foxtrot box step different from a rumba box step or a waltz box step? The character of the dance is just as important as the steps. I thought Russell gave a sense of the character of the foxtrot in his performance even if some of his technical elements were rough.

If social foxtrot is kind of like walking around to music, doing DanceSport style foxtrot means you must at once take long and powerful, driving steps and glide across the floor. Your feet are barely raised off off the floor (no hopping!) and your topline--your torso, chest, shoulders, arms, neck, head, must look effortlessly relaxed. In competition you are moving fast, but you can't crash into the other dancers.

Here's a nice example of a show dance foxtrot in which a dance teacher and amateur perform a choreographed routine at a studio where I've danced: he's probably 18 now, but I danced with him when he was 15 and still taking lessons. Such a wonderful dance partner! Here you can see how the foxtrot can be jazzy, sexy, fun, without having a bunch of showy lifts; we can just enjoy the character of the dance itself.


When the pros compete at the championship level, they can display their flexibility, athleticism, precision, and technique (while wearing the flashy stuff they need to get the judges attention on the crowded dance floor). Here's an American Smooth version:


The International Standard foxtrot or "slowfox" is always danced in closed hold in competition and has a somewhat different timing (hellishly difficult to do well). The commentary tells you what the judges are looking for as they evaluate the couples. To the untrained eye, the differences are invisible, but as with any sport or dance, the trained observer can tell the difference between good and great.

If you watch Russell and Noelle's foxtrot from last night, I hope you'll notice that they were doing a very good job of trying to balance the control you need to look effortless when dancing so slowly (all about control, posture and technique, folks) with the flowing, easy-breezy character of the dance. No, they don't look like the pros, but for two non-ballroom dancers? Wow. Great job. But will it save them from the B3? We'll find out tonight.