Fox Trot

The story goes that in 1913 Harry Fox, a Vaudeville comedian, introduced a Trot to a ragtime song in the Zigfeld Follies that pushed other Trots into the background. It became America's most popular dance and remains today as the standard of social dances. The Fox Trot is often called the "get-aquainted" dance. The Fox Trot is a basic dance from which you can acquire a good foundation. You learn to combine steps easily and smoothly.

Characteristics of the Dance

The basic components of Fox Trot are walking steps and side steps. Crowded dance floors or night club conditions require that all three tempos use short steps. In larger ballrooms the slow Fox Trot is characterized by longer, smooth, gliding steps that give this dance an unhurried appearance.

Sample Songs

Fox Trot music is written in 2/4 or 4/4 time. The first and third beats are accented in 4/4 time. Fox Trot tempos vary from slow to medium to fast, or they can be classified as Society Tempo. Fox Trot has two major rhythms: magic (slow, slow, quick, quick) and box (slow, quick, quick).

Fever
Peggy Lee