The Basics Behind the Foxtrot Dance Style

The style of dance known as the foxtrot dates its origins back to the year 1914 in the United States. The foxtrot, a progressive dance, is epitomized by its flowing movements. The foxtrot dance style continues to be practiced to this day by dancers all around the world. It is easy to be intimidated by a dance with such history. There are some basics to the foxtrot, though, that can get you out on the dance floor in no time at all.

Understanding the Beat

As with any dance, you need to understand the beat of the music and how to flow with it via the dance style. The foxtrot dance style is done with a 4/4 beat. There are some key basic movements that go along with this beat that coincide with a leader and follower combination. The main points to remember, though, are that you follow the beat with a forward movement, and succeed it with the leading individual making a backward movement.

Position Matters to Start

You want to start off every dance with proper positioning. Standing in the ballroom position, facing your partner, with your arms raised, is a good starting point. The idea is that the follower will simply try to copy and go with all of the movements of the leader in the sequence.

Moving With the Music

Once the music starts you want to, as the leader, step forward with your left foot and then follow it up with your right foot. Your right foot should go past your left foot. While you are doing this, your partner or the follower will step backward in the same fashion in sequence.

The next basic step is to step to the left with your left foot and glide your right foot over in that same general direction. Once your follower also does this in the sequence you should basically end up back at your starting point position.

Now the leader goes backward with their left foot, followed by their right foot. This is the same as the first movement, only reversed with the leader going backward.

Subsequent to this, you will again step to your left and have your right foot slide over next to it. This should be repeated in the same basic 4/4 beat over and over again until you have the basics down.

The foxtrot dance takes a lot of practice. A professional instructor is going to help get you on the right track from the start in terms of proper form and nailing the basics. From here, you are going to be able to add in twists and turns that will add elegance and beautiful intricacies to the dance. The form of dance known as the foxtrot remains so popular for many reasons. Ultimately, though, it is a style of dance that is beautiful to watch, a joy to perform, and is fairly accessible for beginners, yet hard to master for the more seasoned veterans. Putting your best foot forward and giving foxtrot a try is a worthy undertaking.