| Quickstep |
The
Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the Foxtrot, Charleston,
Shag, Peabody, and One Step. This dance is English in origin and was standardized
in 1927. The Quickstep now is quite separate from the Foxtrot. Unlike
the modern Foxtrot, the man often closes his feet, and syncopated steps
are regular occurrences as was the case in early Foxtrot. In some ways,
the dance patterns are close to the Waltz, but are danced to 4/4 time
rather than 3/4 time.
This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one with a lot of movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The tempo of quickstep dance is rather brisk as it was developed to ragtime era jazz music which is very fast paced comparative to other dance music. By the end of the 20th century the speed of Quickstep as done by advanced dancers has increased even more, due to the extensive use of steps with eighth note durations. While in older times quickstep patterns were counted with "quick" and "slow" steps, many advanced patterns today are cued with split beats, such as "quick-and-quick-and-quick-quick-slow". Note: There was a 19th century Quickstep which was a march-like dance and has no relation to the modern ballroom step. |