Characteristics and basic skills of Fox Trot

The style of Fox Trot is characterized by strong flow, light movements, smooth stretching, smoothness and grace, leisurely and calm. When moving forward, the footwork should be to lightly rub against the ground. When moving backward, the heel should not be dragged heavily on the floor. Below I will share with you the characteristics and basic techniques of foxtrot. You are welcome to read and browse.

1. Introduction

Each musical beat of Foxtrot dance is 4 beats, the first beat is a heavy beat, the third beat is a second heavy beat, and the rhythm is slow equal to 2 beats, fast equals 1 beat.

In 1913, Harry Fox created a dance with American new black jazz rhythms on this basis, and launched a self-designed comic song and dance that was first performed on the roof garden of the New York Cinema, by Fox and Yan Qi. Starring Du Li, she unexpectedly received full cheers, thunderous applause, and people shouted "foxfox"! Therefore, it quickly became popular in the United States and some European countries. It was called "Fox" dance, and was later developed by British dance expert Josephine Bean. Li adapted it into a British dance.

In 1928, it entered my country’s first pier Shanghai. Because the English translation of "Fox" means fox, the Chinese call it foxtrot. In fact, foxtrot is related to fox. It has nothing to do with it, but this dance has the feeling of trotting, but the name is the same, it is just a code name for the dance, and there is no need to investigate whether it is right or wrong.

Foxtrot. The style is characterized by strong fluidity, light movements, smooth stretching, smoothness and grace, and leisurely and leisurely steps. When moving forward, the footwork should be lightly rubbed with the ground, and when retreating, the heel should not be dragged heavily on the floor. , long lines without synchronization and no pauses. The dance steps cannot be interrupted and must be continuous and smooth. The directions are changeable. The upper body should be in a reflexive position for continuous advancement and retreat. The reflex cannot be too large. When using the half body to guide forward or backward, the strength should be kept forward or backward. After that, the unbroken bodies of the two dance partners maintain clever contact, and the dance steps are smoothly connected. At the same time, the foxtrot technique uses a lot of turning movements, which highlights the characteristics of the dance. The foxtrot is a common up and down swing. It starts to rise at the end of the first step, keeps rising at the end of the second and third steps, and then falls in a parabolic shape. Beginners should pay special attention to not using the rise and fall of the waltz in the foxtrot. When retreating, the toes of the front feet will lift off the ground first. The body rises and falls, but the feet do not rise and fall. It is rare to step back with the soles of both feet rising at the same time. Instead, the front heels and back soles rise. This is called a footless rise. Different dance steps have different lifting forms.

2. Basic technical skills

First, let’s talk about the views on correct technical skills: The most important thing is the composition of these correct skills. A clear and thorough understanding. If an important role in the art of this chain is misunderstood, its entire structure will be undermined assuming that this incorrect knowledge is passed on to coaches who train national dance athletes in some countries. There will be a "impact effect", like a waterfall, incorrect skills will be taught in waves, to learners at a lower level than this group of players. It will be as scary as the epidemic. This phenomenon is likely to spread when my country's market is not yet mature. Fortunately, there are a group of real dancers and scholars in my country's universities who stick to the mainstream position, and there are also scholars like Mr. Hu Zonghan who are constantly exploring. , research has discovered the beautiful artistic rules of modern dance art

1. Frame shape

The shoulders are like a clothes hanger, the head is the hook, and the center of gravity is the coat on the clothes hanger; when dancing, The head is used to help adjust the center of gravity; when standing on the toes, the center of gravity is hung on the hanger, with the waist as the boundary, the upper part extends upward, and the lower part presses down on the floor; when dancing, the waist is the boundary, the lower body is driven, and the upper body is pulled Stay; when you start dancing, stand in a high position, similar to the feeling of high diving.

When holding hands, both parties should keep in focus. The man uses his body shape to ask the woman to come over. The right side should be aligned with the center of the woman, and the left side should run through the center of the woman. Women need to maintain their own space.

When holding, a man’s right hand cannot be too tight, otherwise it will not be a true balance. The balance of the body is not a deliberate artificial balance, but a dynamic balance achieved through the upward extension of the body. Every step of the way is balanced. Balance is achieved through the drive of the body. After each section of movement is completed, attention must be paid to the body's return to the original state, that is, to return to the initial state of the posture, so as to facilitate the start of the next posture.

2. The Walk Forward And Backward

The walk is an independent dance step and does not appear during the performance. All slow steps constitute the basic dance steps. important part of. Don't think that walking is easy, it is the most difficult step in modern dance. If you cannot master this step correctly, it will be impossible to continue learning other movements of foxtrot.

Progression (Progression)

The silky smooth quality of progress on the floor comes from the two people’s understanding of the principles of body contact and body tilt. Since the music rhythm of Foxtrot is slower, the stride length is slightly longer than that of Quickstep, and the knee joints are more square and loose than Quickstep. The knee joints are gradually straightened and compressed, which makes the Foxtrot movement soft.

When moving forward, one step is centered on the center of gravity. After each step, only the main foot touches the ground. Use your feet to feel the center of gravity, and then apply the force from the feet, ankles, knees, hips, back, and neck all the way through. to the top of the head, because the foxtrot is a slow step that takes up 2 beats. It is necessary to have work to do in both One and Town. The wrong approach is often that the process has no content, or rises too early, etc., such as swinging out the right foot. For example, One puts the right foot on the road, & In other words, release yourself when you are one, and continue to accumulate power when you are two. It always presses the ground, releases, presses the ground, releases...an endless cycle.

The Walk Backward

The slow step back is a more difficult step. The most important thing to remember is that every time you step back, you must keep moving forward. posture, while the heel is touching the floor, that is, the heel is supported and the toes are off the ground. If the foot is raised, it will seriously hinder the flow of the dance steps. Besides, the foxtrot's backward step has a heel drag on each step. It needs to be dragged with the inside of the foot like the hesitation step, so that the power can be more continuous.

John Wood said that when a woman steps back, the first step is the shortest, the second step is slightly longer, and the third step is the longest; when stepping back, she feels like she is moving forward, including her knees, chest and center of gravity.

Another very important point is: the problem of slow falling when retreating.

Introducing an exercise method to strengthen the strength of the ankle and enhance the ability to control the heel falling: first perform ballet, push the left foot outward to shoulder width, stand up on the instep, and kneel in the direction of the toes Push up, and then without lowering your heels, move your heels up and down in a controlled manner while keeping your body quiet above your knees. Doing this movement is to train to strengthen the strength of the ankle and enhance the ability to control. The effect is very obvious!

The teacher also reminded me that I should not deliberately tighten my abdomen, but should lift the diaphragm and pull the rectus abdominis downward. , the navel should be looking at the floor, and the middle waist should be tight. When retreating from a low position, the easy mistake is to fall backward or sit down, leaving the hips and thighs to the dance partner, blocking the progress of the dance. That is, the body is not pulled up, the hips are not swung back, and the hips and legs are not folded.

3. Turning/Spinning movements (Turning/Spinning movements)

Turning with smooth quality depends on the two people’s clear understanding of the principle of reflexive movements. This movement activates almost For all turns or rotations, it must be added to body contact and body tilt in order to make the rotation smoother.

The quality of the follow-up turn in foxtrot is an important link and an important aspect of basic skills.

This action of a man is reflected in Closed Impetus. First, he takes a step back in a straight line, turns his body to the right, and ends with a slight rise without raising the foot. Continue to raise the toes, change the center of gravity, the center of gravity is on the right foot, continue to turn the right foot, move the left foot to the side and back, keep it up and finally lower, back the right foot, and turn to the left. SQQS.

You must do this step well. The teacher said it. It was only taught to you in the small class. It is so mysterious! In fact, there are quite a few things that you should pay attention to. 1. Turn with one heel of your left foot, haha, that’s it, if you break this window paper, the problem will be solved; 2. Don’t step back too much with your left foot; 3. Don’t bend the knee joint of your left leg too much, almost Kick your knees straight; 4. Don’t rise too early and slow down as much as possible; 5. Men should tilt their bodies to the left and hold at Q so that they can receive the woman’s forward turning movement on the right side; 6. Men’s left side To stabilize, the left shoulder sinks and the left back muscles contract to form the left axis of the body.

If women want to use follow-up turns in Natural Turn and Reverse Turn, in addition to the above points in Closed Impetus, women should pay attention to it. The most important thing is the guidance of men. This is so important! Even if you are a female expert, If there is a problem with a man's lead, a woman can't do it either. The key is for men not to think of it as turning, but as swinging forward, keeping one side tilted, but not rising too early, etc.

No matter what kind of turning movement, the continuity of attention is required. I think the key to forward palm turning is to push the ground with power and to move the foot without weakness.

Before turning, you need to have the awareness to pull your front leg across the heel to make way for your partner. Don't think about turning first. After turning, the change of center of gravity is driven by the extension of the muscles.

From an overall point of view, because the person following is in the inner circle, you need to first make way for the dancing partner in the outer circle by turning across. After the dancing partner passes, you can then switch through the extension of your own muscles. The focus is to send the partner out.

Hey, practice brings true wisdom. The more you practice, the more experience and understanding you will have. There are other rotations and rotations, not to mention!

4. Basic Sway

A quality and rhythmic tilt (head to toe in a straight line) is Add reflexive movement (CBM) and body tilt to the body without breaking during the entire rotational (non-rotational) movement.

Although the foxtrot does not have a square step like the waltz, it still needs to jump out of the back 3 and 4 and move sideways, so you need to turn your hips and tilt diagonally.

During the feather step, bring the feet forward through the swing of the body; the first and second steps of the fox step have the feeling of shape, and the shape should be continuous during the flowing dance of the fox step.

The driving force of the foxtrot lies in the lower back, the first two steps of each section, and the final "fly". Is it drive-drive-fly? No flight, no foxtrot

When the body is in the CBMP position, the force is stepped up from the heel through the buttocks to the extended back muscles. From this, the body drives the feet, between three and four. time to release, then four & repeat. In Feather Step 3, the left shoulder to the left foot should be in one piece, with an overall tilt, with the waist below pressing down on the ground, and the waist above extending upward (the same as before).

When dancing, the left side is slightly in front of the right side. Even in three straight steps, the left side is still forward. Here, John Wood said: "Give your heart to your dance partner and keep your wallet to yourself."

When doing extension, always step forward and pull up one side. The direction of extension is the direction of the toe of the main foot. Do not intentionally extend beyond the direction of the toe, and do not rely on turning your shoulders to show your lines.

5. Rise and Fall (Riseamp; Fall)

The smooth and graceful rising and falling movements in the foxtrot are like a yacht floating on smooth waves. It is just the elastic movements of the knees, combined with the good control of the lifting and lowering of the ankles and feet, and the dancer has the ability to produce the lifting and lowering with correct and inherent characteristics.

The foxtrot is not like the waltz, which has big lifts and big waves; the dance waves of the foxtrot are relatively gentle, and it does not pursue high heights, but pursues smooth flow. Comparing the pentathlon of modern dance in terms of rising and falling amplitudes, their order is: waltz, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, quick step, tango (no rise and fall).

When lifting and lowering the foxtrot, look for the feeling of the heel going down. The teacher said that when rising, the heel slowly rises. The teacher emphasized that four should always flow forward, unlike Waltz's three, which cannot fall in place. The "four" and "amp" must be pressed in place to release the one step behind, the two needs to press the ground again, and the three is the release, but the back foot cannot be released. The four should not fall down with a pop, it should be closed slowly and gently, and the instep should be there. Then when you move forward and back, you need to straighten your body and return it to the right position. You need to swing your body up and then back down, which is the same as the one moving forward and backward.

For example: Three Step, the first step of the three straight steps goes down, the second half of the second step goes up, the third step stays up, and then goes down. The teacher specifically told you to start slowly in the second step. This is the most typical place where the foxtrot has no foot lift. The left leg is not moved forward enough to lift the heel.

　6.CBM amp; CBMP

When it comes to reflexive movements (CBM), the place where this tool is particularly used is the outside partner (Outside partner). For example, the foxtrot represents the Feather Step. Most world champion dancers can say that they have spent hundreds of hours on this basic step.

When CBM is used for outside partner movements (such as men's FeatherStep Sqq):

Step 1: S

Use CBM with your right foot Moving forward, he and his dance partner are in the coaxial position (INLINE), but the body in the reverse position (left) moves the foot under the guidance of synchronization (note: the rotation of the body caused by the reflexive movement is due to the elasticity of the knee of the standing foot moving forward come).

Second step: Q

Left foot moves forward. As the left foot moves forward, with the increase of left-side guidance, prepare to be the outside partner in the next step.

Step 3: Q

The right foot advances to the outside partner. At this time, the left body is still in the front (Cuttingedge) position. This is the well-known reflexive action position CBMP (CBMP). Similar to the reflex action CBM, but the stepping foot is on the same line as the other foot. The difference in appearance from CBM is that the reflex action position does not rotate the body).

In the first step of slow, one straightens his foot, and two moves into a reflexive position. QQ is brought out by the body, and the reflex is made in the second half of the slow beat.

Use of feet: Beautiful footwork is an indispensable part of good dance.

When moving forward, the moment the foot comes out is the heel, which has been touching the ground with the toes before; when taking the feather step, the foot is brought forward through the swing of the body; at the end of the feather step, the inside of the foot passes, and when it lands, the outside touches the ground.

Now for the very important part: the woman should keep her body in contact with her partner, changing the angle of her body and therefore maintaining the position relative to her partner, from the coaxial position to the outside. Partner, return to the coaxial position, take the next step, and move your left foot forward (possibly followed by ThreeStep or Reversemovement).

When stepping downward, the stomach, chest, cheekbones and forehead extend upward. Part of what is emphasized here is that if the feet do not rise and the body rises, there is no feet to rise. When taking the feather step, the rise of the woman's body must be Twice as much as men, because men are on their toes and their body is rising, while women are heel-strike with every step.

Although the outside partner movement may seem simple, it is often misunderstood and performed incorrectly. Even in international competitions, it is necessary to practice the following three basic elements in order to achieve excellent performance: body contact, correct holding posture, and artistic and beautiful postures between the two dance partners. Let’s discuss it again. If there is no reflexive movement in the outside partner’s movement, and the man’s first step does not have an angle, the man’s left foot must move diagonally instead of in a straight line. This will cause three errors: Times:

(a) In order for a man to advance to the right of the woman in the third step so that his right foot can advance to the outside position, he will almost certainly lose physical contact with his partner.

(b) The lady has crossed his right hip, and the grip between the dance partners has been distorted, creating a very uncomfortable posture for the two of them.

(c) At this time, their appearance is twice as wide as it should be, their posture has been destroyed, and there is no artistic beauty at all. The idea of ??using ostentatious choreography as a shortcut to reaching the peak of your abilities, skipping those skills, may seem very charming, but it is nothing more than a self-delusion mirage. Don't fall into this trap.

Let’s briefly introduce two classic steps:

(1) Reverse Turn, the lady turns, it is very difficult, you have to step on the body, the hind legs cannot be loose, continue Push up to the ground and send it out, the instep must be strong, the man swings straight forward, don't turn left, it will naturally turn left. Three-four is also quick-quick. The body should be kept so that it cannot go backwards, and space should be given under the feet to allow the woman's legs to move forward.

(2) Feather finish, when slow, the body does not move, the left foot swings straight back first, giving space to attract the lady to move forward, when quick, the right leg twists the ankle and sends it out, which is consistent with the waltz. Turning left means the same thing. At this time, the four is on the outside. It still cannot fall down. It needs to be extended forward. In the end, the feeling of gliding on the instep must be practiced by yourself.

3. About the chest and waist

In particular, you must understand what is going on with the chest and waist. Whether you are a man or a woman, the movements of women are just more typical. We must clearly understand the importance of the chest and waist in dance. This is what we should pay most attention to during class and training. All other footwork, body postures and line extensions are the result of the chest and waist movements. . Any movement, no matter how difficult it is, as long as you understand how the left and right chest and waist are maintained and switched, it will be easy to find a solution to the problem. Moreover, using the chest and waist to guide the dance can better maintain the beauty, continuity and smoothness of the movements.

4. Music

The music of foxtrot is slow 4-beat music with long rhythm, which is reflected in the body, relying on the extension of muscles to retract the feet, so that it looks natural. The foot retraction is very slow, and the kick is a little faster, very similar to the feeling of waltz's chasse from P.P in 2 in the bronze medal.

The teacher said that we need to feel the music in advance. The point of our feet should be consistent with the music player. If we follow the steps according to the point we heard, we will definitely miss the music and lose control of the music, so we should rely on breathing, The muscles stretch to feel the music. ;