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Quick Step
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 compared 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" (one
beat) and "slow" (two beats) steps, many advanced patterns today are cued
with split beats, such as "quick-and-quick-and-quick-quick-slow".
Note that there was a 19th century Quickstep, which was a march-like dance and has
no relation to the modern ballroom step.
Differences between the Foxtrot and Quickstep
Quickstep is an International Style ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time
beat, similar to a fast Foxtrot. An example of a song suitable for the classic quickstep
would be Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing". However, while the dance may
appear very similar to a fast Foxtrot, its technique and patterns are distinct.
Quite in contrast to the Foxtrot or the Waltz, the Quickstep often has patterns
or sequences that have a duration of multiples of measures as well as containing
patterns with an extra half measure, creating a shift of the emphasis from beat
ONE to beat THREE and vice versa.
The two International Style syllabi of ISTD and IDTA for Quickstep slightly differ.
The American Style dance competition program does not include Quickstep, but the
dance is still taught and danced socially in American dance venues.
