FOXTROT BASIC

Foxtrot is a progressive or "walking dance" and being aware of your heel and toe leads is very important. A "heel lead" means a step in which the heel of the foot arrives on the floor first -- just like in a regular walking step. A "toe lead" means a step in in which you step with the ball of the foot first. Any forward step in Foxtrot is a heel lead, any side or backward step is a "toe lead".

Basic Step - Gentleman - Foxtrot
For the basic Foxtrot pattern, the man begins on the left foot and takes 2 slow steps forward (slow, slow.) A "slow" is 2 full beats. Follow that with 2 quick steps to the side and to the left (quick, quick.) A "quick" is one beat. Breaking this timing down step by step, our first slow step of the Foxtrot begins with a heel to toe action (or heel lead) with the left foot. The second slow step is with the right foot, again a heel to toe action.

Then you step to the side and left with your left foot for the first "quick," leading with your toe this time (toe lead). Follow that with your right foot closing to you left foot for the second "quick," again leading toe to heel.

Basic Step - Lady - Foxtrot
As the Lady, you begin with the right foot, taking 2 "slow" steps backward. You follow that with 2 "quick" steps to the side or right. Breaking this timing down step by step, the first "slow" step begins with the lady's right foot with a toe to heel action, or "toe lead", the opposite foot action to the man's. The second "slow" step follows with the left foot doing the same action, toe to heel.

Then the lady steps to the side and to the right with her right foot to do the first "quick." She follows that up with her left foot closing to her right for the second "quick," leading toe to heel.

Style in Foxtrot
Foxtrot is the Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers dance. The partners should feel, and look, like they are ice skating, or gliding, across the hardwood floor. Both dancers should stand tall, lifting from the rib cage, but from the waist down, they should be grounded. Their chins should be up, looking to left and up into the rafters.

Correct style in Foxtrot should make the ballroom dancer feel as if they are being pulled in 2 different directions. However, having said all this, beware of rising up on your tip toes. You should keep your feet on the ground when doing these steps. Later as you advance in Foxtrot this technique will change somewhat.

Most Common Mistake in Foxtrot
Believe it or not, the most common mistake ballroom students make when doing the Foxtrot is worrying about stepping on their partner's feet. The gentleman worries about stepping on the lady because, in the Foxtrot, the man is stepping directly toward, or into, the lady. The lady worries about being in the gentleman's way. This concern often causes both partners to "waddle" in their steps. The worried gentleman has a tendency to scoot his toe out in front of his body. This makes him do the very thing he was trying to avoid -- step on the lady.

What needs to happen is the gentleman's body needs to travel out over the top of his foot as he steps forward with a "heel lead." The worried lady has a tendency to pull herself closer to and into her gentleman, when in fact, her Foxtrot step should be back and away from her partner. However, she shouldn't speed away on her backward step or pull him. See How to Foxtrot Video