Foxtrot (International)

The International Slow Foxtrot is widely regarded by ballroom professionals as the most technically sophisticated of all the Standard dances — and possibly of all partner dances in any style. Its combination of continuous rise and fall, progressive movement across the floor, and the requirement for a seamless, feather-like quality of movement at every moment makes it a dance that takes years to develop and a lifetime to perfect. Fred Astaire, who was arguably the greatest popular dancer of the twentieth century, spent decades refining his Foxtrot, and the recordings he made with Ginger Rogers remain the definitive visual reference for what the dance can look like at its best.

The dance's defining quality is what teachers call 'sway' — the lateral inclination of the body that accompanies the natural turning figures of the dance. Sway is not a conscious movement; it is the natural consequence of moving through a curve with momentum, like a motorcyclist leaning into a bend. When sway is present and correct, the Foxtrot looks effortless and inevitable; when it is absent or forced, the dance looks mechanical and effortful. Developing natural, musical sway is one of the central challenges of International Foxtrot training.

The music that serves International Foxtrot best is music that breathes — that has a smooth, unhurried quality and a melodic line that invites continuous, flowing movement. Frank Sinatra's recordings are the gold standard, not just because they are at the right tempo but because they have a quality of ease and sophistication that mirrors the dance's own character. When Sinatra sings 'Nice 'n' Easy,' the music itself seems to demonstrate the principle of the Foxtrot: unhurried, confident, effortlessly elegant.

The feather step is the most fundamental figure in International Foxtrot and the one that most clearly expresses the dance's character. It consists of three steps — forward on the right foot, forward on the left foot, forward and slightly to the side on the right foot — executed with a specific heel-toe-toe footwork pattern and a continuous rise that begins on the second step and carries through to the third. The result is a movement that feels, to the dancer, like walking on a cushion of air.

The feather step is deceptively simple in description and extraordinarily difficult in execution. The challenge is not the footwork itself — three forward steps is not technically complex — but the quality of movement that must accompany it. The body must be in continuous motion from the first step to the last, with no moment of stillness or hesitation. The rise must be smooth and gradual, not sudden or jerky. The sway must be natural and proportional to the speed of the movement. And all of this must be achieved while maintaining a closed frame with a partner and responding to the music.

For teachers, the feather step is the ideal starting point for International Foxtrot instruction because it contains, in miniature, all the qualities that the dance demands at every level. A student who can execute a clean feather step — with correct footwork, smooth rise, natural sway, and continuous movement — has the foundation for everything else in the Foxtrot syllabus.

The International Foxtrot's competition tempo of 112–120 BPM places it squarely in the territory of the classic big band era — the music of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and their contemporaries. This is not a coincidence: the Foxtrot and the big band sound evolved together in the 1930s and 1940s, each shaping the other. The smooth, flowing quality of the best big band arrangements — the sustained notes, the gradual swells, the unhurried tempos — is perfectly matched to the Foxtrot's physical demands.

Frank Sinatra's recordings with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra represent the pinnacle of Foxtrot music. 'Nice 'n' Easy' (1960), 'The Way You Look Tonight,' 'Fly Me to the Moon,' and 'Come Fly With Me' are all at or near the competition tempo range and have the musical sophistication — the harmonic richness, the melodic sweep, the rhythmic ease — that the Foxtrot demands. These recordings are not just appropriate for Foxtrot; they seem to have been written for it.

Contemporary music has expanded the Foxtrot repertoire in interesting ways. Eva Cassidy's recordings — particularly 'Fields of Gold' and 'Wade in the Water' — have a quality of intimacy and emotional directness that suits the social Foxtrot beautifully. Brett Eldredge's 'Glow' has become a popular choice for wedding Foxtrots, its country-pop feel and consistent tempo making it accessible to couples who want something modern. For studio owners building a contemporary Foxtrot playlist, these modern choices alongside the classics create a set that appeals to students of all ages and musical backgrounds.

The rise and fall of International Foxtrot is more complex than that of the Slow Waltz, because it must be integrated with the dance's progressive movement and its sway. In the Waltz, the rise and fall follows a simple three-beat cycle that repeats with every measure. In the Foxtrot, the rise and fall is tied to specific figures and footwork patterns, and it must be adapted to the varying rhythmic structure of the SSQQ pattern.

The general principle is that rise begins at the end of the first slow step and continues through the quick steps, reaching its apex at the end of the second quick step. The fall then occurs on the second slow step of the next phrase, as the body descends back to the floor in preparation for the next rise. This pattern creates a wave-like quality of movement — rise, sustain, fall, prepare, rise again — that is the physical signature of the International Foxtrot.

For teachers, the most effective way to develop rise and fall in students is to work on it independently of the partner and the figures. Simple exercises — walking forward in Foxtrot timing, rising on the quick steps and falling on the slow steps — build the physical habit before the complexity of partner work and specific figures is introduced. Once the student can feel the rise and fall in their own body, they can begin to integrate it with the footwork and the partner connection, and the dance begins to take on its characteristic quality.

In competition, International Foxtrot is judged on a combination of technical and artistic criteria. The technical criteria include correct footwork, appropriate rise and fall, natural sway, and the maintenance of a consistent, elegant frame. The artistic criteria include musical interpretation, the quality of movement between figures, and the ability to tell a story through the dance — to use the music's emotional content as a guide for the choreography's dynamic arc.

The most successful competitive Foxtrot dancers are those who have developed the ability to make the dance look effortless — to disguise the significant physical and technical demands of the dance behind a facade of ease and sophistication. This is the quality that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers demonstrated so memorably on screen, and it is the quality that the best competitive Foxtrot dancers aspire to in the ballroom.

For studio owners, the International Foxtrot is one of the most valuable dances to teach at the competitive level, because the skills it develops — continuous movement, musical sensitivity, partner connection, the ability to make difficult things look easy — are transferable to every other dance in the Standard syllabus. A student who can dance International Foxtrot well has the foundation for a genuinely accomplished ballroom career.