The quickstep is a light-hearted

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

of the standard

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

s. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

s. The upbeat

melodies A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal and informal events. Quickstep was developed in the 1920s in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was first danced by Black Americans. Its origins are in combination of slow

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

combined with the

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, a dance which was one of the precursors to what today is called

swing dancing Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that ha ...

History

The quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the

shag Shag, or Shagged, or Shagger, or Shagging, or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family People Pseudonym ...

, peabody, and one-step. The dance is English in origin and was standardized in 1927. While it evolved from the foxtrot, the quickstep now is quite separate. Unlike the modern foxtrot, the

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences (as was the case in early foxtrot). Three characteristic dance figures of the quickstep are the

chassé The ''chassé'' (, French for 'to chase'; sometimes anglicized to chasse ) is a dance step used in many dances in many variations. All variations are triple-step patterns of gliding character in a "step-together-step" pattern. The word came fro ...

s, where the feet are brought together, the quarter turns, and the lock step.Silvester, Victor 1982. ''Modern ballroom dancing: history and practice''. Paul, London.^p126 This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one with much movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with much momentum, and rotation. The tempo of quickstep dance is rather brisk, as it was developed to

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

era

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music, which is fast-paced when compared to other dance music. By the end of the 20th century the complexity of quickstep as done by advanced dancers had increased, with the extensive use of syncopated steps with

eighth note 180px, Figure 1. An eighth note with stem extending up, an eighth note with stem extending down, and an eighth rest. 180px, Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together. An eighth note (American) or a quaver (British) is a musical note play ...

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", with there being further steps on the 'and's.

Style

The quickstep is elegant like the

and should be smooth and glamorous. The dancers should appear to be very light on their feet. It is very energetic and form-intensive. The quickstep is danced to 4/4 music of 48 to 52 measures per minute.

Syllabus

The two International Style syllabi of ISTD and

IDTA The International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) is a dance teaching and examination board based in Brighton, England. Operating internationally, the IDTA currently has over 7,000 members in 55 countries. The IDTA is recognised by the nationa ...

for quickstep differ very little. The

American Style This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those. This glossary lists terms used in various types of ballroom partner dances, leaving out terms of highly ...

dance competition Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a ...

program does not include quickstep, but a limited version of the dance is taught and danced socially in some American dance venues.

Pre-bronze

# Quarter turn to right # Natural turn # Natural turn with hesitation # Natural pivot turn # Natural spin turn # Progressive chassé # Chassé reverse turn # Forward lock # Heel pivot (quarter turn to left)

Silver

# Quick open reverse # Fishtail # Running right turn # Four quick run # V6 # Closed telemark

Gold

# Cross swivel # Six quick run # Rumba cross # Tipsy to right # Tipsy to left # Hover corté

In popular culture

The quickstep is one of multiple dances performed on the celebrity talent show

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

, as well as

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

References

External links

A sample listing of the Quickstep syllabus

ISTD Quickstep syllabus
at the Dance Central website {{Authority control