Bronze Foxtrot - why even teach it?

DanceMentor

DanceMentor

Administrator
Before I go in to the reasons for not teaching Bronze Foxtrot, I want to tell you I think it does have a place, but I want to know what you think.

As far as I know (AFAIK), Bronze Foxtrot was pretty much an invention by Arthur Murray. I believe the story goes that he took the Quick Foxtrot (Quickstep) and slowed it down.

When you look at a typical Bronze Syllabus, the first 5 steps are Slow Slow Quick Quick (SSQQ), and then the rest all the way through Gold are SQQ ( at least the majority). When you look at the International Standard version of Foxtrot, they start with Feathers and 3-steps which are Slow Quick Quick (SQQ) and everything that follows is SQQ. When you go to a competition and watch even Bronze students compete they are often dancing SQQ and passing their feet on many of the patterns.

My point: every road leads to SQQ, not SSQQ.

So why do we start by teaching SSQQ?
 
American bronze Waltz and Foxtrot are only useful for wedding couples, where there is often a relatively small floor. Anyone who goes to a ballroom party and uses bronze American foxtrot or waltz will feel awfully intimidated as older couples pass them 4 or 5 times during the song.

The silver Waltz and Foxtrot, with the "open boxes" and travelers and all is OK, though.

International pre-bronze travels substantially, so that's fine too.
 
That was a short post, MissAlyssa, so I'm not sure what you meant. But I think it was something like this: give people milestones to accomplish on the way to their ultimate goal. It helps to keep people motivated, while they build their dance skills. Was that it? :D
 
True. And I know a lot of people who never progress beyond bronze -- they have no aspiration to dance at higher levels. But, having completed bronze, they have a whole set of figures, technique and styling to use socially.
 
This seemed like a potentially interesting discussion that never quite got off the ground. So I thought I'd bring it up again.

In defense of the bronze foxtrot--practice with the basic really helps new students find their balance. It also facilitates teaching pivots.

On the down side, the bronze foxtrot is pretty dull to dance!
 
Why the foxtrot

Genesius Redux said:
In defense of the bronze foxtrot--practice with the basic really helps new students find their balance. It also facilitates teaching pivots.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you. Finding center and balance are huge issues for beginners and the foxtrot is NOT an easy dance.
 
Well, bronze foxtrot is good for social mixers, especially at dances where there are many "seasoned citizens". :)

However, I will admit, bronze foxtrot is taught in a fairly pedantic way. I mean, who around here aspires to learn more complex steps in American foxtrot? (Okay, this may not be a representative group ;) ). Most people will switch over to international foxtrot and look fairly cool about it. But not only are young folks just not crazy about learning foxtrot, there aren't too many instructors that I would say are enthusiastic about teaching it. Of course I probably don't give them much of a chance, but I want a more complicated step than my triple-twinkle... and I want a damn good teacher who could let me look pretty darn cool doing American fox darn it. :)

Not to mention a partner who wouldn't think doing foxtrot was ... well ... goofy.
 
As already mentioned in this thread, American bronze foxtrot seems to be packaged this way for a quick solution to a wedding dance, allowing students to take the floor after only a lesson or two.

I think it's also worth mentioning that SSQQ is a good bridge for grouping the timing with basic single-time swing. Because the music for both foxtrot and jitterbug can be simplified into one genre (big band), you can give beginners a smooth dance and a rhythm dance with the same timing.

But I have often wondered what the point SSQQ is for those that aspire to compete. Might as well start those people off with box rhythm and change steps.

Maybe we need to start another dance syllabus: International, American, and social-crash-course.
 
I did want to followup...

I had the same issues when I started learning paso doble. I'm thinking... these basic bronze steps are pretty simple and sorta odd. The one redeeming factor was of course the music. But after my instructor started teaching me the more complicated higher bronze-to-silver level steps, I really then started to enjoy it.

Of course I realize a year after taking those lessons with no followup, I can hardly do those basic steps... ;)

How about a class in bronze fox that is "crash course" speed with more "fun" steps? :)
 
msc said:
American bronze Waltz and Foxtrot are only useful for wedding couples, where there is often a relatively small floor. Anyone who goes to a ballroom party and uses bronze American foxtrot or waltz will feel awfully intimidated as older couples pass them 4 or 5 times during the song.
Click to expand...

That certainly is not the experience around here. Most people only know bronze waltz and foxtrot, so those people who try to travel that much faster are slowed down by the overwleming numbers of American Bronze dancers.

Kevin
 
Well, over here there are quite a few people who really know how to dance and just slip through the throngs. Then there is the majority who clog up the whole floor.
 
i didn't find bronze foxtrot usefull until i learned silver and gold foxtrot, and international (if there's any difference).

the bronze actually teaches control and balance, strength and timing. but unfortunately you don't realize how useful it is until you figure out how much balance and control you don't have, how weak your step is, and how ahead of the timing you are.

bronze allows for a lot of styling. the more time you're over a foot the more time you have to style your actions. but again when you're a beginner you have to idea what styling is, yet, so bronze seems dull.

so many times i've had silver students come to me for lessons and have had to back them down to bronze to gain control over their dancing before going forward with silver again. but they were very appreciative of the new found understanding and enjoyed their foxtrol much more.
 
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