Bronze Foxtrot - why even teach it?

[Anonymous]

I used to be of the "bronze foxtrot isn't real foxtrot" school. Maybe I still am.

For competitive purposes, though, the MIT ballroom team has found that bronze foxtrot is an easily learned dance where you can work on some fundamentals early, like posture and basic timing. So I now think bronze foxtrot has its place for those purposes.

The MIT team tries to wean its rookies from bronze foxtrot to 'real' continuity foxtrot in the second semester. I think it would be difficult for most students to learn good continuity foxtrot much earlier, as it takes a while to build the necessary foot strength and balance, and continuity foxtrot timing is difficult for beginners. Similar reasoning might apply to social dancing.

On another issue, is there any way to change one's login name? I hadn't realized spaces were allowed, and now that I do, I'd like to use my full name....

Warren Dew

 

[pygmalion]

Hi wdew! Welcome.

Thanks for your comments on bronze foxtrot. I'm not supposed to be online now, so I'll log in and comment later, when I have more time. 8)

I'll send you a PM about the username.

Again, welcome. It's nice to have you with us.

Jenn

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Seems to have worked, thanks!

Looking forward to your comments.

 

[SDsalsaguy]

Welcome to the DF Warren!

 

[Sagitta]

I've already been taught some slow, quick, quick moves in beginners foxtrot by the ballroom club at cornell, such as the travelling twinkle or zig zag....where you have forward zig zags linked by a half basic, followed by backward zig zags for leader finishing with half a basic...then the twinkle to promenade...and I know a few good old standards such as the under arm turn...so they also have moved us along pretty fast I guess..

 

[DancePoet]

Found two reasons to teach bronze foxtrot yesterday.

I went to a ballroom dance fundraiser for charity. It was so crowded that when the band played foxtrot tunes it was very difficult to do much more then the basic bronze steps, particularly since almost everyone else seemed to be traveling at that speed.

Also, it was very easy to show a woman who had never danced before the basic foxtrot which enabled us to get around the floor. She was thrilled! Not sure it would have been as easy to show some of the more advanced steps and get her to dance as quickly. Now she wants to take lessons!

 

[KevinL]

Found two reasons to teach bronze foxtrot yesterday.

I went to a ballroom dance fundraiser for charity. It was so crowded that when the band played foxtrot tunes it was very difficult to do much more then the basic bronze steps, particularly since almost everyone else seemed to be traveling at that speed.

My dance teacher in California, Diane Jarmolow, told us about a gold level competitive couple who came to her with an interesting problem. They had gone to a wedding (or something) and hadn't been able to dance because they couldn't do anything small enough to avoid bumping into all the other people on the dance floor. After Diane (re-)taught them basic bronze social patterns they credited her with saving thier marriage.

Someone else mentioned that anyone doing bronze foxtrot would be lapped by people doing continuity foxtrot, and that may be true, but if everyone else is doing non-continuity, it is the continuity dancers who are the hazard.

Also, it was very easy to show a woman who had never danced before the basic foxtrot which enabled us to get around the floor. She was thrilled! Not sure it would have been as easy to show some of the more advanced steps and get her to dance as quickly. Now she wants to take lessons!

This is exactly why bronze foxtrot should be taught. It's easy! You can learn how to do _something_ without much effort, and it's a taste for what else you can do with dancing. If the goal is to train competition dancers than there might not be much point to bronze foxtrot, but most people are not competitive dancers, so just getting them moving is a very good thing.

Kevin

 

[pygmalion]

Good points, Kevin. I probably said this before in this thread (getting old and senile, so I don't remember LOL) But, even for aspiring competitive dancers, bronze foxtrot is a place to start.

Few people start reading books before they learn the alphabet, right? So why is dance (in this case, foxtrot) any different? You have to start somewhere. Gosh! I still remember my first dance lesson. Walking, just walking, which fifteeen minutes later had become a comfortable (still ugly, but comfortable) foxtrot basic. Bronze foxtrot is a place to start, whether your ultimate destination is social or competitive, I think. In bronze foxtrot, you get some basic building blocks which you can enhance later -- either by learning styling, different amalgamations, or by moving on to "higher level" foxtrot or other dances, depending on your goals.

 

[Porfirio Landeros]

I saw a dance couple, in open championship pro-am competition, begin their routine with the bronze basic figures. They did it as a "cute" intro, an homage if you will ;-)
I think it was Turtle and Ava...

Anyway, it worked, because it was kind of like, "See, you can do the bronze basics in competition [with a big grin on your face]!" After they did a couple of bronze figures, they flew away with the advanced choreography.

 

[SDsalsaguy]

[We now interupt your regularly scheduled topic for a special announcement...]

Love the new avatar shot porfirio!

[You are now being returned to your regularly scheduled topic...]

 

[DancePoet]

Hi Warren and welcome!

What is the story behind the picture you are using as an avatar?

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Thanks for the welcome, Poet!

The picture is the beginning of the exit from a left whisk. I figured that shrinking it to avatar size would hide my technical errors while still showing off the movement of my partner's beautiful dress.

 

[Kitty]

Thanks for the welcome, Poet!

The picture is the beginning of the exit from a left whisk. I figured that shrinking it to avatar size would hide my technical errors while still showing off the movement of my partner's beautiful dress.

NIce dress
Always wanted to ask this question: what do teams do about competition costumes? There were a lot of people in bronze wearing costumes. Did they buy them themselves?

 

[Chris Stratton]

College team Gowns

Always wanted to ask this question: what do teams do about competition costumes? There were a lot of people in bronze wearing costumes. Did they buy them themselves?

Most of the time when you see a gown on a bronze dancer at a collegiate comp, it is the property of her team, or on loan from a teammate, though as they advance many do buy a gown, perhaps a used one at first.

Many of the team gowns are actually donations, often from pro-am ladies in the community. Most are a few years out of current style, but still work as they were intended in their era. But there is some inequity between the teams here - not only in that the older and more established teams (MIT, Harvard, etc) have better collections, but also in that some teams have unique obstacles. For example, one school prohibits its student organizations from owning any property, so that team acutally had to turn down some offered donations.

Finally, there are gowns, and then there are gowns. Several people in the college team community have gotten into sewing things - while some of our efforts are amateurish, a few individuals have turned out near-professional creations.

 

[Kitty]

Re: College team Gowns

Most of the time when you see a gown on a bronze dancer at a collegiate comp, it is the property of her team, or on loan from a teammate, though as they advance many do buy a gown, perhaps a used one at first.

Many of the team gowns are actually donations, often from pro-am ladies in the community. Most are a few years out of current style, but still work as they were intended in their era. But there is some inequity between the teams here - not only in that the older and more established teams (MIT, Harvard, etc) have better collections, but also in that some teams have unique obstacles. For example, one school prohibits its student organizations from owning any property, so that team acutally had to turn down some offered donations.

We got one ballgown that was donated to our team. It doesn't fit anyone:-(.
So far our team has bought long skirts that are perfect for smooth and standard. The skirts look very good in newcomer and bronze, but not in silver. One of my teammates wore that skirt in silver at MIT - I couldn't find her on the floor!