Page:Modern Dancing (1914) Castle.djvu/77

Rh the graceful form of a young and beautiful female.

At the present day a new form of the dance has crowded out the old-fashioned Waltz. It is the Hesitation Waltz. Before I go any further I want to admit being no great authority on this dance; I only try to explain the way it is done by the best dancers. Every one seems to do it differently, and I know at least four persons, whose word I would swear by, who assure me that they are the originators of the Hesitation. In fact, my wife and I seem to be the only dancers who have not had a hand (or a foot) in this sometimes beautiful and much-abused dance.

The dancers assume the ordinary plain Waltz position. Then the man steps back with the right foot, taking two steps on two counts, alternating the right and left foot; then he moves forward two steps—right foot, left foot—again allowing each step to fill in one count of the music. Thus, to be very explicit, four counts have been occupied, but the steps should not be directly forward and backward, leaving you in the same position; you should turn and travel just a little. For the next two counts the gentleman allows his weight to rest on his left foot. This creates the