Page:Social Dancing of To-day (1914) Kinney.djvu/31

Rh proceed with the actual mechanism of the dances, of which the first to be considered is

1. (invented and introduced by Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle). This is a walking step of direct advance and retreat, not used to move to the side. The couple are in closed position, the woman, therefore, stepping backward as the man steps forward, and vice versa. The advancing foot is planted in fourth position, the knee straight, the toe down so that the ball of the foot strikes the floor first. The walk presents an appearance of strutting, although the shoulders are held level, and the body firm; a sharp twist that punctuates each step is effected by means of pivoting on the supporting foot. The shoulder and hip movements that originally characterised the "trot" are no longer practiced.

In all the following floor-plan diagrams, the right foot is indicated by solid black, the left foot by outline.

2. is a walking step, pivoting on one foot to change direction.

The right foot comes from the preceding step to the place of starting; while it makes two successive long steps (1, 2) the left foot turns "on its place." The turn's completion brings the right foot into anterior fourth position. The woman's steps are the converse of the man's, her left foot making the long steps, while her