Three Steps Two Ways in Foxtrot, New Vogue, & Sequence

Ballroom Blitz #142

Three Steps Two Ways in Foxtrot, New Vogue, & Sequence - Apr 17, 2025

Transcript

Ian: Hey, boys and girls on the interwebs. My name's Ian,

Lindsey: and I'm Lindsey,

Ian: and welcome to...

Ian & Lindsey: Ballroom Blitz.

Ian: Welcome back Blitzers. Today we are going into the realm of Foxtrot. We're going to have a look at a Blitz that we did many, many Blitzes ago, and I will leave a link in the description for you. We're going to be re looking at the Three Step.

Now the Three Step appears in many dances. However, if you haven't danced a lot of New Vogue here in the Australia, New Zealand region, then you may have only really come across it in the Slow Foxtrot. Now, even that is problematic. I have here our very, very well used Ballroom Technique from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and I have here a slightly more pristine Guy Howard book of the Basic Principles in Foxtrot; and I got this idea for this redo from the fact that these two books tell you that the Three Step is done differently. So, considering we have an international ballroom dancing standardization set of figures that people dance all over the world, when two guiding principle books tell you that they're different, what do you do?

Well, we're going to fall back on the basic, basic principles, and we're going to have a look at the differences and the similarities so that if you are at all confused or if the way our previous Blitz handled [the] Three Step was not the way you learned, hopefully this will demystify it for you. So, let's do a semi-shallow mainly a bit deep dive into Three Steps... again.

Ian: So, a Three Step has three steps, which is hilarious because I know of at least one resource that tells you a Three Step has four steps, so we can start to see where the confusion begins. A Three Step as it is in Australian and New Zealand New Vogue dancing, Sequence Dancing, and as it's handled in the I.S.T.D. book is three steps danced Quick. Quick. Slow. Heel. Toe. Heel; and we can put a lot of different other things on that as to exactly how you do it, but that is consistent between Slow Foxtrot in the I.S.T.D. book, and it is consistent with New Vogue, whether it's Waltz or Foxtrot or March. A lot of the Marches that will be four even beats, so even there, there's a little bit of room to move, but you will definitely get the Heel. Toe. Heel, even if the March version is even beats.

Now, in the Guy Howard books, it gives you Slow. Quick. Quick; so, straightaway they've taken the slow that was at the end of one reference, and they've banged it at the front of the other. Now this is fine. In this case, instead of starting the figure on a Quick which in a Foxtrot means you've kind of had to drive and produce power somewhere, somehow in the previous figure, which kind of makes it a bit disconnected. The way Guy Howard deals with it is we're going to drive first, and then we're going to take two quick steps, so it makes a bit more sense; Drive, and then Quick, Quick. The trouble with doing it that way is you now get a sequence of Heel. Heel. Toe. So you get a middle Heel that's a bit anti kind of everything. It's inconsistent. We usually start figures on Heel steps and you don't get a lot of quicker heels in the Modern Ballrooms. Occasionally you get a quick heel in Foxtrot, but it's not common, and so this version of the Three Step really leans into that. You're going to have a slow driving heel and then a quick heel after that to stop you from rising up too much.

So you will have been taught one of these ways; and probably if you're dancing a lot of New Vogue, it's the Quick. Quick. Slow. and if New Vogue’s like, what is that? I don't even know what that is. You've probably, stuck to this Drive. Quick. Quick version. The big impact, I think, for Slow Foxtrot is if you dance the Slow. Quick. Quick version, and the version that I am now tending to prefer, you stick to driving on the bar so you don't have to start your Three Step in the middle of a bar after having already done a previous figure and ending it with a slow step; so it has that flow in that consistency. It usually means that if you're dancing Feather and Three Step in a slow foxtrot, you kind of cut off the last step of your Feather, but how you integrate your Slow Foxtrot steps is what makes it interesting for some and frustrating for others; so, I'll let you talk to your individual instructor about how exactly you do that.

Ian: But, we're going to give you a little bit of a demonstration, and hopefully that will demystify the previous video, with this video. And that way you can pick which one you prefer so that your three steps become nice and easy to remember and flow like they should in a slow foxtrot. But work functionally like they should. If you're dancing, you evoke another sequence. So, if we have a quick revision of what we did in the previous Three Step video, that was the I.S.T.D. version, starting with the timing for our New Vogue, that's consistent with our sequence and New Vogue. [It] starts on the leader's right foot, it has a quick heel, then a toe, then a settling heel looks a little bit like this. Quick. Quick. Slow.

If we take that slow and we put it at the start and we say, okay, we're going to drive into it, then suddenly leaders, you will start your Three Step on the left with a power production step, a driving step. You're going to get a quick heel on the right to keep you low and not rising, and then we're going to settle on a toe ready to drive out, in the following figure. So that would look a little bit like this. Slow. Quick. Quick.

Ian: Now, it should be said that if you are doing Three Steps in a New Vogue or a Sequence, you know when they're coming up and they are isolated because they're going to have different moves before them. Sometimes they will finish with an Aerial, and they will have specialized sequence moves, coming after them. If you were to witness this in a Slow Foxtrot, it would not matter how the dancers think, or feel, or believe, where their Three Step starts and finishes, it should still flow and stretch.

You will still have a drive into it. There should still be a quick heel in the middle, and you will prepare a drive after it. So, however, you think about your Three Steps and your Feathers, that's okay, we still want that nice, stretchy, oozy, smooth, result. So, if you prefer Quick. Quick. Slow, Heel. Toe. Heel, as consistent with New Vogue, stick with that.

If you're thinking no, I really need my Slow Fox to start with a drive, we want to be more compact with the bars and have a Slow. Quick. Quick, that's our four beats, and then another Slow. Quick. Quick, that's another four beats; then try the Guy Howard version, starting with the slower and having that quick heel in the middle. They really should both work the same, but sometimes changing the way you think about the same move will just give you better results, because you are calmer and more, more happier with it as you're dancing through it.

Ian: So give it a go both ways, if this has changed how, you see a Three Step if you have comments either way, whether you're a New Vouger or not, do let us know. If you would like us to revisit any of the other Blitzes we've done, because maybe there's a different way to go about something, or maybe something's called a slightly different name where you're from, then let us know that too; we're happy to revisit and make it all nice and workable for you. So, try it out on the floor, keep dancing, do get up and try your social Slow Foxtrot, it is a lovely dance, and it is best when it's nice and flowy and smooth, so always aim for that. Until the next time, stay on the floor, and we will catch you in the next Blitz.

Ian: Well, guys and gals, that's it for today's blitz. Don't forget to like,

Lindsey: comment,

Ian: share,

Lindsey: and subscribe!

Ian: Keep dancing.

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