Quick Step History

The Quickstep is probably the most lively of all the Standard Dances and one of the most popular ballroom dances. The Quickstep was originally a march which became popular about 1850. It was mainly used to celebrate dignitaries, Presidents, Military, Exhibitions, Regiments, Heroes, etc.

The popular and elegant ballroom dance known as the Quickstep looks in many ways like a faster version of another dance, the Foxtrot. Although the two dances share similarities, the Quickstep has a history all its own, with roots dating back to the Ragtime era of the early 20th century.

Foxtrot developed and people began to dance with different versions, the slower version became known as the Slow Foxtrot. Further variations developed, however, such as when the Slow Foxtrot was played too fast by many bands and orchestras. The faster version was then known as the Quick-Time Foxtrot, and this was further simplified to the Quick Step .

Quick Step has been influenced by so many different dances which eventually combined elements of the Foxtrot, Charleston, Waltz, March, One Step, Peabody, Black Bottom, and others. While the Foxtrot was from America, the definitive version of the Quick Step was actually developed in England. Foxtrot was brought to London by American dancers G.K. Anderson and Josephine Bradley in dance competitions, winning numerous trophies. The English preferred new dances from America and put their own flavor on them.

Quick Step gradually evolved into a very dynamic cance with a lot of movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum and rotation. The tempo of Quickstep dance is rather brisk as it was developed to ragtime era jazz music which is fast-paced when compared to other dance music.

The Charleston, another dance popular during the 1920’s, also influenced the Quickstep. The English developed the Quickstep by combining the Foxtrot with elements of the Charleston. The Quickstep was standardized in 1927.

The English developed the Quickstep from the original Charleston as a progressive dance without kicks and mixed in the fast Foxtrot. They called this dance "the QuickTime Foxtrot and Charleston". English couple Frank Ford and Molly Spain danced a version of the QuickTime Foxtrot and Charleston without the characteristic Charleston knee actions and made it a dance for two instead of a solo at the 'Star' Championships of 1927.

The name Quickstep appeared in this form for the first time on the international dance stage in 1927. This was the true birth of the Quickstep. Gradually this dance lost the knee movements still characteristic for the Charleston. From 1928 on, one spoke either only of Quickstep or only of Foxtrot. Quickstep and Foxtrot were from then on two separate dances. Finally, the great conference in 1929 made a clear separation between the two. The Quickstep kept the Chassé – a ballet movement composing of one or more quick gliding steps and the Foxtrot was given its characteristic open steps.

The Quickstep is a popular dance among the audience. It might not have the dignity of the other English style dances, but it seems light, weightless, playful, and always creates a good mood, especially among the audience. Compared to the Foxtrot it is more willing to adopt new influences from the outside into its style.