Developed during the World War I in suburban New York, initially performed by Caribbean and African dancers. It eventually made its debut on the stage of American music-hall and immediately became popular in the ballrooms. The Charleston had a lot of influence on the development of Quickstep dance which is noted for its quick and lite foot movements. Based on a combination of straight and rotary movements this dance requires good control of posture and stamina. You can learn with our dance lessons online.
Quickstep basic step:
Video Transcript:
So the basic step to the Quickstep. Now it’s got a big long name. It’s called the Progressive Chasse and Quarter Turn or Quarter Turn and Progressive Chasse but let’s just call it the basic step. We’re going to dance it for you first. We’re going to move across the camera and slow, slow, quick, quick – slow, slow, quick, quick – slow, slow, quick, quick – slow, slow, quick, quick – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. So we begin by demonstrating and teaching the steps separately.
The man’s step: I will now describe to you the man’s step for the basic Quickstep. Everything in the standard dances: the Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Viennese Waltz, is based on directions around the ballroom. So here we have a direction called the “diagonal to wall.” This is our line of dance, where we are going when we are dancing, and this is diagonal wall – about 45-degrees. Basic step starting with the man’s left foot – we walk forward – left, walk forward, right.
Then we dance a series of steps, side-together-side called “chasse” and we do these steps up on the toes – quick, quick, slow. And you’ll notice I made a little quarter-turn to the right. Then we have the progressive chasse part – back right foot, slow and chasse, quick, quick, slow. And I continue with a walk and a chasse step, a walk and a chasse step, a walk, chasse step, a walk, chasse step. At the very beginning when I start to dance, I will dance two walks. Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, that will be the only time I will dance two walks. After that, its one walk and a chasse – one walk forward, right foot in front of left foot, and a chasse, and so on and so on.
Each time I do the chasse I make a small, I repeat, small turn – slow, quick, quick – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. And from the close up on my feet, you would be able to see the rise and fall, the up and down use of heels and toes to get the nice hovering effect.
Ladies’ step: So she begins by standing on her left foot and starting back on her right foot and dance for two walks. And slow, slow – now she will go up to her toes and dance the chasse to the side – quick, quick, slow. Notice she’s coming forward on the last step of the chasse and coming down, toe-heel, soft landing on that last step. She also made a little turn to the right. So, now she goes forward – left foot, slow – on the heel, up on the toes, dance the chasse – quick, quick, slow – and repeat the basic – a walk and a chasse – a walk and a chasse – a walk and a chasse. She will also show you that the only time she takes two walks is when she starts dancing.
This is called the “preparation walk.” She goes a walk, walk, and chasse step, one walk and a chasse step, a walk and a chasse step, a walk and a chasse step. Each time I say the word “chasse” it means a series of three little steps that can be danced sideways, forward or back. You will learn more about this as we continue. So dancing the basic step I have to show you one important thing – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. When we did that, the man went between the lady’s feet – slow, slow, quick, quick, – slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. But as we continue, the man’s right foot — [fades out]
