Foxtrot

 

Foxtrot

                                        Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The Foxtrot is a ballroom dance originally danced to ragtime. It was first danced in public in 1914 and was named after its originator, the vaudeville entertainer, Harry Fox.  From its inception until the 1940s it was the most popular fast dance, combining quick short steps with longer flowing ones.  Most of the records produced in this period were foxtrots.

In the early 1950s rock and roll made its debut. Record companies were unsure which style of dancing would best fit the music, but Decca Records decided to classify their rock and roll discs as foxtrots. Thus, Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ was called a foxtrot. It is estimated that the recording sold more than twenty-five million copies of the song to become the biggest selling foxtrot of all time.  

Have you seen a fox trot
Neatly through the night,
Keeping out of eyeshot
And the farm dog’s bite?

Red coat and sharp black nose,
Bushy tail held straight,
Fleet of foot on soft toes,
Dinner can’t be late.

Now the henhouse beckons,
All the hens asleep,
Reynard swiftly reckons -
How many will he reap?

One, two, three or seven?
Hungry cubs await
Chicken supper heaven!
Then he hears, too late

The farmer’s heavy footfalls,
The roaring of his gun,
The beating of his heart stalls -
Reynard’s life is done.

JC