Quickstep is the most joyous and lively of the Ballroom dances. Potentially a riot of intricate and inventive steps, Quickstep lives up to its nickname, Trickstep. The Quickstep grew out of the Foxtrot in the years after the First World War as the Foxtrot music was played faster: a bifurcation occurred leaving us with a slow dance (Slow Foxtrot) and a fast dance (Quickstep).

Quickstep is set to 4/4 music. The 1st beat of the bar is the strongest but the 3rd beat is quite strong too. The contrast between strong and weak beats is not as great as it is in the case of Foxtrot. The tempo is close to 50 bars per minute, much faster than Foxtrot. Hence Quickstep.

On occasion we teach the basic of this dance in the beginners classes. However, timing can be an issue: inexperienced dancers tend to move too fast through the quicks and end up out of time. On the positive side it really is a fun energetic dance. On balance we prefer to teach Quickstep in a continuation course.

The Quickstep basic will probably be your first introduction to outside partner steps. All the forward and backward steps you will have learnt until now will have been taken inline with partner. Outside partner steps present a challenge: the lady must stay in front of the gentleman; you must not end up thigh to thigh.

Careful control of the alignment of your standing foot is another technical aspect you will develop when learning Quickstep. The alignment of the standing foot on the last step of the chassé is crucial if the next forward or backward step is to be danced correctly. Foot alignment is so important that Ballroom figures are standardised by being based on the alignment of the feet (with respect to the room) and not on the alignment of the body.