The foxtrot
is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements
across the dance floor. It is danced to big band
(usually vocal) music, and the feeling is one of elegance and sophistication.
The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm
is 4/4
instead of 3/4 time. Dancing the slow foxtrot well takes a high level of
technical expertise as well as a lot of dance experience and physical skill.
Developed in the 1920's, the foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the
1930's, and is today a favourite of many dedicated dancers.
The exact origin of the
name of the dance is unclear, although one theory is that took its name from
its popularizer, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox.
Two sources credit
African American dancers as the source of the Fox Trot: Vernon Castle himself,
and then dance teacher Betty Lee. Castle saw the dance, which "had been
danced by negroes, to his personal knowledge, for fifteen years," at
"a certain exclusive colored club".
The dance was premiered
in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature
grace and style.
At its inception, the
foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime. Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the
same big band
music to which swing is also danced.
From the late teens
through the 1940s, the foxtrot was certainly the most popular fast dance and
the vast majority of records issued during these years were foxtrots. The waltz and tango,
while popular, never overtook the foxtrot. Even the popularity of the lindy hop
in the 1940s did not affect the foxtrot's popularity, since it could be danced
to the same records used to accompany the lindy hop.
When rock
and roll first emerged in the early 1950s, record companies were uncertain
as to what style of dance would be most applicable to the music. Notably, Decca
Records initially labeled its rock and roll releases as
"foxtrots", most notably "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets. Since that
recording, by some estimates, went on to sell more than 25 million copies,
"Rock Around the Clock" could be considered the biggest-selling
"foxtrot" of all time.
Today I listened to Wingy Manone [originally Mannone - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingy_Manone] for the first time on Penelope's Sunday radio show [http://www.republicradio.gr] and while searching for his music on the internet I realized that all his songs were listed as Fox Trot, even the ones that were encouraging the listeners to "swing it", hence the post about foxtrot. Here's Swing, Brother, Swing!
James (Jim) Flora is
best-known for his wild jazz and classical album covers for Columbia
Records (late 1940s) and RCA Victor (1950s). He
authored and illustrated 17 popular children's books and flourished for decades
as a magazine illustrator. Few realize, however, that Flora (1914-1998) was
also a prolific fine artist with a devilish sense of
humor and a flair for juxtaposing playfulness, absurdity
and violence. Cute -
and deadly.
Flora's
album covers pulsed with angular hepcats bearing funnel-tapered noses and
shark-fin chins who fingered cockeyed pianos
and honked lollipop-hued horns. Yet this childlike exuberance was subverted by
a tinge of the diabolic. Flora wreaked havoc with
the laws of physics, conjuring flying musicians, levitating instruments, and wobblydimensional perspectives.
Taking liberties with human anatomy, he drew bonded bodies
and misshapen heads, while inking ghoulish
skin tints and grafting mutant appendages. He was not averse to
pigmenting jazz legends Benny Goodman and Gene
Krupa like bedspread patterns. On some Flora figures, three
legs and five arms were standard equipment, with spare eyeballs
optional. His rarely seen fine artworks reflect the same comic yet disturbing
qualities. "He was a monster,"
said artist and Floraphile JD King. So were many of his creations.
All text and illustrations come
from this wonderful site dedicated to his art: www.jimflora.com
