Jo Willacy is our deputy editor turned dancer. Jo fills us in on all things shuffles, swings and sequins. This week, she and her husband attempt to master the Foxtrot.
The Foxtrot. One of the dances that, when watching it danced beautifully (I’m thinking Strictly pros, and ballroom dancing aficionados, Erin Boag and Anton du Beke), first made me want to learn to dance. It was elegance and grace personified. Unfortunately, there’s nothing elegant or graceful about the way Gav and I dance it yet, but it’s a work in progress. It’s a dance that we – in fact all the couples in our class – find particularly tricky. The first sequence of steps we learnt, about a year ago, were affectionately named ‘the 12 steps of doom’ by our teacher, Maxine. But, despite the fearful name, those steps are forever etched in my mind – even if my feet won’t quite play ball.
I have a confession to make. The ratio of laughing to dancing at this week’s lesson was heavily (and I mean heavily) weighted on laughter’s side – but, we still learnt a lot. They say you never forget a good teacher. It’s true – I don’t think I’ll ever forget Maxine telling the men folk of our class to ‘foxtrot their way to the train station in the morning’, adding, ‘I love it when people walk like musicals’.
She swore blind that the foxtrot (for the men) is just walking – ‘s-l-o-w, foxtrot, s-l-o-w, foxtrot’ – as they never close their feet. For us women, it’s a tad more difficult – heel turns, for one – but practising to Sinatra’s ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ doesn’t half help the mood, transporting me (yes, I admit it, I’m an old romantic) from our lesson’s dusty school hall in Hertfordshire to the glamour of 1930s Hollywood. And seeing as ‘I’ve got you....’, the classic Cole Porter song, was written for the musical, Born to Dance, Maxine’s ‘walk like a musical’ remark is somehow more fitting than she might have realised.
Despite not having mastered the foxtrot quite yet, one thing’s for sure, dancing has undeniably got under my skin.
Picture credit: PA images
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About the author
Jo Willacy is our very own deputy editor turned dancer. Jo fills us in on all things shuffles, swings and sequins as she – and her husband – progress from rookies at rumba to stars at salsa.
