Country-western two-step

"Texas two-step" redirects here. For other uses, see Texas two-step (disambiguation).
Drum pattern known as the "Texas three-step" due to its association with the dance step[1] Playⓘ

The country/western two-step, often called the Texas two-step[2] or simply the two-step,[3] is a country/western dance usually danced to country music in common time. "Traditional [Texas] two-step developed, my theory goes, because it is suited to fiddle and guitar music played two-four time with a firm beat [found in country music]. One-two, one-two, slide-shuffle.[4] The two-step is related to the polka, the Texas waltz, and the jitterbug.[5]

The Texas two-step is the same step known to ballroom dancers as the international fox-trot. Except for the one-step, which is just that, most Texas dances are variations of a two-step, also called a half-step, which is simply a step-close-step. The Texas two-step is generally done with two long steps and a step-close-step to two-four time. Speeded up, it's a shuffle or double shuffle, but still a two-step.[5]

As with other country/western dances, there are many different versions of two step across the United States, and there may be no one truly "correct" way to perform a particular dance. Even individual dance halls may have their own unique variations which they consider correct.[6]

  1. ^ Strong, Jeff (2011). Drums For Dummies, p.111. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471794110.
  2. ^ Casey, Betty (1985). Dance Across Texas, p.106. University of Texas. ISBN 9780292715516. "The Texas Shuffle step was formerly called a foxtrot step and has erroneously been called Texas Two-Step. This error causes confusion because this dance is entirely different from the real two-step as danced in the forward-moving section of Cotton-Eyed Joe, Cowboy Polka (Jessie Polka), and other dances."
  3. ^ Scheff, Helene; Sprague, Marty; and McGreevy-Nichols, Susan (2010). Exploring Dance Forms and Styles: A Guide to Concert, World, Social, and Historical Dance, p.222. Human Kinetics. ISBN 9780736080231. "The Texas Two-step is the most widely known and performed dance in North America. There are really two histories of what is called 'two step dance,' because the name jumped from one type of dance that is no longer done to another that is done, called the Texas Two-step or collegiate Fox-trot. The original Two-step was a simple dance that caught on with the public when John Philip Sousa came out with the 'Washington Post March' in 1891."
  4. ^ Flemmons, Jerry (2000). Curmudgeon in Corduroy: The Best of Jerry Flemmons' Texas, p.67. TCU. ISBN 9780875652177.
  5. ^ a b Chadwick, Susan (Aug 1985). "The Two-Step", Texas Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 8, p.128. Emmis. ISSN 0148-7736.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOGTCDS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).