Two Step

If there were a dance called Country Fox Trot, it would look a lot like Two Step. Both dances are really more about stylish heel-first strolling than dancing, and both share a slow, slow, quick-quick rhythm.

The only real difference in the basic step is the Fox Trot’s sidestep-close on the quick-quick beat. With two-step, you keep progressing forward.

Dance floors, like everything else in Texas, are huge, but this is one fast-traveling dance, and partners moving in a counter-clockwise line of dance cover a lot of ground.

The music, of course, is as different as Frank Sinatra and Hal Ketchum. Two step music has an almost metronomic clip-clop beat. Foxtrot music has two soft beats, then two emphatic beats. (When the shark bites with his teeth dear).

And even if the footwork isn’t that complicated, it’s still a partner style dance that depends on the man’s lead for its success. On his cue, the lady twirls and spins, and if his timing is off, there’s little she can do to correct the situation.

Another good tip for couples is to stay away from the cowboy boot/open-toe dance shoe combination until the man acquires enough skills to reduce the risk of kicking a toenail off by mistake.

Here are a few samples

Chattahoochie by Alan Jackson
Goin’ Through the Big D by Mark Chestnutt
Mercury Blues by Alan Jackson
Past the Point of Rescue by Hal Ketchum
Should Have Asked Her Faster by Ty England
Small Town Saturday Night by Hal Ketchum
When the Wrong One Loves You Right by Wade Hayes

Listen to a music sample