Waiting for the Arrival of Something New

Bradish Carrol, Nov. 1914:

                                   "It came out of the sky or up from the earth last June and 

                                    started badly handicapped. It is now, with the exception

                                    of its rival - the One Step, the most popular dance on the boards.

                                    The dancing public was beginning to crave for a new dance. It was

                                    not weary of the satisfactory one-step, that is a dance that is fresh

                                    every day, new every hour, but variety being the condiment of life,

                                    everyone cried out for a new thriller. And thus the fox trot came

                                    into being."

By the start of 1914, revellers were weary of the the boring dances of the past season:

                                   "Society has tired of the Fish Walk, the Tango and other modern

                                    dances, and turned with relief to the “Double Shuffle".

                                    This variation of the old-fashioned negro dance, now appears in the

                                    fashionable drawing rooms of Connecticut Ave." - Washington Post

The dancing public had not taken to 'La Furlana', the 'Ta Tao', 'La Russe', 'Lu-lu Fado',
'Brazillian Maxixe', 'Havana Rumba', 'Half and Half', and 'Argentine Tango'. They were
tired of the Canter Waltz, Syncopated Waltz, Boston Hesitation Waltz, the Grizzly Bear,
Turkey Trot, Horse Trot, Pony Trot, Pavlova Gavotte, just to name a few. Those dances
that had resilience were the French Tango and the popular Rag dance just called the One Step.
Add to the latter a few variations like the 'Jingles', the 'Twinkle' and 'Lay-Over-Sal' and the
mood was set for the arrival of the masses to the Fox Trotters Ball.

   

     

The Myth of Mr Fox

There was a time when Harry Fox was the darling of Broadway. His hey-dey was during the period 1911-1917. He has often been wrongly cited as the originator of the Fox Trot, such as in this excerpt from Social Dance: A Short History, A. H. Franks, 1962, London:
"It might have been thought a fairly simple matter to trace the origins of a dance which was not born until 1914, but the Foxtrot, in common with so many of its predecessors, defies this kind of simple detective work. Possibly the most convincing story of its origin is that a comedian named Harry Fox, who worked in the Ziegfield Follies, introduced in 1913 a number of trotting steps accompanied by rag-time music into his act, and that this strange kind of movement became known as Fox's Trot."

Harry Fox was primarily a comedian, who was a passable singer, who could dance a little. In 1913 he appeared in the hit Broadway musical "Honeymoon Express," which ran from 6 Feb - 15 Jun 1913. At the conclusion of the show's run, he partnered with one of the famous Dolly Sisters for a run in the vaudeville circuit - where he always felt most at home. He and Yancsi Dolly joked, sang and danced across the Orpheum Circuit between LA and New York over the 10 months from June 1913 - April 1914. Back in the Big Apple, both were employed for a month-long run at the prestigeous New York Theatre. Harry was thrown into the Picture House on the ground floor to enliven the movie-goers between flicks. Yansci was employed in the Roof Garden dance hall. In May 1914, Harry obtained a divorce in the NY Supreme Court from his first wife Lydia, and immediately announced his engagement to Yancsi Dolly, whome he wed on August 26th of that year.
Harry Fox never appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1913, nor 1914. Nor did he introduce trotting steps to his act. During his lifetime, Harry never once claimed to have invented the Fox Trot, which is pretty amazing considering the number of people who did claim credit for originating this enduring dance!            

Darktown Goes Midtown

Since the Civil War, Afro-American musicians grew in importance on the modern fabric of the nation. Though many musicians became integral voices in New York dance bands after the Ragtime phenomenon, it was not until 1914, that an entire Afro-American ensemble cast, performed on the musical stage in Manhattan. Excerpts from 'The Darktown Follies' production, under the direction of J. Leubrie Hill, were inserted into Ziegfeld's Follies of 1914, and caused so much fervour that the whole production was given a short-lived run in mid-Manhattan, commencing June 15, at the Bijou Theatre. This coincided with the first national "Negro Dancing Competition", held June 17, at the Grand Central Palace.  




                                      Negroes in Dancing Match

                                    The largest gathering of negro dancers ever held in New York will

                                    take place at the Grand Central Palace next Wednesday night. Then

                                    there will be a competition in the one step, tango, hesitation waltz,

                                    and maxixe. One thousand couples will compete for the $500

                                    which is offered in prizes. There are two rules for eligibility.

                                    Evening dress is compulsory and only Negroes will be admitted to

                                    the competition There will be an orchestra of  thirty-five negro

                                    musicians and a jury of twelve negro politicians, actors, and

                                    dancing teachers.

                                                                                   - Kansas City Star, June 12, 1914

 Florenz Zeigfeld's Follies were important productions that opened the N.Y. summer theatre season
 every year. Eagerly anticipated for his gorgeous dancers, lavish sets, eyebrow raising satire, and
 toe-tapping musical scores, the shows were as talked about in the press from Coast to Coast, as the
 Oscars are talked about today.
 Famous dancers from the Zeigfeld Follies included Vera Mexwell, (“Most beautiful of American
 Girls”, asserted by renown Parisian painter Paul Helieu), Florence Walton, Joan Sawyer, Margaret
 Morris, Mae Murray, Beatrice Allen and Bonnie Glass. All were high exponents of the modern
 ballroom dances, and part of the Fox Trot revolution.
 At the end of 1913, Darktown Follies opened at the LaFayette Theatre in Harlem which attracted
 Florenz Zeigfeld, who was looking for something exciting to include in his 'Follies of 1914'. He
 purchased the whole finale, and had J Leubrie Hill write some more pieces for his show. A cracking
 One Step number called, 'At the Ball, That's All' was a brillant show-stopper, and firmly shoved
 J Leubrie Hill into the limelight.
 It would come to pass that an African-American musician would pen the world's first Fox Trot!

     

NEW YORK CITY: 1914 - The Climax Arrives

  Vernon and Irene Castle were the King & Queen of New York danceland, but they weren't in town during the summer of '14, instead they were 'en-tour' in France when the crescendo rose.
  It was a hot summer; the seaside was enticing; the Rag was rampant, and dancers flocked to the Roof Gardens of Manhattan for their addictive pleasure.
  The birth of the Fox Trot was long expected, but arrived quietly. Many men claimed to be the father, but there was only one birth-mother, and she soon put the baby up for adoption.
  This is a fascinating story! Not so much, "slow, slow, quick, quick" but more "Slow Drag - Get Over Sal - Take me to the Fox Trot Ball."