How to Dance the Foxtrot:
A Beginner’s Guide to the Basic Step

The foxtrot is the smooth, walking ballroom dance you see at weddings, galas and on Dancing with the Stars. It looks effortless because it’s built on something you already do every day: walking. This guide teaches the beginner version most social dancers learn first, the American social foxtrot basic, with diagrams, a practice track and a five-minute drill you can do in your living room.

You don’t need a partner, experience or natural rhythm to start. You just need a little floor space and the count.

What you’ll learn

Step 1: Learn the count before the feet

Foxtrot music is in 4/4 time: four beats in every bar. The steps come in two speeds. As Encyclopaedia Britannica explains, slow steps take a half note (two beats) and quick steps take a quarter note (one beat).

The beginner basic is slow, slow, quick, quick. Add it up and you get six beats, which is how the Cal State Long Beach social dance lesson teaches it: count 1-2-3-4-5-6 and step on 1, 3, 5 and 6.

Step 2: Get into dance position

For the social foxtrot, partners start in closed position, facing each other. The beginner frame described in the CSULB lesson looks like this:

• The leader’s right hand rests on the follower’s back, around the shoulder blade.
• The follower’s left hand rests on the leader’s upper arm.
• The leader’s left hand holds the follower’s right hand at about eye level.
• Stand slightly offset, so each person’s feet travel between their partner’s feet instead of toward their toes.

Keep the arms steady and toned, not stiff. That steady frame is how the follower feels where the leader is going, so the leader moves the body and the arms simply come along.

Step 3: The leader’s basic, step by step

Start: feet together, weight on your right foot, so your left foot is free to move.

1. Slow (beats 1-2): walk forward onto your left foot. Let the heel arrive first, the way it does in a confident walk.
2. Slow (beats 3-4): walk forward onto your right foot, passing your left foot.
3. Quick (beat 5): take a small step to the side with your left foot.
4. Quick (beat 6): close your right foot to your left and put your weight on it. Your left foot is free again, ready to repeat.

Say it out loud: “Slow, slow, quick-quick.” The quicks are small; the slows do the traveling.

Step 4: The follower’s basic, step by step

Start: feet together, weight on your left foot, so your right foot is free to move.

1. Slow (beats 1-2): step back onto your right foot, reaching back with the toe first.
2. Slow (beats 3-4): step back onto your left foot, passing your right foot.
3. Quick (beat 5): take a small step to the side with your right foot.
4. Quick (beat 6): close your left foot to your right and put your weight on it. Your right foot is free again, ready to repeat.

Your part is the mirror image of the leader’s. When you dance together, you face each other, so the leader’s forward is your back.

Step 5: Put it together

Once each part feels easy on its own, take hold and dance it together. The leader walks forward on the slows while the follower walks back, then both take the small side-close on the quicks. Do four basics in a row, stop, smile, and do four more.

Some teachers start beginners with a box step counted slow, quick, quick instead, as shown in NC State’s Social Dance text. Both are real foxtrot. Learn one well first; your instructor will tell you which version you’re practicing.

Watch the count-along lesson (under 3 minutes)

This short video walks both parts step by step, then counts along with you at a slow practice tempo and again at dance tempo. Press play and dance along; captions are available.

The foxtrot is a walking dance first. If you can walk to music, you can foxtrot.

Hear the counts: two practice tracks

These original practice tracks (no music, just tones) play the basic for you. After four soft count-in clicks, a low tone marks each slow, a soft tick fills its second beat, and two brighter tones mark the quicks. Press play, stand up, and walk the pattern. Neither track plays automatically.

Common mistakes and quick fixes

Your five-minute practice

Practicing in a small space? These tips on practicing ballroom at home in a small space help, and if the beat is the hard part, read why some songs make the beat hard to find.

Music, clothes and where you’ll dance it

The steps are only half the picture. Here’s what to play, what to wear, and where the foxtrot will actually come in handy.

What music works for the foxtrot?

Look for a smooth song with a steady 4/4 beat you can walk to: big band, swing, jazz standards and classic crooners are the natural home of the foxtrot. Competition foxtrot is set faster or slower by style. The NDCA tempos listed by Ballroom Pages are 28 bars per minute (112 beats) for International and 30 bars per minute (120 beats) for American Smooth. For practice, pick a song that feels comfortable to walk.

Song suggestions from Ballroom Pages’ foxtrot music guide. Tempos vary by recording, so test yours: if you can count a steady “1, 2, 3, 4” and walk to it without rushing, it will work. The practice tracks above are a good warm-up first.

What should you wear?

Avoid rubber soles, flip-flops and chunky or loose heels, which stick, slip or twist. Advice drawn from Supadance’s guide to dressing for ballroom, Ballroom Pages’ dress guide and the Berkeley Classic competition rules.

Where will you dance the foxtrot?

• Weddings. With the right relaxed 4/4 song, the foxtrot makes a lovely first dance or parent dance: a few traveling basics and a gentle turn look polished without a big routine. See wedding dance lessons and our guide to choosing a father-daughter or mother-son dance style.
• Galas, holiday parties and formal events. When the band plays a smooth standard, the foxtrot is the dance that fits. Here’s how to get ready for a gala dance floor.
• Ballroom socials and big-band nights. Monthly ballroom dances, variety dances and big-band dinner nights around the Twin Cities regularly play foxtrots. Find them on Where to Go Dancing in the Twin Cities.
• Competitions. Foxtrot is danced in both American Smooth and International Standard events, including the Pro-Am events where students dance with their teacher.

Because it’s danced in closed position with small, controlled steps, the social foxtrot fits a crowded floor better than most ballroom dances.

Which foxtrot is this? Social, Smooth and International

“Foxtrot” covers a few related styles. This lesson teaches the first one. The others build on the same walking feel.

Sources: Ballroom Pages on Smooth vs. Standard, DanceVision’s foxtrot guide and the WDSF competition rules (PDF).

Next steps

Sources & Further Reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Fox-trot. 4/4 time, slow and quick steps, the Harry Fox story.
• Kaye West and Larry Caves, “Lesson 1: Want to Learn to Dance?” (Cal State Long Beach, PDF). The six-count social foxtrot and beginner frame.
• Peggy Domingue, Social Dance, “Foxtrot” (NC State Pressbooks). The slow-quick-quick box step and early history.
• DanceVision: How to Dance Foxtrot. Leader and follower basic; American vs. International tempo.
• Ballroom Pages: American Smooth vs. International Standard. Hold and position differences.
• World DanceSport Federation competition rules (PDF). Slow Foxtrot tempo, 28-30 bars per minute.
• Ballroom Pages: Foxtrot Music. NDCA competition tempos and songs to try.
• Supadance: How to Dress for Ballroom Dancing. Lesson clothes and shoes.
• Berkeley Classic: Competition Rules and Guidelines. An example of costume limits by level.
• Library of Dance: Foxtrot Through the Ages. The debate over the dance’s name.