Cross-step waltz (originally, the French Valse Boston) is a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of European partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and te ...

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, performed primarily in

closed position In partner dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other. Closed positions employ either body contact or body support, that is, holding each other is ...

, to slower tempo

waltz music A waltz, probably deriving from German '' Ländler'', is dance music in triple meter, often written in time. A waltz typically sounds one chord per measure, and the accompaniment style particularly associated with the waltz is (as seen in th ...

(around 110 to 120

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

). It is characterized by a " primary cross-step" where the

Lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

role crosses the right foot over the left, as the Follow role crosses the left foot over the right, on the first count of the musical measure. Cross-step waltz can travel and rotate like traditional

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

es, while the dynamic of the cross-step facilitates a wide range of traveling variations.

History

Cross-step waltz evolved in the early 20th century. In 1914, the "Cross Walk Boston" waltz created by Frank H. Norman foreshadowed the cross-step waltz. In the Cross Walk Boston, the Lead crossed his left foot over his right, stepped right with his right foot, and closed left to right. This was then repeated with the right foot. There is no indication that Norman's step evolved into the modern cross-step waltz but it is an early example of a cross-step waltz. Cross-steps in general appeared between 1910 and the 1920s in the American

one-step The One-Step was a ballroom dance popular in social dancing at the beginning of the 20th century.Claude Conyers. 'One-step', in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) Troy Kinney writes that One-Step originated from the Turkey Trot dance, with all man ...

(the Snake Dip),

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a Time signature, or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in pat ...

(Cruzada, Ocho) and especially in the

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

(the Cross Step). The March 1920 issue of '' Dancing Times Magazine'' in London reported that in the foxtrot, "The crossing of the feet is popular and effective." The early foxtrots were in

, but some dance manuals, like Geoffrey D'Egville's 1919 ''How and What to Dance'' in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

suggested that the Cross Step "may be introduced into the Waltz," which essentially turned this foxtrot step into cross-step waltz. In D'Egville's foxtrot version of this step, as in Norman's Cross Walk Boston, the Lead crossed his left foot over his right on the first count of the musical measure. However in the same year, Adèle Collier, also from London, described a similar foxtrot "Cross Step" beginning with the Lead's right foot. Of all the early cross-step dances, this lineage of foxtrot variations is the most likely evolutionary path that became the French Valse Boston and today's cross-step waltz. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Americans brought their foxtrot and blues dance steps to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where Parisian dance teachers observed and described the variations. The first descriptions appeared in Parisian dance and music magazines (such as ''La Baionnette'' and ''Musica-Album'') in 1919, then in dance manuals beginning in 1920 (for example, ''Toutes Les Danses Pour Tous'' and ''Les 15 Danses Modernes''). Significantly, most of these French descriptions commenced the dance steps with the Lead's right foot. Around 1930, waltz tempos were slowed to a walking tempo, about 110-120 bpm, allowing the French crossed-step foxtrot to become a form of waltz, called Valse Boston, which was identical to today's cross-step waltz. At the same time, ballroom dancers in England and the United States developed their own slow waltz variations, but commencing with the Lead's left foot. This gave the cross-step (the "Twinkle" in American slow waltz) a different musical dynamic and momentum from the French Valse Boston, which began with the Lead's right foot. Cross-step waltz was demonstrated in the 1944 American

Lindy hop The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of ...

film "Groovie Movie," with the Lead's right foot crossing on the musical downbeat. The French Valse Boston has partially faded away, although it can still be seen today in

southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

and occasionally in

. It was revived in the United States around 1994, developed into a social dance form with hundreds of variations, and renamed cross-step waltz. Cross-step waltz has been spreading in the 21st century, is now popular at more than thirty mostly-waltz dance groups across the United States, and has recently become widespread in outdoor parks in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

."Chinese Waltzing." YouTube. September 29, 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSatuU0eJaM

References

External links

Stanford University page describing cross-step waltzMore than 300 videos of cross-step waltz variations for the Waltz LabAnother list of popular cross-step waltz variations with videos
{{Dance Waltz Triple time dances