Castle Walk
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Castle Walk is a dance originated and made famous by Vernon and Irene Castle. The Castle Walk became popular through its introduction into the Tango.
In this dance, the man continually goes forward and the lady backward. In order that the lady may be properly guided about the room, the man's arm encircles her just under her arm, while her left hand rests on the man's right arm. The position of the lady's right arm and the man's left arm is high, with their hands clasped, see the illustration.
The man starts forward with his left foot and the lady backward with her right, simply walking with gliding steps keeping on the toes, one count of the music to each step. This step is continued to the end of the room, where a large circle is begun, which is gradually made smaller and smaller, until it is ended by whirling completely around three times, to three counts of the music and then dip.
The Castle Walk may be varied by describing the figure eight or zig-zag instead of the large circle.
To make the three whirls is rather a difficult matter, as it must be done very rapidly to accomplish a complete revolution to one beat of the music, but with a little practice it is soon learned.
[edit] External links
- The article is based on the description from An American Ballroom Companion
- Dance History Archives
