The Turkey Trot

So what do you do for Thanksgiving? A little turkey, a little dressing, maybe some mashed potatoes, and then a nap on the couch with the football game on the television? It's a good gig if you can get it - I'm all for the tryptophan and carb coma, in fact I often think about making my own turkey just so I can enjoy the leftovers! The turkey part got me thinking about a particular vintage dance that I remembered my father in law having a piano roll for (at least I think he does, I'm getting addled in my old age). The dance is the Turkey Trot and its part of the 'teens, ragtime fad for animal-based dances. Don't ask where the idea for creating all sorts of dances based on animals came from - I just know a walk through the list of dances will produce a veritable zoo. According to Mixed Pickles:

"The dance floor was turning into a barnyard. Rowdy new dances like the Turkey Trot, Grizzly Bear, Bunny Hug, and Chicken Scratch were invading dance halls. Like ragtime music itself, early ragtime dance steps and movements were born in the black community. Elegant European salon dances had always emphasized a quiet, erect carriage and dignified bearing. These dances, with their shoulder shaking, slouching and tight embrace were stomping and wiggling their way from rowdy west coast honky-tonks, bordellos and lower class dance halls to every ballroom across the nation.

Of course dance teachers were horrified. They saw these dances as vulgar if not downright obscene. Worst of all, these "animal" dances didn't require hours of expensive lessons, their simple steps could be learned by watching other dancers, or even improvised on the spot."

I'm getting off track, though…frankly I just thought it was funny to connect Thanksgiving with a ragtime era dance! Heck, you try to find a T-day dance! In the meantime here's what the Turkey Trot looks like. Go practice it and burn off one or two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes.