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48-604: Avianus and Caxton tell different stories of a goose that lays a golden egg, where other versions have a hen, as in Townsend : "A cottager and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day. They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold they killed [her]. Having done so, they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of

96-502: A prose paraphrase, he was not indebted to the original. The language and metre are on the whole correct, in spite of deviations from classical usage, chiefly in the management of the pentameter . The fables soon became popular as a school-book. Promythia and epimythia (introductions and morals), paraphrases, and imitations were frequent, such as the Novus Avianus of Alexander Neckam (12th century). Foxtrot The foxtrot

144-576: A certain Theodosius, whose learning is spoken of in most flattering terms. He may possibly be Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius , the author of Saturnalia ; some think he may be the emperor of that name. Nearly all the fables are to be found in Babrius , who was probably Avianus's source of inspiration, but as Babrius wrote in Greek , and Avianus speaks of having made an elegiac version from a rough Latin copy, probably

192-455: A continuity ending (four counts), returning to the start of the sequence. Other figures based upon the same rhythm include the serpentine (a/k/a progressive twinkles) with open footwork; the curved running steps; the outside swivel; the pivot from promenade; and the natural fallaway. Many of these figures may be executed in a variety of positions: for instance, the serpentine may be executed in closed position, open position, or shadow position, with

240-456: A poor family is reborn as a swan with golden feathers and invites them to pluck and sell a single feather from his wings to support themselves, returning occasionally to allow them another. The greedy mother of the family eventually plucks all the feathers at once, but they then turn to ordinary feathers; when the swan recovers its feathers they too are no longer gold. The moral drawn there is: Contented be, nor itch for further store. They seized

288-594: A short period of time, also play an important role. Examples include the oversway, the chair, the check. In the American Continuity Style, most figures are based upon four-count units with the rhythm slow (two counts), quick (one count), quick (one count) repeating in each measure. A basic dance sequence progressing around the room in a straight line might consist of an open left box turn (eight counts), an open twinkle (four counts), an open right turn (four counts), an open impetus (a/k/a hairpin) (four counts), and

336-531: A single measure, while the change of direction uses a two-measure sequence of four slow steps. International Style Foxtrot is the most tightly defined of all the Foxtrot styles, with instructional and competitive syllabi that are tightly controlled by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing . Thus, it is possible to present the following list of International or English style foxtrot figures, although this

384-470: A social and competitive dance. Its defining characteristic is that partners must maintain body contact at all times. Consequently, the variety of possible figures and positions is much more limited than in the American style. Dancers concentrate on creating an image of a smooth, gliding motion around the dance floor. The use of body contact makes it possible to execute very tight turns, which is further enhanced by

432-420: Is a prescribed syllabus of figures from which the competitor is expected to select. The Novice, Pre-Championship, and Championship levels are open levels at which novel, original choreography is permitted and even encouraged. The competitive dance syllabi are defined and tightly controlled by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing . Likewise, American Foxtrot is one of the four Modern Smooth dances that form

480-413: 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 4 time signature instead of 4 . Developed in the 1910s, the foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the 1930s and remains practiced today. The dance

528-543: Is another variant on the story, recorded by Syntipas (Perry Index 58) and appearing in Roger L'Estrange 's 1692 telling as "A Woman and a Fat Hen" (Fable 87): A good Woman had a Hen that laid her every day an Egg. Now she fansy'd to her self, that upon a larger Allowance of Corn, this Hen might be brought in time to lay twice a day. She try'd the Experiment; but the Hen grew fat upon't, and gave quite over laying . His comment on this

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576-635: Is by no means an exhaustive list. International Foxtrot is one of the five Standard dances that form the backbone of International Style Dance competitions held around the world under the auspices of the International Dance Sport Federation , its local affiliates, and other organizations. Competitions are generally held at six successive levels of difficulty: Bronze (beginning), Silver (intermediate), Gold (advanced), Novice, Pre-Championship, and Championship. The Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels are syllabus levels: that is, for each level there

624-541: Is generally used of a short-sighted action that destroys the profitability of an asset. Caxton's version of the story has the goose's owner demand that it lay two eggs a day; when it replied that it could not, the owner killed it. The same lesson is taught by Ignacy Krasicki 's different fable of "The Farmer": A farmer, bent on doubling the profits from his land, Proceeded to set his soil a two-harvest demand. Too intent thus on profit, harm himself he must needs: Instead of corn, he now reaps corn-cockle and weeds. There

672-419: Is only later that the morals most often quoted today began to appear. These are 'Greed oft o'er reaches itself' (Joseph Jacobs, 1894) and 'Much wants more and loses all' ( Samuel Croxall , 1722). It is notable also that these are stories told of a goose rather than a hen. The English idiom "Kill not the goose that lays the golden egg", sometimes shortened to "killing the golden goose", derives from this fable. It

720-563: Is that 'we should set Bounds to our Desires, and content our selves when we are well, for fear of losing what we had.' Another of Aesop's fables with the moral of wanting more and losing everything is The Dog and the Bone . An Eastern analogue is found in the Suvannahamsa Jataka , which appears in the fourth section of the Buddhist book of monastic discipline ( Vinaya ). In this the father of

768-498: Is the chassé . It is a four-count figure with the rhythm slow (two counts) quick-and-quick (two counts), that may be inserted between a closed twinkle and its promenade close ending. The American Continuity Style is widely employed in the United States as a competitive dance and as a base for formation dance and the performing arts. It is the style generally seen in American musical theater productions and in film. It differs from

816-502: Is unnecessary and not generally expected; all figures can be led through the frame formed by the arms. Hence, the potential social awkwardness of body contact between partners who do not know each other well is avoided. As American Social Style is the only style allowed in bronze (beginner) level American Style dance competition, this style is sometimes also known as "American Bronze Foxtrot". The American Social style uses both six-count and eight-count figures. The rhythmic alteration between

864-525: The American Social Style, the American Continuity Style, and the International Style. All three are partner dances in which the dancers progress around the dance floor in a counter-clockwise direction and are danced to much the same music. However, they differ significantly in technique, positions, and figures. The American Social Style was, and to some extent still is, widely employed in

912-493: The American continuity style, both built around a slow-quick-quick rhythm at the slowest tempo, and the social American style using a slow-slow-quick-quick rhythm at a somewhat faster pace. In the context of International Standard category of ballroom dances, for some time the foxtrot was called "Slow Foxtrot", or "Slowfox". These names are still in use, to distinguish from other types of foxtrots. Three distinct styles of slow foxtrot are in common use among ballroom dancers today:

960-554: The Chocolate Factory features geese laying golden eggs filled with chocolate. The Russian comedy Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs ( Kurochka Ryaba , 1994) takes a slightly satirical look at small village jealousy in post-Soviet times. Avianus Avianus (or possibly Avienus ; c. AD 400) a Latin writer of fables , identified as a Greco-Roman Polytheist . The 42 fables which bear his name are dedicated to

1008-514: The Clock" could be considered the biggest-selling "foxtrot" of all time. Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced. Over time, the foxtrot split into slow and quick versions, referred to as "foxtrot" and " quickstep " respectively. In the slow category, further distinctions exist between the International or English style of the foxtrot, and

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1056-477: The Golden Eggs" picture the farmer despairing after discovering that he has killed the goose to no purpose. It was also one of several fables applied to political issues by the American illustrator Thomas Nast . Captioned Always killing the goose that lays the golden eggs , it appeared in Harpers Weekly for March 16, 1878. There the picture of the baffled farmer, advised by a 'Communistic Statesman', referred to

1104-476: The International Style. As American Continuity Style is expected in Silver Level American Style dance competitions and above, this style is sometimes also known as "American Silver Foxtrot". Transitions from one dance position to another are an important aspect of the American style. Commonly employed dance positions include normal (closed) position, in which the dancers face each other squarely with

1152-432: The United States as a social and party dance. It is particularly well suited to dancing in a crowded room, by partners who may or may not know each other well, and who may or may not have had much formal training in dance. Its defining feature is that the dancers close their feet at the end of almost every figure, as opposed to passing their feet as in the other two styles. As a result, the dancers progress fairly slowly around

1200-510: The act of checking a golden egg and later killing the animal in order to get more eggs, only to understand the stupidity of his idea at the very end of the sequence. A local version of the story still persists in the area but ends differently with the main character eventually becoming a king. In the Mahabharata a story is recounted of wild birds that spit gold, and were discovered by a man who soon strangled them "out of greed". The French text

1248-496: The backbone of American Style Dance competitions held in the United States under the auspices of the National Dance Council of America and USA Dance , and in some other countries. Competitions are again generally held at six successive levels of difficulty: Bronze (beginning), Silver (intermediate), Gold (advanced), Novice, Pre-Championship, and Championship. The Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels are restricted levels in which

1296-615: The bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen in 2005, although "The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg" never figured among his stories. The theme of a duck, goose or hen laying a golden egg, but not the traditional plot line, was taken up in films in both the United States and Russia. In Golden Yeggs ( Warner Bros , 1950) it was given cartoon treatment, while it provided a comedy MacGuffin in The Million Dollar Duck ( Walt Disney Productions , 1971). The 1971 film Willy Wonka &

1344-430: The extensive use of heel turns. This use of heel turns, and the effort required to produce the desired gliding motion, give International Style Foxtrot a reputation as being perhaps the most difficult of all ballroom dances to execute well. Most figures are based upon four-count units with the rhythm slow (two counts), quick (one count), quick (one count), repeating in each measure. A basic dance sequence progressing around

1392-495: The fallaway twinkles (16 counts), the promenade twinkles (16 counts), and the serpentine (progressive twinkles) with closed footwork. A few, such as the grapevine, utilize a faster rhythm consisting of four quicks. Most of these eight-count figures resemble corresponding figures in the waltz, with the rhythm modified by extending the first step of each figure to occupy two counts. Again, many of these figures can be further embellished by underarm turns. The only common syncopated figure

1440-539: The foxtrot. Castle saw the dance, which "had been danced by negroes, to his personal knowledge, for fifteen years, [at] a certain exclusive colored club". W. C. Handy ("Father of the Blues") notes in his autobiography that his " The Memphis Blues " was the inspiration for the foxtrot. During breaks from the fast-paced Castle Walk and One-step , Vernon and Irene Castle's music director, James Reese Europe , would slowly play "The Memphis Blues". The Castles were intrigued by

1488-480: The gain of which they were assured day by day." In early tellings, there is sometimes a commentary warning against greed rather than a pithy moral. This is so in Jean de La Fontaine 's fable of La Poule aux oeufs d'or (Fables V.13), which begins with the sentiment that 'Greed loses all by striving all to gain' and comments at the end that the story can be applied to those who become poor by trying to outreach themselves. It

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1536-488: The man facing either forwards or backwards. Many of these figures may be further embellished by underarm turns, especially when changing from one dance position to another. Variations upon this basic rhythm may employ four quick steps (quick, quick, quick, quick) as in the grapevine and the second measure of the weave, or syncopation (slow, quick-and-quick quick) as in the chassé. Many Continuity-Style Foxtrot figures are similar to those of American Continuity Style Waltz , with

1584-409: The man's right hand around the woman's back; promenade position, in which the partners open slightly in a vee; open position (a two-hand hold with the arms extending forward sideways); and shadow position (in which both partners face the same direction, rather than each other). Partners may even separate completely for short periods of time. "Lines", in which the partners form and hold a special shape for

1632-518: The permitted set of figures is restricted by rules – very similar but not identical – published by the sponsoring organization. The Novice, Pre-Championship, and Championship levels are open levels at which novel, original choreography is permitted and even encouraged. At the Bronze level, only American Social Style is allowed; this is enforced by rules that require closing the feet at the end of each figure. Either Social or Continuity Style may be employed at

1680-477: The positions of tango . At its inception, the foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime . From the late 1910s through the 1940s, the foxtrot was the most popular fast dance, and the vast majority of records issued during these years were foxtrots. The waltz and tango, while popular, never overtook it. Even the popularity of the Lindy hop in the 1940s did not affect the foxtrot's popularity, since it could be danced to

1728-571: The promenade twist (12 counts), the promenade pivot (12 counts), and the sway step. Social dancers generally use the alternating quarter turns to progress in a zig-zag pattern around the room, alternating for variety with the promenade . Rock turns are used for changes of direction in corners and to avoid collisions. Both the rock turns and balance step can be danced entirely in place, if necessitated by crowded conditions. Many of these figures can be further embellished by underarm turns. The eight-count figures extend across two measures of music and utilize

1776-413: The rail strike of 1877. The farmer stands for the politically driven union members whose wife and children sorrow in the background. Two postage stamps have also featured the fable. Burundi 's 1987 set of children's tales uses Gustave Doré 's picture of the despairing farmer holding the body of the slaughtered goose (see above). The fable later appears on the 73 pence value from a Jersey set celebrating

1824-471: The rhythm modified by extending the first step of each figure to occupy two counts. Some, like the open twinkles, are direct developments of the corresponding Social Foxtrot figures in which the footwork has been modified by passing the feet at the end of the figure instead of closing the feet; others are entirely different. The International (British) Style is widely employed in Europe and Great Britain as

1872-442: The rhythm slow (two counts), quick (one count), quick (one count); slow (two counts), quick (one count), quick (one count). Most of them can be further decomposed into two four-count figures, although this would break the convention that every figure begins in closed position with the man stepping on his left foot. Examples include: the forward and reverse box, the left and right box turns, the closed twinkle with promenade close ending,

1920-400: The rhythm, and Jim asked why they didn't create a slow dance to go with it. The Castles introduced what they then called the "Bunny Hug" in a magazine article. Shortly after, they went abroad and, in mid-ocean, sent a wireless to the magazine to change the name of the dance from "Bunny Hug" to "Foxtrot." It was subsequently standardized by Arthur Murray , in whose version it began to imitate

1968-399: The room might employ a feather step (four counts), reverse turn with feather finish (eight counts), three step (four counts), natural turn (four counts) with impetus (four count) and feather finish (four count), connecting again to a reverse turn. However, rhythmic variation is used to make up for the loss of variety in figures and positions: thus, for example, the weave uses four quick steps in

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2016-422: The room, and some figures can even be danced in place. Furthermore, almost every figure begins in much the same position, with the two partners facing each other squarely in the closed position and the man starting on his left foot. Since each figure leads so easily and consistently in the next, it is fairly easy for the leader to string multiple figures together on the fly in an ever-changing sequence. Body contact

2064-508: The same records used to accompany the Lindy hop. When rock and roll first emerged in the early 1950s, record companies were uncertain as to what style of dance would be most applicable to the music. Notably, Decca Records initially labeled its rock and roll releases as "foxtrots", most notably " Rock Around the Clock " by Bill Haley and His Comets . Since that recording, by some estimates, went on to sell more than 25 million copies, "Rock Around

2112-457: The social style in that the dancers pass their feet at the end of each figure, rather than closing them. Consequently, dancers progress much more rapidly around the room, in a smooth, continuous manner that gives the style its name. It differs from the International Style in that body contact is optional. This permits the dance partners to assume a much wider variety of positions and, therefore, to execute many types of figures that are not possible in

2160-506: The swan – but had its gold no more. North of India, in the formerly Persian territory of Sogdiana , it was the Greek version of the story that was known. Among the 8th-century murals in Panjakent , in the western Sugdh province of Tajikistan , there is a panel from room 1, sector 21, representing a series of scenes moving from right to left where it is possible to recognize the same person first in

2208-411: The two is one of the few potential difficulties in the dance. Syncopation is generally avoided. The six-count figures extend across one and a half measures of music, and utilize the rhythm slow (two counts), slow (two counts), quick (one count), quick (one count). Examples include: the basic movement forward and back, the alternating quarter turns (zig-zag), the rock turns right and left, the promenade,

2256-409: Was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene Castle , who gave the dance its signature grace and style. The origin of the name of the dance is unclear, although one theory is that it took its name from its popularizer, the vaudevillian Harry Fox . Two sources, Vernon Castle and dance teacher Betty Lee, credit African American dancers as the source of

2304-492: Was set as the fourth of Rudolf Koumans ' Vijf fabels van La Fontaine for children's choir and orchestra (Op. 25 1968). Yassen Vodenitcharov (1964-) has created a chamber opera from the story (2004) and Vladimir Cosma included the poem as the ninth piece in Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant (2006), a light-hearted interpretation for narrator and orchestra in the style of a foxtrot . The majority of illustrations of "The Goose that Laid

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