Spanish Fandango

{c. 1950}

Introduction

The Spanish Fandango is a Waltz sequence dance composed by Charles Wood around 1950, at the height of the Old Time Dancing revival in England.

The Position

Closed position, Lead facing outside wall.

The Dance

Part I - Mazurka and Stamp (4 bars): Mazurka (1, 2, 3), mazurka (4, 5, 6), side (1), close (2), side (3), and stamp (4), facing against LOD, with held hands curved above heads.

Part II - Repeat Opposite (4 bars): Repeat Part I against LOD.

Part III - Pas de Basque and Balance (4 bars): Taking two hands, pas de basque along LOD (1, 2, 3) and against LOD (4, 5, 6), then taking R-in-R, balance forward toward partner (1), raising R-in-R hands above heads, and balance back away from partner (4).

Part IV - Waltz (4 bars): Two full turns of right-turning waltz.

Repeat from the beginning.

The Music

"Fandango Espagnole" by Ray Downes, or another square waltz at 144 bpm.

Sources

Victor Silvester. (1951). More Old Time Dances. London.

For more dance descriptions, see our three books on dancing:
The Book of Mixers: 100 Easy-Teach Dances for Getting Acquainted (2022) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge,
Cross-Step Waltz: A Dancer's Guide (2019) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge, and
Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living (2013) by Richard Powers and Nick Enge.

For full-length teaching videos, visit: University of Dance.

For help crafting a life you love, visit: Project Quartz.

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