The
Lame Duck is another one of those
Ragtime Animal Dances
There are at least two versions of the Lame Duck.
The first is a variation on the One Step, where you alternate a "down" step (flat-footed with the knee a little bent), with a an "up" step (on the ball of the foot with a straight leg). Thus the couple goes down-up-down-up and looks quite silly, and a little like a lame duck, or at least a lame person). Just about all One Step variations can be done with the Lame Duck variation.
The other is a variation on the Waltz or Hesitation Waltz. Done to 3/4 music, you take two steps in three beats, the first step taking two of the beats giving you a slow-quick-slow-quick rhythm. This does NOT have the ungainly down-up-down-up of the One Step variation; rather, it has a graceful sink and rise. A Waltz done with this Lame Duck variation is sometimes referred to as a Canter Waltz. Once you're doing this step, most of your waltz variations become impossible (since they're in 3) but most of your One Step and Fox Trot variations become possible.