The lady in a 3 inch heel is already higher than a man in a 1 inch heel before the heels leaves the floor. There is a maximum height that can be reached and the lady is already part of the way there. So what are we saying.
Its worth mentioning at this time on how to apply NFR ( no foot rise ) on step one for the lady in a Modern Waltz. This is how it was explained to me. The lady takes the first step behind on the LF in CBM and lowers the heel. The weight is kept over the LF and the RF is placed to the side. The position to aim for is to stay on the supporting leg longer with the navel pointing to diagnal to the centre. At this point the navel should not be pointing down the LOD. That is untill the man's weight is passing. In other words the lady follows the man up after and not before. Why didn't Alex explain this in his book instead of just a few words on page 21. I suppose he didn't want to write the equivalent in size to Gone with the Wind. That must have been the reason.

"The lady in a 3 inch heel is already higher than a man in a 1 inch heel before the heels leaves the floor. There is a maximum height that can be reached and the lady is already part of the way there. So what are we saying."

Sure, there is a maximum height, based on the dancer's foot strength and the stiffness of their shoe.

But if the lady starts already higher than the man, and they both stop at the same height of the foot (neglecting the shoe) then her rise and fall is unlikely to be compatible with his. See the problem? In some cases it may be okay for her to use less change in foot rise, but in others she will probably have to use more than him.

The reality is that the height of the foot rise will be, within the range of what your body is capable of, determined by the needs of the situation in which you are dancing - including the requirement that it be something that your partner can create the corresponding match to.

Anonymous. Tell me where this is wrong if it is.
I am standing on a block of wood 3 inches high. My toes are touching the floor. You are on a block 1 inch high toes on the floor. You will rise a grand total of 6 inches. I to equall that will rise a grand total of how many inches ??

"Anonymous. Tell me where this is wrong if it is.
I am standing on a block of wood 3 inches high. My toes are touching the floor. You are on a block 1 inch high toes on the floor. You will rise a grand total of 6 inches. I to equall that will rise a grand total of how many inches ??"

Under your proposition, I would rise, 6 inches, to an altitude of 7 inches.

To literally match my rise and fall, you would have to rise 6 inches also, leaving you at an altitude of 9 inches.

See it doesn't add up - either we will rise different amounts, or we will end up at different ending altitudes, in which case you supposition that there is a proper ankle angle that is common to both man and lady is false. I think it's quite likely that we often will want to rise different amounts, but it's not always the person with the higher heel who should be doing less rise.

(9 inches of foot rise seems a bit extreme - are you a ballerina in pointe shoes or brand new unbroken in ballroom shoes that are stiff enough in the toe box to act like them? )

Dont agree with that. To reach 6 inches you will only need to rise 5 inches. You are already 1 inch of the floor before you start. I am 3 inches off the floor, to reach 5 inches I raise by 2 inches.
Actually we have a style of dancing called Australian New Vogue. In it with a side by side extended hold there are dozens of steps where both the man and the lady do what we call an Arial. This is standing over a spot the heel of both is raised as the other foot does the Arial and we lower still on the same spot. The ladies heel is never as high off the floor as the man's is but she is still to her maximum in height.

"Dont agree with that. To reach 6 inches you will only need to rise 5 inches."

Fine, but you had said rise 6 inches.

"to reach 5 inches I raise by 2 inches."

So now we have risen vastly unequal amounts in the feet (5 inches for me, only 2 inches for you), in a way that makes you, as the lady, always have substantially less rise and fall there than me. In some situations that will work, in others it certainly won't.

Thus the fundamental problem: you cannot define either a correct altitude or a correct ankle angle, without taking the situation into account. Your attempt to ignore the situation was how we got into this argument in the first place.

You have to learn to pay attention to context.

Actually it is worth looking at this a bit further. You seem to have agreed that there is a difference in the height the heel is off the floor between the man and lady.
We have had in the past questions on what is an ideal height between the man and lady. Think on this.
If both myself and my partner are in our stocking feet 5' 8 inches. My shoe has a one inch heel which equalls 5' 9 inches. She in a three inch heel is 5. 11 inches total height. She is now three inches taller than me. Which dances are we handicapped in. Not the Tango we can bend our knees to an appropriate height and stay at that height. With the passing steps a Foxtrot might not be too bad. But the Waltz can present a problem when we close our feet and reach our full height with straight knees.. The Quickstep also. Unless we do more passing steps. Which we can in the Waltz also. Another factor comes in here . The lady can come down through the knees. In a competition the amount she is bending those knees could be hidden with the dress. No such luck wearing ordinary cloths. Cleverly arranged choreography is esentiall.
It is unfortunate but the lady cannot dance correctly with permanently bent knees and the man cannot dance correctly with permanently straight knees. My thoughts are the lady must come down to a lower heel size. There doesn't seem to be any other choice. Any thoughts.

I would only disagree on the tango comment. Also line figures can look unusual if the lady is taller than the man.
I would like a little more height difference and actually wear inserts in my shoes to give me an extra centimetre.
Can anyone tell me why men's standard ballroom shoes only have 1" heels? I realise it would reduce the extent of rise, but apart from this, it would be an advantage.
A lady can't really wear less than 2" heels

World champion Janet Gleave was taller than Richard in her dancing shoes?

Hi cdroge
I wasn't aware of that. I will look up some videos of their dancing. I'll get some useful ideas from them ,I hope.
One of the difficulties for a tall lady softening a lot in tango (to be below the man, who presumably is dancing with softened knees) is this: where do the knees go??. They're sticking out all over the place. Sounds daft i know, but it's a practical problem