Terence, thanks for making the point about variations on dances. They are fun to learn and teach, but they can also be borderline on whether they, as you say, "define" the dance. I can see where those with far more expertise and experience than I would have fun debating that. As for the VW, the point made about keeping it moving in a straight line is important. I have seen some dancers "cheat" on this dance (including myself, depending on my partner at the time) and skip the crossing or lock steps. This results in simply going around in a dizzying circle, it seems. A tip I got on this board last year about viewing this dance as one that keeps moving along LOD helped me cut down on the tendency to get stuck twirling around in one place -- and getting sea sick doing it!