My partner is thoroughly confused about whether the lady rise and lowers with her feet the way the man does in the smooth dances. She was originally taught to do the same as the male dancers, i.e foot rise/fall. Then she was told to do a body/ leg rise and fall. Yet later she was told to do nothing but "breathe". Do you know the definitive answer?

Sriram writes:
>> Men however do have foot rise when
>> traveling backwards..

Actually, it depends on the action, and the intended result.

For example, the man normally stays on the balls of his feet while traveling backwards during a Weave action. On the other hand, he should release his toe on the first two steps of a Wave or Back Feather, but then release the heel on the third. In other words, step 2 has delayed foot rise.

That's why in my original reply, for man's backward steps I wrote "variable; depends on movement".

Sincerely,
Jonathan Atkinson

As Jonathan points out, there is no foot rise for the woman in backwards steps. This of course is owing to the fact that she is already "up" . All other forward and side steps, same rules apply as for men. Men however do have foot rise when traveling backwards..