"Do you mean you are not capable of stepping LF one beat. RF one beat. LF one beat. RF one beat. If you can't something is wrong with you. All of our top dancers can and do.Mirko can do it can't he. Wake up and look."

Sure, and I might do that on an extended WEAVE where it could work well.

But please shoot me in the head if you ever see me do something so outrageously ignorant on a FEATHER or other classic SQQ foxtrot figure.

Look at the numbers again:

Sinkinson, Blackpool 1998:

Duration of foot movements:

Feather: 21, 19, 30
Reverse: 20, 17, 30
F. Finish: 21, 17, 31

Seeing the pattern yet?

Each SQQ gets a full measure. If he starts the feather "late" (he does) then he starts the reverse and equal amount "late" because each figure gets a full four beats worth of time.

**Every interval is longer than a beat. The shortest (between the slow and the first quick) only slightly so, but the interval between the quicks is teh BETTER PART OF TWO BEATS.

Kindly explain how Mr. Sinkinson squeezes the better part of TWO BEATS OF TIME into ONE BEAT?

Four beats four steps. Its not even a slight squeeze.

"Four beats four steps. Its not even a slight squeeze."

It sure is when one of them is measured at 1.5 beats (on Gozzoli) or 1.74 beats (on Sinkinson).

KINDLY EXPLAIN HOW MR SINKINSON FITS 1.74 BEATS OF TIME INTO ONE BEATS OF MUSIC

I will ask next week. Andrew is at the present, and has been for several years there main teacher. They wont be back in this country till Sunday.

"I will ask next week. Andrew is at the present, and has been for several years there main teacher. They wont be back in this country till Sunday."

I await with eager anticaption the revelation of how the master squeezes 1.74 beats of time into 1 beat of music!

(or maybe, just maybe, he actually uses 1.74 beats of music for that third step?)

I still don't understand what is meant by 1.74 beats of time. If anybody else does I would be happy to hear. But talk to me about time like 30 bars a minute = one bar every two seconds. Or 28 bars a minute which gives me 2.1428571 seconds per bar of music. Doesn't this sound ridicules. Why not listen, and count the music and use volumes of energy up and down to suit the music being played and our interpretation of it. Different tune. different feel.

"I still don't understand what is meant by 1.74 beats of time. If anybody else does I would be happy to hear."

Thirty frames of video were counted between the time Sinkinson's left foot landed the first quick and the time his right foot took over to land the second.

The total number of frames per figure (for three SQQ figures) averaged 69.

That works out to the right foot to left foot time of 1.74 beats.

The timing of the Reverse Turn and Feather Finish was the same as the feather, plus or minus one frame.

Or turn the sound back on. Can't you see how long he "hangs" on that quick, delaying the landing on the left foot?

It is general knowledge that the first quick goes on the third beat, but the second quick is drawn out long after the fourth beat. You've been shown the measurements. You've seen the dancing. Why do you persist in denying what every skilled dancer knows to be true?

Still waiting to hear how Sinkinson fits 1.74 beats of time in one beat...

Sorry, mixed up right and left.

Left foot time to right foot time is 1.74 beats between step 2 and step 3 of the feather. And also the feather finish.
And same timing in the reverse... on the opposite feet of course.

Still waiting to hear how that is allegedly squeezed into 1 beat of music.

Can you count to a ticking clock 1 2 3 4. Its a bit slow. but I am sure you are able if you wished could count to the tic tock two ticks for a slow and one for a quick followed by another.
Or I am sure if you wished you could step tick on LF. tock on RF. then tick tock on the other two beats.
On the wall in front of me I have this rather load ticking clock. The second hand goes around to exactly 60 ticks a minute. That would be 15 bars a minute if the ticks were beats.If the speed was doubled that will give me 30 bars per minute. I could still move on time to that ticking clock wether it is 15 or 30.
Reminds me of Cole Porter. Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock as it stands against the wall.

Hi Quickstep. Night and day of course.
On this 1.74 beats thing. What i do is this. Practice counting the foxtrot tempo as 1(234) 2(234) 3(234) 4(234) at the correct speed. Then, on your own do some basic foxtrot steps and make the step being talked about (i can't remember what it was and i don't want to 'wind back' the discussion) last from, say, 2 to the 3(4). That's 1.75 beats which is close enoough!! get used to the feel of it. I'm not suggesting you dance this way, just get the feel.
i studied sinkinson doing slow waltz and counted the frames on his 1-2-3 natural turn. then split the bar into 12 mini-beats and practised (on my own)dancing to his rhythm (i wonder if he realises how much bother he's giving us!!) It was useful. Basically he was landing his second step (the left foot forward) a little early (1 twelfth of a bar - taken off the first step)to give him slightly more time to be 'up' before gathering and lowering end of 3 It felt nice and i suspect i'm doing something like this when i'm dancing.(sinkinson - here i come!!