Sway is a nececary part of a turn, just like an aroplane, when it turns it sways. It is not there for enhancement but is necessity. Enhancement is a fringe benifit. Again what you are seeing is shaping to the left or shaping to the right. Although some of the less experienced ladies not only go to the right or the left but over the back also. None of them would quallify as sway. So you tell me what is sway in your oppinion

"Again what you are seeing is shaping to the left or shaping to the right."

Only in your imagination.

What I am seeing and doing is BODY SWING, WHICH RESULTS IN SWAY.

I do as it is spoken on a tape by Richard Gleave which is drive on one,
swing on two, and sway on three. If you were to sway on two you would probably turn. Swing goes straight. Then sway comes in.
Foxtrot Feather Step. Because the Feather Step is actually turning we have swing and sway. This puts some weight onto the moving foot which is the inside foot. O dear you only dance with one foot in contact with the floor, so you have said on more than one occasion. When you have heard we dance from foot to foot. You misunderstood completely. It means at the end of a step our weight goes on it and we dont get stuck with our weight neither on one leg or the other. It doesn't mean we have no weight on that moving foot at all. I suppose somebody would have worked out the ratio.

"I do as it is spoken on a tape by Richard Gleave which is drive on one,
swing on two, and sway on three. If you were to sway on two you would probably turn. Swing goes straight. Then sway comes in."

I assume you are talking about a natural turn. If you'll look in your book, you'll see that in fact there is sway on step 2. The sway doesn't perfectly align with a single step, and it doesn't begin and end in an instant. Rather, as the swing progresses sway gradually develops.

Certainly, if you time it wrong it can mess up your movement. But do remember that most swing figures - excepting the plain feather, but including the spin turn (get it, spin "turn"?), do actually have turn.

But remember we are talking about the spin turn, and not the natural. The swing that is commonly applied to the spin turn is certainly related to the natural turn, and causes sway in the same functional way, but the timing is different. Part of the action is more condensed than in the natural, part is slower and more drawn out. Thinking of the natural is a good starting point, but you will have to modify it some, by experiment, as you work with it.

"Foxtrot Feather Step. Because the Feather Step is actually turning"

Nope. No turn on a normal feather. CBM, yes, but that is not turn. In some cases, a slight curve of track at the end so that the steps falls only into CBMP and not across in CBMP, but that is also not turn, as no rotation is involved at that point. Might want to check your book, as you seem to have forgetten quite a bit about this figure.

"O dear you only dance with one foot in contact with the floor"

WRONG.

"so you have said on more than one"

UTTERLY false - that is a MALICICOUS LIE and you very well know it.

I still think Jonathan had the best, and most accurate, response to Quickstep's attitude:

"You certainly like to limit yourself. Then again, that may be exactly what you need to do at this point in your dancing, so it's not necessarily a bad thing. Just remember that not everybody requires such limitations as your own."

I'll tell you what can happen. In your patch of the wood you have your high priest or priestess. I would asume that everybody in your patch dance the same. As long as you stay in that seclusion you become a law unto yourself. Move out and you wonder what hit you. Go to Blackpool you will be on the floor four times. Make the most of it.
The new little picture of a Smooth Couple at the top. Is that a Sway by the man or is it a shape. And the lady. what is that called

"I would asume that everybody in your patch dance the same."

Hardly. Our local champions and teacher resources have an extremely wide range of backgrounds, and very contrasting styles.

Which is all nearly beside the point, except that they all know a bit more than you about the underlying technique of ballroom dancing. For example, this idea of using a swing in the spin turn which will result in a sway... they are ALL familiar with that, because it's pretty universal knowledge as an option.

You are still constraining yourself within the limiations of a beginner's rigid guidelines, which is appropriate as long as you yourself are limited to a beginner's physical skills. But the rest of us who are not have a lot more options. And our coaches, who include many of the very same people you like to misquote, encourage us to explore those options.

Anonymouse. This is my first and probably only message. You really should pull your head in. I have noticed you have contradicted just about everybody who has written on this site. and even the adminstrator dancing. Can you do better, i doubt it. People will not write if they think they are going to be brow beaten.I have noticed that if somebody asks the administrator a question who pops in and answers it, you do. If somebody contradicts you giving references you cant answer you imediately cover it with sometimes nothing at all. You must start thinking along the lines that you and your teacher are only one avenue of thought. Advice should only be given from a technique book or watching videos on this site, which the questioner can be refered to. I would not expect you to imediately jump in and cover this letter. It askes no questions and requires no answers.

I've been away for a week, and this thread is still rumbling on.....
I was away on a dancing week with workshops and lessons by top coaches.
2 very important points were made (plus, of course, others which are irrelevant to this discussion).
1)THe "italian" or continental style of dancing is taking over (evidence? results at Blackpool) where there is considerable use of shaping and sway.
2)The technique book should not be followed slavishly by those aspiring to the higher competitive levels. As one very well known ex-champion pointed out, if someone tried to document all the modern techniques used in dancing, it would be an overwhelming task.

I already knew, but had it demonstrated to me by myself (work that out!!)in the workshops that the correct use of sway considerably enhances body flight and the attractiveness of figures. Not tango of course.
When i started dancing, i had the technique book with me most of the time.
Now it's in a drawer in my bedroom.
Ultimately, i do what my coach says. This includes swaying to the right on a back-turning lock. It actually works better than no sway.

"1)THe "italian" or continental style of dancing is taking over (evidence? results at Blackpool) where there is considerable use of shaping and sway."

It's not like the English don't use shaping and sway, however their use is more strictly coupled to the movement, and as a result tends to become large only at the highest levels of accomplishment. In contrast, many of the students of the Italians will put sway in as a decorative detail, long before they learn to make it a functional result. In terms of results at Blackpool, don't forget that England's top two couples didn't dance.

"When i started dancing, i had the technique book with me most of the time.
Now it's in a drawer in my bedroom.
Ultimately, i do what my coach says. This includes swaying to the right on a back-turning lock. It actually works better than no sway."

Maybe you should get it out and re-examine it from the perspective of your current knowledge. It might not be as outdated as you think - the usual problem is misunderstanding it. For example, sway on the back turning lock is actually right there in the book! It's the sway on the spin turn itslef that is a case of picking up clues from the description of one figure about what could enhance another.