I am very new to dancing in that I have only had 4 lessons ever, so please excuse any novice questions or remarks.

In my class we have learned the two-step which is specifically intended for 4/4 music, however I am having great issues with the metering. I also notices there are several "two steps" and variations so please bare with me.

The version I was taught and want to work out is the dance pattern, SSQQ SSQQ.

The meter timing is 1 2 3+ which brings to the issues I am having.

Music metering compared to metering of dance pattern.

Measure: 1 2 3 4
Music: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Dance: S S QQ S S QQ S S QQ S S QQ S S QQ

Notice how on the first measure of the music the dace patter SSQQ is used and quickly becomes a round-robin problem and does not get to the same pattern until measure 4!

I would love to lead each music measure with the same dance pattern. I asked several instructors and many could not answer my questions. The ones that could respond say that the two-step is a non-metered dance, and this is OK....and I accepted this......until I tried to Google two-step and non-metered, and nothing shows up.

Anyone that really knows the answer is out there somewhere. I am an engineer, so the technical details are important to me and your response is greatly appreciated.

You don't say what country you are in, but my guess is that you don't live in the United States. In American style Foxtrot, the basic movement's rhythm is SSQQ. As you recognize, that takes 1-1/2 measures, so two of them take three measures. Then you have "caught up" with the music.

In Guy Howard's book "Technique of Ballroom Dancing" (International Dance Teachers' Association, what Americans would call "International"), you meet this rhythm in the back of the book, in the "Social Rhythm" section. There are several patterns with the SSQQ rhythm there.

(At least in the United States) this is not a problem. Only in Tango and Bolero is it important to match the dance figures to the music's structure ("standard" figures usually take eight measures, though some of the elements may overlap measures.

I am in Texas USA..I do realize that this is a valid pattern, just wondering about the meter and wondering why this info is so hard to find.

Does Guy Howard mention this 3 beat pattern and dancing to a 4 beat song?

"just wondering about the meter and wondering why this info is so hard to find."

That's probably because for most dancers the idea of meter is just an extra layer of complication that can lead to confusion. Dancers use their rhythm patterns and the musicians use theirs, and if we are lucky we can make them fit together.

"Does Guy Howard mention this 3 beat pattern and dancing to a 4 beat song?"

That's an example of confusion setting in. It is not a 3 beat pattern but a 3 step pattern which uses 6 beats. The Slows use 2 beats each and the Quicks use 1 beat, so the SSQQ pattern uses 2,2,1,1 beats. We dance this pattern to 4/4 music and as you have observed we dance the pattern twice over 3 measures of music. The 2 step and the social rhythm foxtrot mentioned above are slightly unusual in using a 6 beat meter but I would not describe them as non-metered. When you learn more dances and rhythms you will find the dance and music meters match more closely and you will probably feel more comfortable, although there will be some figures that do not fit within a complete number of measures. Try not to worry about it - it's an engineer thing - most people do not notice.

To answer an obvious question: Why don't we dance a 6 beat 2step meter to 6/8 music?

We need to split the 6 beats into 3 groups of 2 for our 2,2,(1,1) but a 6/8 measure of music splits into 2 groups of 3 beats.