Try dancing step two of the Lady's feather without putting the heal down and you will find it extremely difficult to do with or without high heal shoes?

A couple of things.
I would say the reason for the lady putting her heel down for step 2 of a feather step is to give better flowing progression in the figure. I don't think poise is a factor. I don't think it necessarily gives extra movement (compared with just a ball of foot) but it does make the movement smoother.
On the 'arguing with the technique book' point. I think we're discussing, even questioning the technique book. That's very healthy. One of the keys to developing good skills is to understand, not just know, the fundamentals of that skill. If the technique book is sound, it can survive such questioning.
I've said this before. The technique book is just a text book on dancing. Text books aren't perfect. If every world champion wrote his/her own technique book, there would be differences

reply to phil.samways.

i'm glad i've finally found someone that agrees that the lowering of the heel doesnt affect either poise or travel (contrary of course to what most teachers say). i agree that it feels smoother to lower the heel. not sure why but guess its gravity - although it does seem more unconmfortable when going backwards when going backwards presumably because the forces from the upper body and and the moving leg going into the next step will also tend to lower the heel.

yes (though ive not tried it in high heels yet), but why do you think that is.

sorry - that was a reply to the previous message from cd rodge.

Lets forget who it is going backward man or lady.Billy Irvine said you can correct a mistake with a mistake. As the full extent of the stride going backwards is achieved try not to lower the heel of the extended foot to the floor. It will touch down eventually because it is vertually impossible for it not to. Keep it off the floor as long as is possible. As the moving foot arrives under the body that heel will touch the floor without trying. Put all your weight onto it , compress and drive. If that heel does lower too early you are most certainly falling backwards.Remember the Golden Rule.which is " Stay on the supporting foot as long as is possible. And don't forget to dance from foot to foot with your body weight, remembering not to lurch from side to side. A simple test in practice is . Going forward or backward As the foot arrives under the body it should be possible to stop right there and to be able to lift the moving foot clear off the floor. Who says dancing is easy.

im not so much suggesting that the heel of the supporting foot should be lowered any later than the technique books suggest(through their description of walks). but just questioning the need to lower it at all during step 2 of the feather. after all the man can take three subsequent backward steps without lowering he heel (eg 3-5 of a natural weave). and i thought we had decided that this issue has nothing to do with poise. the sway on the natural weave does seem to help with balance and therefore smoothness. so maybe that is a factor too.

It probably has something to do with, that two people do not swing on the same step or at the same time. In the original book there is no mention of swing. But I have been taught that as a man on a Feather Step, Step or drive on one. Swing on steps two and three, which does produce Sway. It also is possible that because the man's next step is a TH a Toe their for the lady is inappropriate at that time
Maybe you can tell why you would want the lady to rise on that step instead of staying down through the foot.

"but just questioning the need to lower it at all during step 2 of the feather. after all the man"

It's the difference between the poise. As man, swinging backwards and up in something more comparable like a back feather, you can have a slight net forward poise with your partner swinging up into that space. Think if you tip your refrigerator slightly forwards, the back comes up - ditto the man's heel during that rise.

It's different for the lady going backwards though. She is in effect poised forward in the lower body, but shaped backward in the upper spine - the net result being more neutral. In some wyas she's over her partner on the upswing, but in others he's still over her. If you ignore that internal detail and just model her as a refrigerator, to stay neutral overall means you can't tip her forward, so her heel stays down.

"man can take three subsequent backward steps without lowering he heel (eg 3-5 of a natural weave)."

That's a different kind of up. It's not really "swing up" but more "tiptoe across the floor" up - well, actually more "ball of foot across the floor" up. A lady doing the same thing would not put her heels down either.

Ultimately the difference is that in the swing figures, one person is on top of the swing and the other underneath, and the details of how that is done are different depending on which person is on top. In the weaves, nobody is really on top, instead you are both at what I would call "weave height"

Anonymous. I think you just about covered it. I think as an answer it depends on where we are going and where we are coming from.
How technicaly correct are these top dancers. Going to Markus Hilton on youtube. On his Basic Foxtrot if you can pick up on the third bar of the Wave as he goes backwards on his RF it can be clearly seen that the heel doesn't lower to the floor. Actually I am using the whole of that Foxtrot in my lessons except. I am not turning the Wave against the LOD and have changed some of the alignments to fit a larger ballroom. It works out fine that I can come home after a lesson and check on the youtube each of the groups. Thank God for the internet and especially the youtube.