Somebody was asking for a few excercises to help understand dancing. I've lost them somewhere. Don't dance outside your circumference when stepping to the side. Stand feet together knees straightish. Point a toe to the front and draw a half circle to the rear. Now bend the supporting knee and draw a half circle again. It's bigger isn't it. Bend it some more,its bigger still. You must dance within that circumferance. When we watch tapes we only see what appears to be a large step to the side. What we need to do is take note on how much the supporting knee is bending and is being used..

I know this isn't on the 'circumference' topic, but it is on exercises to help understand dancing.
I think i have 2 good exercises to help develop good leg and foot action.
1)walk upstairs without your upper body/head moving up and down - keep it moving upwards in a straight line. Very tiring on the legs, but you have to develop good co-ordinated leg and foot action.
2)Walk backwards uphill (not too steep a hill at first) Doing this requires you to push hard with the standing leg, and this feeling is obvious doing this exercise. Explain to your neighbours that you're developing dancing skills!!

Phil. Another excercise worth doing is to stand with the feet together.Put the weight onto whichever side you like. Bend the supporting knee as much as you wish. Point to the side and draw the feet together on the two toes and lower. Repeat on the other leg. Not only is this a strengthener excercise, it teaches how important the bending of the knee is on the supporting foot. Which takes us a stage further than the cicumference comments. After this it should be easy to step forward from a fully lowered position (bent knee) and complete a Closed Change. And further if you wish, turn 90 degrees over your now standing foot and complete the first three of a Natural Turn using the same action.

Wouldn't the circle move with your body between the time you start the step and the time you place it?

Anonymous. No. This is our distance. To visibly move the center will result in a collapsed second step and usually does
just that through over stepping. When writting I was on a step to the side. Try the same on a forward or backward step. With the bending of the knee push to the circumference. Now you are on a new center position. I was at a lecture last year when it came up that on a step to the side as in step two of a Natural. Some are arriving almost flat on that step. Not the best dancers though. They arrive incredibly high on there toes, which can't happen if a person overstrides. Don't take anybodys word for it. Check with a video in slow motion especialy IDSF competitions. If I can't get as high on my toes as they, then I have to find out why. A mirror is a great help.