How do you dance a long two beat in the Nateral Turn and the Weave? Thanks

All three beats of waltz are the same length of time.

If you are talking about elongating the transfer and rise that occurs on beat two then that is different, but the BEATs are the same length.
Simeon

If you are talking about elongating the transfer and rise that occurs on beat two then that is different, Yes this is what I am refering to. How do you do it? Thanks

I will probably post this in a couple messages as I need to think it through to be detailed and precise enough.

The first thing I would look at is elongate the rise action. In waltz we start rising at the end of 1 and collect at the end of 3 so the rise is 2 beats long - quite a bit longer than the average dancer performs. So make sure that after you have placed your right foot forward and accross in promenade position to start rising as the left foot starts to come in under you. Make sure you continue to rise until after you have placed your right foot on three. Once the foot is placed you (on count 3) you can start to collect but the foot can move a little further as the collection begins, making the transfer very smooth.

So that is the first thing I would aim for. From a very good and lowered position to a relatively high postition and making it very smooth through 2 counts of music.

The other things I would look at would be distance covered accross the floor -more distance can tend to elongate the look. Rotation and sway also are important althogh in this case there is not much if any sway. Using the feet effectively will also contribute. Partnership skills are going to be intergral as well because of the inside and outside of turn and the change of position from promenade to outside partner, to quick closed position, and then back to promenade or outside partner, depending on the follow.

Hope this is a good start.

Simeon

"Make sure you continue to rise until after you have placed your right foot on three"

This would apply only to the foot closure steps such as the natural turn where "continue to rise on 2 and 3" is noted.

In figures such as the weave from promenade where step 3 is in an open position, the rise continues on 2 but not beyond - 3 is given as "up" with lowering at the end of 3.

In both cases the body gains altitude until it is over the position of the second step, and then begins to loose altitude - but the specific technical definitions used in the book change how the rise and fall is described.

It's important to realize that the boundary between step 2 and step 3 occurs at a different point when step 3 is closed than when its open. When step 3 is closed, step 2 is defined to end and step 3 begin when the foot is halfway closed, so the second half of the closure with it's appropriate rise is considered part of step 3.

In contrast, when step 3 opens, step 2 ends only when the feet pass, so the entire remainder of the movement towards passing over the position of step 2 and passing the feet and the rise associated with this occurs during step 2. In practice, once the feet separate to begin step 3 the body will already begin to loose altitude as the standing leg deviates from the vertical - though only the loss of foot rise towards the end of step 3 is formally described.

(Incidentally, since the duration of a step in the book does not coincide with the duration of a beat of the music, the different boundary criteria between step 2 and step 3 in the closing vs. open case does not necessarily say anything about the amount of musical time you may devote to each action)

Thank you both for the information. It is the musical expression that I am interested in. The floating or drifting of the movement I can do in an open natural and back wisk, but the weave is a problem,I have been told to get on the two beat sooner?