Here we go again. It's the feet that move the body through pressure into the floor. Without the feet the body could not swing anywhere, except swing the leg (only) from the hip.

"Here we go again. It's the feet that move the body through pressure into the floor. Without the feet the body could not swing anywhere, except swing the leg (only) from the hip."

Of course. What most people miss is that it's the body (as moved by the standing leg) that moves the moving leg. The moving leg is not conceptually speaking active on it's own. The muscles of the moving leg do work, but only in a way suggested by the movement of the body.

Returning for a minute to the idea of pulling the heel closed after a toe release, this is a common mistake - many draw it in with substantial pressure against the floor, because they think "heel drag". It's nothing like that - the heel pushes the body, stays unmoved on the floor until the body fully arrives on the new foot, and then swings nearly passively under the body, as the almost total lack of floor pressure once the foot is moving means that it requires very little force to move it.

In all of this writting nobody has mentioned that the heel is not pulled all the way back to the standing foot. At some point it will become a ball. If you watch your tapes you will find this varies from person to person.

9th post in thread:

"In all of this writting nobody has mentioned that the heel is not pulled all the way back to the standing foot. At some point it will become a ball. If you watch your tapes you will find this varies from person to person."

3rd post in thread:

"When the free foot actually does swing closed, most of the distance is covered with the ball of foot (rather than the heel), again on the ground."

Looking at the Hiltons dance an impetus into a telemark it does look as though he only places the foot along side but dancing an impetus from a wave into a curved feather to the right , I can't see what is happening ?

There are at least three distinct types of genuine heel pulls:

- The lady's heel turn. This is a passive action where the leg swings closed as a result of the body movement, including the rise on step 1.

- The man's heel turn with foot closure. Because the man is leading, he must purposefully close his feet as part of leading the turn. Rise for both partners is then delayed until step 2. This often exits with the man backwards or by going into promenade.

- The man's heel pull with foot held to side. Again, this is a purposefull placing of the foot in contrast to the passive action of the lady's heel turn. And again rise is delayed until the 2nd step. This is particularly suited to man-forward exits such as into a curved feather.

It's also interesting to contrast the spin turn with these...

Sometime the terms used are misleading. If a person means pulling the heels as we move backwards that is not a Heel Pull.Also I think we have agreed that the pulling of the heels is only to a certain point where it becomes a ball still moving backwards. Joan above might check this out. A Pull Step
( Heel Pull )This is a type of Heel Turn used by the man in some Backward Natural Turns. I too have a book.

Perhaps, Jonathan, can help out on this Heel Pull. Viewing the Quickstep clip on the man's Natural Turn, Jonathan, just steps to the side outside the hip line for step 5. Nothing like the technique book of the ISTD or the IDTA, although the man's description with the clip states, ‘RF to side, a small step, Heel Pull'. Don't get me wrong on this. Maybe, just maybe, this is how it should be danced.

that's a heel pull, but one that is not a heel turn, danced with the feet apart. much harder than it looks!

Hi Anon1,
No, you are correct. Jonathan's demonstration of steps 4 to6 (the Heel Pull) of the Natural Turn is typical of a beginner's interpretation. Those of us who have supported this site for some time hate to criticise any dance work shown. But postings such as yours have helped to make this dance site the number one dance site on the internet. It is obvious, Anon1, that you are technical dance minded and have beaten quite a number of regulars who would have loved to have written that post. For those of you who are in training for a professional qualification, see if you can spot the technical written error on the Quarter Turn to Right! Happy New year to All.