"Suomynona. I think we will both agree that at the extent of our stride we will have our front toe off the floor and our back heel off the floor with our weight dead center suspended momentarily. Turn to the side whilst still in that position you will now be with your feet apart and the weight where it should be ,right in the middle."

Absolutely not. The weight must be much closer to the front foot. Remember that it's almost unheard of to take such a step in actual dancing (the only time you would fully develop the leg division) sqaure to the body. It essentially always has a same side lead, or features CBM which will create an opposite side lead by the tim you reach the extent of the stride. This is part of what requires your weight to be closer to the front foot.

"Question is, is it the push off the rear foot that is carrying the weight to the new standing foot."

Absolutely not. It is mostly the body flight which existed before the action of the step even commenced. The additional body speed due to pushing off the standing foot plays a smaller role.

A lot of these are things you unfortunatley will probably never learn unless you study with one of the top, traditional british coaches.

Suomynona. I still think flighting the body is a heap of rubbish. Now swing is different because in the Standard style of dancing we are always going sideways. I doubt that on any step we are stepping without a left or right shoulder lead. So consiquently we always progress sideways which is swing. Even more in the V. Waltz. Could it be that body flight is being confused with swing. Another example would be stick your shoes to the floor. Stand in them and move your body forward. I can tell you exactly what will happen. Your foot will try to go ahead of your body. In the shoes they can't, so you fall flat on your face. Also to move your body first will cause you to go away from that beautifull clean look that we have if we carry our body verticlly across the floor. And if you don't think that at sometime your body is not right in the middle of our stride I would ask you how can it not be. If you think not I would ask you what colour is the sky on your planet?.

I had a question here, even you are on your standing foot with flexed knee ,drawing a half circle from front to the rear, but when someone steps backward, a sliding distance >/= half foot added. Is the answer is that the circumference moving with us resulting from the circumstance created by our upper limbs and trunks . at this point , no stride beyond the circle for given reflexed knee ? I was still not understanding why it helped to understand dancing ?
ylchen

Yichin. Waltz. Some of us try to step to far, usually to our front or to our side ,very rarely do we step to our full extent going backwards. The excercise it to give some idea of how far we are capable of going. The more the knee bends , the further you are able to go. Stand up straight and your distance is drastically reduced. This you would expect from a beginner. The energy stored in the bent knee of the standing leg will give the propulsion needed to reach your maximim with comfort. Try the pointing to find your distance with the knee bent. Measure it. Then try by taking a step forward or to the side and measure that also. You will find that coming off the rear foot will increase the distance we can travell foward by about 10 inches. Going to the side is different it will not alter vey much if we are to control our balance and are able to lower correctly. I guess thats why the driving step is always a step forward and the side step a swinging step.You will find that about the width of a 36 inch door frame is getting towards our limits in any direction.

this thread is outrageous nonsense. the size of the step is deteremined by how much the body moves, period. if you bend your knee, you must move the body a corresponding amount.

Anonymous. I'm no super athelete. But I can bend my knee and point my foot in any direction and still stay dead center.
Written up above, if you are the same person. You couldn't be more wrong when you said something about the side step comes from momentum and not from the standing leg. Why do you, or who bend the supporting knee. And what happens then. I hope you are also not one of those who forgets the sway on three.

Hi Quickstep
Just stepping back 2 or 3 posts, i agree completely about propulsion coming from the knee or thigh, as Ann Lewis apparently said (i don't have that tape), In fact i think it's obvious. Lowering will create energy, yes, but it would be almost impossible to dance without propulsion from the standing leg.
Makes me wonder how i dance tango (with little rise and fall) without using my standing leg for propulsion!!

Phil. When Michael Barr said that the Tango is a step step dance, and not a swinging dance It all began to make sense. No Rise or Fall. No Sway. John Wood said that feel as though you have a tail straight to the floor like a dragon. The weight very much to the rear. That was the example he gave. All the Best.

Great thanks for explanation especially the idea of why side step emphasized swing action , not be treated as a driving step.
I am practicing to acomplish turning lock to right following natural spin at one go .My teacher said : dance this 2 figures continuously with your strong ankles ,( He forgot I am 60 not 35 .) less flexed knee on 1, & , left toe slides forward as far as possible on beat 2, I felt a little bit panic for its farer distance based on limited flexed knees.( I will be appreciated if I may flex more knee, lower center , more propulsion generated, although the price is shorter line. ) Any way, I should overcome it if I want to dance better.
Ylchen