Terrence:

I wasn't actually speaking to the amount of pressure, which I agree on average is very light (although I would add that it will be naturally variable depending on the nature of the movement). Anything that would serve to diminish your body speed at the bottom of the swing is inefficient and would therefore contribute to a labored movement.

Still, "skimming" is contact, and the opposite of continuous floor contact is a picking up and placing of the feet, undesirable in the swinging dances. If you release your toe prior to lowering your heel, you will have momentarily lost contact, in effect picking up and placing the foot.

Guest wrote:
Correct. The right heel has not lowered -- the footwork of "toe" on the previous step tells you that. The following "scooping" action of the foot is what allows you to maintain continuous -- albeit light -- contact with the floor.

I should also mention that since it isn't natural to flatten the foot when it is in advance of the body, an unusual feature of this action following a Whisk or Curved Feather is the movement of the body *before* the foot. That is to say, for a very brief moment, when the body first starts to move, the toe stays fixed in its position, for just enough time to allow the body to arrive in a natural position over the foot. It's a very subtle detail, but one that makes all the difference between a skimming heel lead that's natural, and one that's forced.

Regards,
Jonathan

I had to dig out my "book " to get his exact wording.. which is..


Quote "There still appears to exist serious misunderstanding as to the correct foot action. The old cliche"keep feet in contact with the floor", dies hard. Why this idea EVER came into being, I cannot conceive, for in fact, the opposite is true. Any effort to maintain contact between foot and floor thruout your dancing must result in heaviness of action.

He goes on at length about the Ladies foot action in backwards motion, again, making reference to the foot "leaving the floor" after a specific action is taken .

The consumate prof. will create the illusion that, there is contact but.. there is a momentary lapse thru the "swing " when the floor is cleared, which the imperceptable eye may miss.

As i said.. check out some of Hiltons vids, and it is quite clear that he is using that technique in certain instances .

"The old cliche"keep feet in contact with the floor", dies hard. Why this idea EVER came into being, I cannot conceive, for in fact, the opposite is true. Any effort to maintain contact between foot and floor thruout your dancing must result in heaviness of action."

I suspect this to be a case where necessary advice to correct a fault of many new dancers (substantially picking up the feet) can become counterproductive in those able to invest time in learning more nuanced detail.

It's interesting that a common argument against letting the feet leave the floor is that it will disturb balance. A quite valid counterargument would be that if this is true, then the dancer does not yet have the skill and strength to move cleanly in and out of balance in time with the music. While actually lifting the feet any distance is inefficient and out of character for dances other than tango, trying to generate elegant body movement with the moving foot well off the floor can be an interesting exercise which focuses attention on the movement of the body relative to the standing foot.

Another argument is the sometimes recommended technique of using drag-pressure in the moving foot to control the speed of actions. Personally, I find this far, far inferior to timing the action properly in the first place and controlling it from the strength of the sending (and later receiving) foot and ankle. But an untrained body can probably initially assert control more readily via friction of the moving foot. If training a student to perform in a few weeks time (a TV show comes to mind) this might make sense. If really training someone to dance for the long run, I think it's an inefficient and inelegant solution compared to building strength and expertise.

Training amat. for TV productions is virtually a non sequitor, and really has no comparative analysis in this discussion of " Ballroom " technique.

What "we" teach beginners, is never the finished product. That would be the end result of yrs of training .

I would agree with your comment about the " balance ".. like Irvine said.. " Lose balance control" and you lose everything " one of his " 3 " musts.
Once mastering that, then the nuances may start to be applied .

"I would agree with your comment about the " balance ".. like Irvine said.. " Lose balance control" and you lose everything " one of his " 3 " musts.
Once mastering that, then the nuances may start to be applied ."

One must be careful to note the difference between "loss of balance control" vs. "loss of balance"

The important skill is to move in and out of balance without deviating from your intent - to depart balance by intention, with a clear idea of when and where it will be regained rather than to have it accidentally disturbed.

The people who actually try to retain balance are those who are sliding their weight on the moving foot - they must do so, or hold the body stationary while placing the moving foot - because balance is only present while the center of mass is over or between points of support. To dance or even to walk in an ordinary fashion requires this to be untrue during a substantial fraction of the duration of each step.

When skilled dancers speak of maintaining balance, they do not literally mean it, because while they may not be aware of the fact, they do not do so. Rather, what they mean is making only intended movements; not allowing themselves to get into situations where they are physically forced by gravity or momentum to do something which conflicts with their artistic goals. Balance "control" is maintained, not by maintaining balance but by choosing precisely how and when balance will be lost and regained.

"If you release your toe prior to lowering your heel, you will have momentarily lost contact, in effect picking up and placing the foot."

I would dispute that. Provided you aren't depending on the moving foot for slowing friction or partial weight support, "Picking up and placing" would be distinguished by a rise of the net mass of the foot. Simply rotating it from a toe down position to a heel down one would not constitute raising the foot, even though there would be a moment when no part of the foot was in contact with the floor. Indeed, for moderate heel heights, the center of mass of the foot may actually descend, since the tip of the heel is closer to ankle than the tip of the toe is.

"I should also mention that since it isn't natural to flatten the foot when it is in advance of the body, an unusual feature of this action following a Whisk or Curved Feather is the movement of the body *before* the foot. That is to say, for a very brief moment, when the body first starts to move, the toe stays fixed in its position, for just enough time to allow the body to arrive in a natural position over the foot. It's a very subtle detail, but one that makes all the difference between a skimming heel lead that's natural, and one that's forced."

Indeed - but this detail is one that should not be unique to these circumstances, but instead present in every step 1 action. It may be associated with promenade and outside partner positions because they make the fault of its omission more obvious, but it is really the fundamental technique of a lowered forward action - the body moves first, and brings the foot.

Guys. If the ladies foot leaves the floor when going backwards in the Foxtrot it looks awful. The extreme part of the toe needs to be in contact with the floor. The man, now thats a different story. If the man forces the heel to the floor on a heel lead commen sense tells it it wont work. You'd be trying to move with a brake on.

I hope you mean only after the foot has passed under the body!

Exactly !!..

It would seem that most are only concentrating on the foot that is in front and forgetting that the now moving foot moving from the rear must have a difference in pressure to the floor than the one that is being driven . Its the same going backwards. There has to be a difference.