When the man dances step 4 of the Natural Spin Turn (Natural Pivot), does he release the toe or the heel of the right foot?

The Heel.....but.. the heel will return to a contact position during the pivot action, and release at completion of turn...

personally, Ive never been completely happy with the prescribed technique .. the complete contact frequently causes a " back " weighted action.. I prefer the term " kiss " the floor, in other words, lowering without receiving weight .

One sees a similar problem in the Fallaway rev with slip pivot.. the man " sitting " on the heel of right foot as pivot is completed , altho the footwork is given as t. h. T.

Terence: I believe he was asking about the right (i.e. departing) foot, not the arriving foot, to which the answer is The toe.

ILuv2Dance: As far as the footwork is concerned, the action of the Spin Turn begins very much like a standard backward walk. There is no rise during this step, and so you roll off of your right foot as you would with any backward walk, therefore releasing the toe of that foot.

The lady, however, releases her heel and maintains floor contact with her right toe on the next step. This seems obvious enough, as her step 5 of Spin Turn is danced with foot rise. However, the same would be true even if she didn't have rise, such as with a set of consecutive natural pivots. You will not find this technique in any book, because no Int'l technique book contains sets of consecutive pivots (and American style technique books are not to be trusted), but it is the common convention. As the lady leaves her right foot, she maintains contact with the right toe, then switches to a heel gradually while the weight is moving across the step on the left foot, so that the following step on the right foot is once again taken with a heel.

This technique would remain the same in all of the swinging dances. To be honest, I'm not sure about Tango... I suspect it might actually be different. But I'll consult with one or two well-trained ladies and get back to you on that one...

Regards,
Jonathan Atkinson
www.ballroomdancers.com

My mis read... AS to tango.. I dont think one should make comparisons, as the general technique is unique to the style ..( altho many Pros dance it like it has " swing " !!,, Irvine made a strong comment about this )

Luv2Dance. What is all this fuss about a Natural Spin Turn. All that step four is, is a Pivot, turning 1/2 a turn on that step four. The fifth step is a heel then a toe. Bit difficult to do if the right toe was on the floor dont you think.
I think a question that should be asked is. How high on the toe is the ladies 5th step, and does the heel make contact with the floor on that step.

Well no, actually. That's exactly what the lady does when she doesn't have rise, as in a set of consecutive natural pivots.

It's actually not difficult at all to take a step which begins with the toe in contact with the floor and changes to a heel. Think about the first step in promenade following a Whisk.

Regards,
Jonathan

ME. I could have continued to write that the RF is changed to a heel lead for step 5.

Back in the 50's, when I was a member of the IDMA, an examiner would have expected to hear what Terence said, that the heel lightly 'kisses' the floor during the turn of the Natural Pivot. This was to emphasise that the weight was held forward, and because of this the body weight did not leave the RF through the right heel.

This question came about because in a conversation with a dancer, I was told that Marcus Hilton gave this footwork in the action of continuous pivots in a lecture on the Waltz.

The departure from step 3 of the spin turn satisfies all of the criterea for the man to release his toe. The toe will then lower during the rotation, only to rise again during the heel lead.

Someone who is not doing this is likely letting the rotation spoil their progression.

Do you really lower your right toe all the way to the floor while mid-pivot, or are you just talking more about relaxing the foot in such a way that it might lower slightly toward the floor?

Regards,
Jonathan

Anymouse. I have looked at both Mirko and Marcus on the Natural Spin Turn. I see that on the Pivot it is down to ground zero. I see the right heel in contact with the floor and held in front.
Question. Do we keep our knees bent on Pivots. That might be a clue.