I am busy on the dance floor and couldn't follow up this discussion soon. I think I also need to clarify a few points here.
1. To the most of people, including Robert Richey, in the ballroom dancing community, the "a" and "&" means the same thing in Samba: a quarter beat.
2. If you want to count timing in the "½, ½, 1" beat pattern, you might to use QQS. Otherwise, you can confuse others as well as yourself.
3. Indeed, in Samba, sometimes people count "1e&a2e&a". It is for the expression of the dance, that is, to make the dance more musical. It, however, only applies for some of figures with Samba Bounce action, not for the Corta Jaca. You can try yourself to see whether this statement is right or not.
4. The two things: dancing the Samba Bounce action and the "1a2" rhythm are not equivalent. When the bounce action is used in a figure, you have to use the "1a2" type of rhythm. However, when you use the "1a2" type of rhythm in Samba, it is not necessary that you dance a figure with the bounce action.
5. I totally agree that we shall not use any technique book as a stone. We all try to understand some principles between the lines in the technique text. Within the principles, figures can be executed differently. One example is the Alemana discussion in the other thread. I have no any problems at all for the various execution methods presented in the thread. On the other hand, it is sad for me to see many dance teachers can't execute school figures properly. I'm not talking about the execution in a high standard, but an intermediate standard. "Not written in stone" can be an excuse for them.
6. You're right, Steve. The school figure of the Corta Jaca, according to Lair, contains ten Quicks. I didn't state the whole figure for the reason I would wrote too much if I wanted to make it complete.
I think over all this discussion is good. I learn something from this discussion. I hope it is the same for others.