Modern Waltz.I understand that drive is forward and backwards. Swing is from side to side. and sway comes in on three. It would seem that some think that swing is sway. Which brings me to my second point. Does the man and the lady both swing at the same time. I was always told that no couple swing at the same time. Only the person on the outside of the turn swings. The other follows up, then it becomes the other persons turn. Better ubderstood in the V. Waltz. The man swings the lady doesn't. Now the lady swings and the man does not. This way the V, Waltz flies, each working off the other.

The concepts of swing and sway defy easy simplification.

Generally, swing is forward and backward with respect to the feet, but rapidly becomes sideways in the body as the CBM rotation happens early in the the step where swing occurs. Those who insist on delaying their CBM past the proper point will have a more forward-backward swing in the body, but they will still end the swing with the body fairly sideways to it.

Sway is the position which results from the combination of swing and CBM - if your swing ends with the body moving sideways, then one side will be higher than the other and we call this sway. You can also fake a similar position without swing, and some people would call that sway as well, but it's a decorative shape (or used to aid static lines) not one involved in movement across the floor.

In actuality you can have sway without CBM, if you start your swing with the same side lead you end it with, you don't really need CBM to achieve sway. But usually we use CBM to change leading sides during the course of a swing. If you executed a swing that was actually forward or backward with respect to your body (not something you want to do) and ended up with an incline forward or backward rather than at least diagonally sideways, it's unclear if this could be called sway, but it's not really a usefull question as it's not a position compatible with partner dancing.

Suom, Thanks for giving clarity to my understanding of swing,sway. I only disagree with you on the timing of th e body when dancing swing and sway. I say we control the speed that we pass over the right foot"NT" with foot presure through the floor therefore,the timing has to be with the foot and not the body. Dave

"I say we control the speed that we pass over the right foot"NT" with foot presure through the floor therefore,the timing has to be with the foot and not the body. Dave"

The speed through step one is pre-deterimined by the downswing out of the last figure.

A major mistake in foxtrot is taking a full downswing too early, and then trying to retard the speed for the first step.

The speed of step two depends largely on how much of the body flight present in step one you choose to convert to rise. You can add or subtract energy with the action you use over step 1, but this is inefficient dancing so you should do so only to adjust for other couples getting in your way.

Suomynona. Question 2. Still on the first three of the International Waltz
( have to put that lot, there does seem differences in other styles ) In the Waltz on step two. Is the lady lower on her toes. Is she the same height on her toes. Or is she higher than the man.
And if she is or is not what is the explanation. I had better add that there are still discusions on how the first three should be done by our experts, even though it has been with us since 1922.