A.Moores book is for Intern.style.. and even then, it is very limited in coverage...

I just bought the Dance Vision DVDIDA what do you think it as compared to Alex Moores book.

Me & my hubsand had the same problem. I started drawing them out myself. After class, & during the breaks in class, I would take little notes! I found tha it also helped with keeping the details straight, re - imprinted in my brain, & really helped with the orientation of the step, in the room.
Of course, you can video your lesson, if your instructor does not mind.
Have Fun, Scotty Boys Doll

There's something very odd about dancing in that it is incredibly easy to forget what you learned in a studio -- just in the amount of time it takes to drive home from the lesson! I got in the habit very quickly of writing everything down, from the actual steps to any other subtlety or reminder tip that would help keep it fresh in your mind. I also would go through it again when I got home, and then the next morning as well. That seemed to help keep it stuck in my head, and also helped me to remember how to decipher my notes. That can happen as well -- after some time, the notes don't make a whole lot of sense either. That's why I tried to write down everything thing about the step. Even more detail than the written descriptions of the man's and lady's part on this site for the variations of the week or different dance steps. In any case, don't feel frustrated about not remembering exactly what you learned. It seems fairly common that it slips your mind unless you have something to refer to --and, of course, you practice.

Foot prints... you may not know this, but, the largest chain school in the world,was developed by the Franchise owner, by mail, with steps done in that very fashion..

The reason that system is redundant ?.. Video.. and.. it is virtually impossible to create sequences on paper for all the basic variations in the 6 major social Amer. style dances ( and cost prohibitive ).

Eli. There have been several books published over the years which have charts in them. If we go to the simplest step in the Waltz it shows the correct steps for both the man and the lady on a Closed Change. As the steps get more advanced it can be hard working out what foot goes where. One thing can be said. They are acurate . I am refering to Alex Moore's book and the charts by a person called Edward Youel who deserved a knighthood for his work on them.
I doubt if anyone can learn from a book. It should be used as a reference to something learnt in a class.
Pay attention to the parts which tell us when to rise. Commence to rise at the end of step one in the Waltz. Rise at the end of step one in the Foxtrot. Do you see the difference which alters the following steps also. Good Luck

I think that a foot print series of basic steps used in ballroom dances would be a big seller as part of a dance training program. Instructors are missing the boat.

The foot steps could be issued per dance.

I have talked to many people who have given up ballroom style for the free style dances where you don't have to be remember actual steps - like swing. Also slow dancing without the waltz steps.

They give up because they forget the steps after the class.

Experienced dancers don't really remember where the feet go, we remember ways of using them to enable different kinds of movements.

And much of the time we use fewer steps than you might be given in even a fairly low level class - because dancing is not really about what you do, its about the nuances (both technical and expressive) of how you do it.

Eli.No charts will show the action of the shoulders CBM and CBMP. If you follow the charts as is you will be trying to stand in the same spot that your partner is trying to occupy.

Since CBMP is defined as a foot position, it would have to be shown on a map of footprints. You would of course have to deduce the compatible body orientation.

CBM does not affect foot position or orientation of the step on which it occurs when going forward (and only somewhat to a degree not usually shown when going backward) so you would have to deduce its use by noticing that the next step is in a turned alignment. That won't of course get you the more subtle cases such as cbm in the feather or lock step.

If this sounds like connecting the dots and applying rules to determine the appropriate actions between the steps, it it. But its critical to realize that even with all the information in the full technique book, you still don't have a set of instructions that can be literally followed. Instead, you just have a set of more detailed dots to connect using rules of partnered movement - some of which are in the preface of the book, some to be learned from your teacher, and some waiting for you to discover on your own.