Jerryblue You will be much better off counting 2341 instead of quick quick slow. I'm with Allen Fletcher and the technique book which says there should be a quarter of a turn between a front and back basic. He said that every step there is either forwards or backwards. Not to the side. Why do teachers in a class do otherwise. Because its easier for them to have the class in a line facing the front without turning. The Hockey Stick is a good example. If you are taught that the lady goes from the man's left straight to his right without any turn they are dead wrong. But as I said for them to keep a class still facing the same way it becomes easier. But wrong. Watch Donnie Burns on tape dancing a basic. He starts with his right foot behind his left. On one he does a forward walk on his right foot. This is the way he would begin a Rumba in competition as well as the Cha Cha.