Hi DanceFad,

I don't dance that step with footrise either but I also don't have a toe release like the NFR in the Reverse Wave. So I dance it with NFR but a heel release like the backhalf of many other figures.

The toe or heel release of the old supporting leg as the weight moves on to the new supporting leg may be the point of contention. A NFR is not necessarily always related to a toe release as the weight is received onto the new supporting leg.

Rha

Hi dancefad,you are correct. As you push off from the right foot there is a forward and upward swing onto the next foot,this rise takes place at the end of four as the heal leaves the floor and left toe touches the floor. On lowering we always think of swing forward and up, not down and up.

In dancing the Lady always swings forward and up to her partner, this is not easy for the Lady to do as she is wearing high heels which brings her body weight more forward over the foot than the man,so she has to realy concentate on tipping forward as she lowers. I have tried to dance in my wifes shoes and it's hell. The Lady needs lots of help from the man when she dances any kind of heel turn.

Ups. I should have said .Concentrate on not tipping forward when lowering.

Hi Rha,

*** A NFR is not necessarily always related to a toe release as the weight is received onto the new supporting leg. ***

Rha. (1) When a side step follows a no foot rise (NFR), the supporting foot will be flat and when full weight is taken on to step 2, the heel of step 1 will be released from the floor. eg 1-3 of Natural Turn in the Waltz as lady.
(2) When a backward step follows a NFR, the toe of the supporting foot is released from the floor so that when step 2 is taken pressure is felt in the heel of the front foot. A body rise will be felt between the heel of the front foot and the ball of the back foot. eg Feather Step as lady in the Slow Foxtrot.
(3) When NFR follows a side step, the heel of the side step will lower as the next step is taken to end Up NFR eg steps 2 and 3 of a Feather Finish, as lady.

*** I don't dance that step with footrise either (Step 4 Reverse Turn, as man) but I also don't have a toe release like the NFR in the Reverse Wave. So I dance it with NFR but a heel release like the backhalf of many other figures. ***

Let's just think about that one! You are dancing step 4 of the Reverse Wave, as man. You've extended the right foot back on to the toe then lowered in to the heel and the body weight rolls through the right foot into the heel when the left foot is taken back on to the toe (step 5). Now with the weight in the right heel you shift it forward to the right toe so that you can release the heel of the right foot before you take the right foot back (step 6). Rha, have you ever considered you are at fault?

"Let's just think about that one! You are dancing step 4 of the Reverse Wave, as man. You've extended the right foot back on to the toe then lowered in to the heel and the body weight rolls through the right foot into the heel when the left foot is taken back on to the toe (step 5). Now with the weight in the right heel you shift it forward to the right toe so that you can release the heel of the right foot before you take the right foot back (step 6). Rha, have you ever considered you are at fault?"

Illuv2dance, have you ever considered YOU are at fault?

Step 5 of the reverse wave is the toe only step, so it is the movement of the left foot into step 7 (start of the next figure) that will not feature a toe release. Where you are specifically wrong is that the right toe must release as it moves from step four to step 6.

It's a common confusion to think that the toe does not release when TH is followed by a rising step. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's only if the following step is sideways that the toe does not release. (Yes, there is a note giving the man only permission to omit this for a backwards locking action, but it's rarely wise)

Anon, My post was written on the assumption that Rha was referring to drawing the right toe back for step 6. I was not recommending that it should.

*** (Yes, there is a note giving the man only permission to omit this for a backwards locking action, but it's rarely wise)***

It's not a case of being // rarely wise // but a case of why is this option given?

PS Anon. (Wish you anonymous writers would give a Guest Name) Also, I'm never wrong! If I don't know the answer I don't answer a posting.

Iluv2Dance,

Rha clearly stated that he releases the toe when moving the right foot from step 4 to step 6.

You incorrectly chose to devote half a post to contradicting this and advocating a toe drag there.

You were wrong... it's as simple as that!

*** //I don't dance that step with footrise either but I also don't have a toe release like the NFR in the Reverse Wave //***

Hi Anon, If Rha had written that he releases the toe when moving the right foot from step 4 to 6. Which he didn't. I would not have devoted a detailed explanation AS TO WHY it's wrong. When I read: *** I also DON'T HAVE a toe release like the NFR in the Reverse Wave *** I assumed it was step 4 to 6. I will write no more on that.

But I would still be interested in your opinion as to why a foot rise on step one of the Backward Lock Step, as man, is rarely wise.

Rha was clearly making a comparison of contrast between step four of the reverse, and step four of the wave.

There is no foot rise on the first step of a back locking action for either dancer, because rolling through the foot and up from the heel is necessary to generate a smooth rise that curves upwards in the vertical plane. You can create a crude imitation from the toe, and for students with very poor weight awareness this might be okay for a while. But the real action comes from moving the body weight through the foot.

Moving the body weight against the direction of travel - back to the toe - is never wise. When a foot is left via a toe drag, it occurs only after the body weight has left the foot. Wheras a heel toe release occurs while the foot is still weighted - it is not simply a heel drag, though that does subsequently occur in the follow through the of the pushing action of the toe release.

Even when moving forwards, where the weight lowers from toe to heel it never moves against the direction of travel in the foot in the way that you suggested, because the weight that is in the toe is only a small fraction of the body weight (the rest is briefly falling towards the point behind the toe where the heel will arrive). Force equivelent to the full body weight is exerted only only after the heel is down and the leg muscles start to absorb the fall of the body with pressure through the heel. Trying to absorb the full body weight into the toe is a common hangup - it has a limited role to support intermediates in slowing down and thus understanding the mechanism of how to divide the legs while up, but it must be discontinued before the step can be executed with smooth and unhesitating motion.