No, the fundamental difference between a closed foot action and a passing action such as a weave is the peaking of the rise to close the feet. The knee will be much straighter to accomplish that - but not locked of course.

You have not answered my question I guess I have not explained it well. There is little differance between the wisk and natural turn as far as passing foot is concerned,since in the wisk we keep our center balanced over the second step as we place the third just behind. but in the wisk we use compression from the second step (push up) for a controlled rise,so why not push up on the left foot in the natural.

Yes, there is some rise from the left foot in the forward natural. But it is not so much a lifting, as a continuation of the almost ballistic patch established by a swing - the left leg doesn't have to lift very much, it mostly just has to follow through on an upward trend that has already been launched. Because you close your feet and the body essentially stops for an instant, the rise must be high enough to absorb all of the energy that was previously in the form of travel.

In a whisk you also create a swing from the end of step one, but instead of aiming to close stationary at the end of three, you aim flatter so that you will coast over step two (you should not be able to stop on step 2 when you dance it fully) and compress into step three.

Dave and others. i don't wish to appear contradictory. But the closing step is being done on an and count. Two (and )three. The three beats are split into six. See Woods Or Gleaves. So we have a count of 1 and 2 and 3 and. If you think about it you are using the half beat without realizing it. In between
1 2 3 we have a spaces which we use and is counted as 1 and 2 and 3 and. Even my old fashion book says rise at the end of one. Continue to rise on two ( and ) three,. The orchestra playing also fills in the spaces, imagine, what it would be like if they didn't. I am trying to draw attention to the space between 2 and 3. This is the (and) that the closing step is moving on. I'm sure this will bring a few words forth. But before you do, try it. Don't forget we are at our highest and the lowest on the beat 3 and. And we need time to do this. Happy dancing.

you are mistaken if you think the "and" in "Two (and )three" is literally the musical and. Not to say your timing is wrong, but the book does not use musical counting or speak of time units anywhere but in the beats per step line.

Annon. you are at the top on three and lower on three and. The whole beat is a foot position,the half beat is a body position. Dave

"Annon. you are at the top on three and lower on three and. The whole beat is a foot position,the half beat is a body position. Dave"

It's not that simple. Nowhere is the precise timing of steps to music given. The total amount of time in beats per step is given, but the phasing is not - all of the counting in the book is in terms of the steps, not the beats.

Suomynona. In the Foxtrot yes. But in the Waltz we can count one as a step and also a beat even if it wasn't meant that way in the book. Going back a bit. We have two seconds to complete the one bar of music. If we are to be at our highest and or lowest on beat three. We can't start moving the closing foot on three. We need time, so the moving foot must start on the half beat. Trying to find more time we have couples who wrongly never go any higher that their second step or beat.For those just picking this up . This is the first thee steps of a Natural Turn in the International style Modern Waltz, in the main the closing step, and when to get the foot moving.

If we are to move smoothly and continually in time to the music we have to spend an equal amount of time on each foot when dancing the basic waltz ,but if you just arrive on the second step with little further rise(a high heal) you will be spend less time on that foot and have less control over the timing of the different speeds in the waltz 28-31 bpm. also a person with longer or shorter legs has to use that second step to to make the ajustment and that is why I say you arrive on a bent knee with a lower heal that is not to say that you can't float onto that foot or that the rise in the natural is any different than a closed change. The should be the same amount of rise throughout the basic 18 steps of the waltz and that is where we get our lovly lilting action from.

"we have to spend an equal amount of time on each foot when dancing the basic waltz"

No, this is a flawed assumption with no basis in fact. Waltz character includes the impression of *NOT* dividing the beats evenly, though as in all swing dances it is only the timing of the body, not the timing of the feet, which is important.