Rha and Dave - i can only assume you use the word 'pull' in a way which is fundamentally different from the definition i know. But if it helps your dancing to think of a pulling action, then that's good for you guys. But i simply can't accept that the moving foot, when it does its heel strike, exerts any force at all back towards the dancer's body.
Rha, if there were this pulling action, it would straighten the knee, not force it to bend. It bends because the dancer's momentum is absorbed by the knee.
try running in very soft mud. You will find your back foot (the one you're leaving) sliding backwards, and your front foot sliding forwards. If the front foot were trying to 'pull' you forward, it would be sliding back towards you. This doesn't happen.
Having said all that, if this mind picture helps you, that's fine.

Phil,Its not so much what I think but what Geoffrey Hearn says. A trainer of world champions who has the Carl-Allen Award and the BDF Special Award for his work he also took over the Letter Service from Alex Moore which is now called the CHoreographer so who am I to disagree.

lots of famous people misuse words, even words with precise dance definitions get misused by the best sometimes.

Dave
I know very well who Geoffrey Hearne is. Maybe next time i see him, i'll ask him about this

Hi Phil,

I'll try explaining what one means by this 'pull' because I'm not sure you have the idea. I'm not trying to convince you. Give it a try and if it does'nt work for you then dismiss it. Also, this 'pull' action is not dance imagery. It is real.


"if there were this pulling action, it would straighten the knee, not force it to bend..."

What you say is true if you were to 'lock' your knee and create leverage from the hip-joint. Allow the knee joint to be soft and yielding to allow leverage at the knee joint.

"It bends because the dancer's momentum is absorbed by the knee."

Yes, the knee can absorb momentum and bend and this is what one may want for a recovery step after the upswing. But for the preparation step, this is precisely the intent I'm trying to convince you to change. Don't use the knee to absorb and dissipate the momentum by a 'push' connection with the floor. Use the knee to build/ preserve momentum by using a 'pull' connection through the receiving foot. At the same time you have the soft knee to get the body going 'even more' into the upswing.

"try running in very soft mud. You will find your back foot (the one you're leaving) sliding backwards, and your front foot sliding forwards. If the front foot were trying to 'pull' you forward, it would be sliding back towards you."

Yes, quite true but soft mud dramatically reduces the force of friction and it is this force that is being used to create the 'pull' and the 'push' on the dance floor.

It is important to think about these 'push' / 'pull' forces of the feet onto the floor as being more than forces to get body weight moving. The 'pull' force particularly is often more a 'connection pressure' with the floor rather than a substantial force that's required to move the body. As you know connection points communicate information or awareness through pressure/ forces and they do not necessarily transfer momentum between bodies.

Rha

Well I realy started something here with my push & pull. But what a wonderfull learning experience for those like myself who have still lots of learning do or the ambition and desire to excel.

Any "pull" would be at most a symbolic force such as in the connection between partners; but the "push" off the floor is quite real and plays an important role in sending the body.

No more important role than the Heal plays in recieving our weight snapping the sole down sending us over the ball and toe giving us energy to help with the push?

Rha
"but soft mud dramatically reduces the force of friction and it is this force that is being used to create the 'pull' and the 'push' on the dance floor."
Of course friction is reduced in soft mud - that's why i'm using it in the experiment. The foot will move in soft mud, and as one who has run in soft mud countless times, it's clear that it slips forward every time - proving that there is no force back towards the body but, if anything away from it.
Dave - if you really want to excel, don't try to do something that you don't do naturally when you're walking or running - it will make your dancing un-natural. And certainly never 'slap' your foot down. When the heel lands and the knee absorbs the forward momentum, the foot could easily slap down, but you must control this to make your dancing soft and smooth.
We're all learning

PHIL.Practice what you preach. Go for a walk and then tell me that the foot is not flat before the knee bends. I do practice what I preach. As heal srikes the floor the foot immediatly flicks down foot. If you took the time to think and verify what you say you would not insult people by saying they don't dance naturaly,how do you know how I dance .