Dave Glad you brought the swing thing up. If you think about it we are not like a playground swing which has its centre fixed. Our centre, ( thats were the swing is hanging ) moves. The swing does not. In other words it is wrong to liken it to a pendulum swing.Wasn't it Galileo who held a great ball and let it swing, stood his ground to prove it would not hit him on its return. He could probably have given us all the maths that would make our swing brilliant.

Yes Quickstep you are right. I was realy describing the path that our body moves through from the top of one variation to the top of the next,the best example would be from the top(end)of the NST to the top(end of the back lock danced DC. First a right sway and then a left sway giving the swing path.

"If you think about it we are not like a playground swing which has its centre fixed. Our centre, ( thats were the swing is hanging ) moves. The swing does not. In other words it is wrong to liken it to a pendulum swing."

Actually, waltz swing does follow the same path as a pendulum. The suspension point stays fixed for as long as possible, then jumps in one single instantanteous movement to a new suspension point further down the floor. This change happens exactly where the rise turns over from going up to going down. The mark of a coordinated waltz is this single jump change of suspension point per swing cycle - an uncoordinated waltz would have a suspension point that slides or bounces around.

Foxtrot does not use this rise, nor do some figures added to the waltz. Quickstep may come close in some interpretations but is also different, and of course tango classically has no rise at all.

To me the waltz is like a group of diagonal lines joined together. On each diagonal line we have a pendulum swing with the shoulders and weight of head describing the swing plane of a half circle, interspersed with almost horzontal lines being the DRS,FSP,pivots etc. The foxtrot rise being more like an ocean swell on a calm day.

It's the low center much more than the shoulders/head weight which follows the pendular path. If you look at the head/shoulders you'll probably be confused by the way the sway does not always match the inclination of the pendulum's string.

It is very interesting. On a DVD by Slavic which is on a Rumba Walk. He says there are a millions body positions
before our weight arrives onto our now standing foot. Meaning I think that if we split 36 inches into 1/8. 1/32 .1/64 and so on there would be millions of body positions in relation to the length of the step. Now the thrust of the standing leg accelerates our body along that path. It would seem time comes into the equation. This could be why some dancers look heavy and others not.

Dave. The body moves the leg. The leg moves the body. Which one is correct. If you think about it untill the front foot is in place we have know way of knowing the length of the step, and therefore how would we know where our body should be on its path. It must mean that we have a split second calculation which we all have to determine where along that path the body should be at any given time. If as somebody thought that the body is flighted, imagine a man with one leg. Where would they be when they ran out of flight. It would seem that to dance the natural laws of motion comes first.

"If you think about it untill the front foot is in place we have know way of knowing the length of the step, and therefore how would we know where our body should be on its path."

This is thinking in the right direction, but still reaching the wrong conclusion. Having the foot in place does not determine the length of the step, because there is no guarantee you will be able to get your body over that foot placement without knocking your partner over. Instead, the length of the step is determined by the trajectory of the body. Your foot had better be under the body when it needs support, but it's up to you and you alone to get it there - you partner can neither help nor intefere with that. If the partners match the movement of their bodies, and let their feet arrive to where the motion of their bodies requires, everything works out very, very well. But if one partner goes deciding where he or she wants his feet and then hoping the body can go along with it, this is a recipe for a distorted hold and off-balance dancing.

Dave rise and fall. Five of them in the Waltz 1.is rise at the end of 1. continue to rise on 2 and 3. lower at the end of 3. 2 When we have steps that pass we would use the Foxtrot type rise and fall. Obvously we can't lower vertically. 3. After a Whisk a Progressive Chasse has another rise and fall. 4. 4 5 6 of a Spin Turn is another, again different. 5. Then we have the Slip Pivot.

why do you people randomly introduce divergent subjects in the middle of a thread?