Feet turned out would be a far greater sin than turned in. Consider the direction of travel in a lock - this isn't latin!

Feet turned out, or in, or straight. Cancell feet turned in there should be no such thing. I've always maintained that the two styled, Latin and Standard if you are going to be good at one or the other then you should choose which you prefer and give the other away. Why, because of the turn out of the feet in Latin clashes with the straight feet in Standard, If I am going to pracise each style with an equall amount of time, put everything into my muscle memory, I feel my mind will be in a whorl. I'd like to make a point here. In the World Ten Dance Championship the finalists in both styles would be hard pressed to even reach a semi final in either style in a Standard or Latin World Championship. Thats a fact. Question . In Standard which is the only time the feet are turned out, that is one pointing west and the other east.

open telemark?

Try the feather finish in the Reverse Turn. Have a good look at the Open Telemark you might be suprised at the aligment of the foot after the second step is taken. Are both feet pointing in the same direction.

To continue with the Open Telemark. I've been looking at tapes by Richard Gleaves, John Woods and Michael Hillier, I've come to the conclusion that it is the most badly danced figure of them all where we are concerned. The mans rotation on his right foot is stopped by the lady opening to soon, Now we have the lady looking on the inside of her hand and not the outside, and the mans feet pointing east and west. You must continue to turn on The Right Foot untill the feet are on the corect line line. And at that time you are still in a closed position. Right hip to right hip. Go to your tapes and see what the experts are doing and not what you think they are doing. Now have a good look at the Open Impetus. I might just add this . There have been a few quires about the Double Reverse Spin. Go no further, it is on the Steven Hillier tape Dance Basics explaned in simple language.

One key to a nice open telemark is for the leader to dance it with almost a latin spiral type of footwork for the first two steps: leave the left toe almost in place and pivot on the right ball of foot, so that as the left foot swings towards closing it actually crosses in front. And make the right foot step fairly small. This makes it easier for the shoulders and toes to stop at the correct amount of rotation and just hip continue to promenade, than if you try to brush the free leg or move it continuously.

And of course the lady does have to pivot on her left ball of foot as she rises out of the heel turn.

Now we have DVD's and disks. We can see steps clearly, and we can zoom in and have a real good look at what the best are doing. Apart from the Open Telemark I've turned to one important part of a Reverse Turn in the Foxtrot for the man.That is at the end of the first step when does the heel leave the floor. It certainly was not what I saw recently where the second step was in place and the heel of the left foot was still on the floor. This does'nt help the lady with her Heel Turn, and it also creates a bad foot position. It's those little things that can make all the difference to a persons dancing. I chose that particular part because there are so many complaints from people both man and lady on that move. Hands up those who have ever given that part any attention at all.

Yes, any time the footwork says "HT" the heel must be up before (or at the latest, as) the other foot passes for the next step. But this is even more important when leading a heel turn.

The feet are properly turned out in standard in lots of situations:

Any pointing alignment such as the back half of a turn

At the beginning of most closing actions

Many picture lines

probably many others too

I am really pleased to have started such an interesting topic for dancers everywhere. it shows how interested you all are in what is a physical and mental artistic interpretation of music, NOT a sport