Don. Thanks for your reply. The Samba and Paso Doble are written in 8 or 16 bars phrases, so it will be correct to phrase the choreography to this. The beauty of the English style is it got away from sequence dancing in the 30's which some so called coaches are now teaching. Talking to my mentor about this, he remarked your Waltz example, upto and including the Chasse, was danced by Bob Burgess when they were placed second in the Waltz in the British Open at Blackpool.

Puzzled. Maybe I didn't point out clearly enough. Ballroom Dancing has risen to greater heights since the 50's and there abouts. I was a regular at Bob Burgesses studio at the Olympic Ballroom Kensington . I attended many of his teaching sessions and others. I cannot recall any mention of phrasing ever. It is my belief that maybe the orchestras of today are playing music with more emphases on certain bars than they did years ago. And so the dancers. As John Wood says on his tape. There should be an awarness of the music. Or you go on, just like everybody else around you, dancing in time, but out of rhythm.

Puzzled. If you can point me in the direction of any dance music that is not eight bar phrased , let me know. I listened to a Elvis disk the other day. Yes you've guessed it eight bar, phrased through out.

Don. If I did would it make any difference? Take my opening Slow Foxtrot routine. I dance a Feather into a Fallaway Reverse Slip Pivot. Timing S.Q.Q.S.Q.Q.S. That means I enter a new figure on beats 3.4. of a measure. This is acceptable! I'll say again. English style is not sequence dancing. If you want to give yourself an headache because a coach feels your dance should be phrased, then do so.

A dance does not have to be fixed sequence to be phrased any more than a jazz soloist needs to be reading music to follow changes.

You have a choice in the FRSP between several timings. Picking one arbitrarily is *not* acceptable. Picking one to accomplish an artisitc purpose is. Ideally that purpose would include consideration of the role of the step within the musical phrase, but there are many things a standard dancer has to worry about and not all will be satisfied all of the time.

Puzzled.I have been watching a tape of the IDSF World Championships 2002. Each of the six finalists danced a solo Foxtrot. I counted each contestant through each of their perfomances. Not once did I see a step that was not on the beat of 1 2. That was into Natural Pivot. Waves or whatever. Incidently on a Reverse Fallaway Slip Pivot . What as happened to 1 2. 3 and 4. or S. Q. and Q
That keeps you on 1 2 for the next figure. Why would anybody deliberatly choreograph a routine that has you dancing back to front when it is just as easy to do it the correct way. To dance in phrase. that is something else. A demonstrator will always be in phrase with the music, they are the only ones on the floor. Us mere mortals unless they are very clever will find it difficult if we have to come to a stop. But it can be done. In the Samba it has to be danced in phrase otherwise it looks disjointed to say the least.
Could go on forever on this subject especially on the Tango and V. Waltz. They are another story.

Hi Don. If that is how they want to intrepretate the music, fine.

Puzzled. I've been going through my collection of information. I knew that somewhere I had some info from one of the greats on music and musicality. He says that on the back of a disk cover you may see 4+64 This is how music is constructed. That means there is a four bare intro, plus eight chapters of eight bars, making 64. Think of the music as you would a written story. There are comas and full stops, otherwise the story would not be able to be read with any expression or feeling.We are now refering to Waltz. Each bar of music is not just a follow on of the previous bar. The First bar is Strong. The second Soft. The Third is Strong. Four is Soft. Five is Strong but not as strong as the first bar. Six Soft. Seven Very Strong. Eight Soft. Phrased music must be danced to. Just for the record. At 30 bars a minute you have two seconds to dance a bars of music. And because of the way music is constructed we should all be able to tell when a new phrase starts, or the phrase we are on is ending. All we need do is listen and count. When our routine is finalised and we know the count, it will be then that some expression can come into our dancing and we will always know where we should be with the music. Otherwise we can pull out all the full stops and comas and dance like a Machine Gun.

How the ‘Giants' of the past would have loved to know that all figures have to be danced in phrases of the music. Don't you think for one moment that someone never considered this. After all it makes everything nice a nd tidy. If it was never considered, why? Easy. English style is not sequence dancing! You are a free spirit. If you want to dance with a ball and chain fastened to your ankle, you can do so. Let's read a routine in the Slow Foxtrot demonstrated by a founder of the English style partnering the late Bobbie Irvine, MBE, the late great, Miss Josephine Bradley: Feather Step SQQ. Swoop to Going Through Oversway, ending in PP. QQSQQ. Curved Feather from PP. SQQ (Sorry ladies you can't do that. Starting a Curved Feather on beats 3.4 of a measure.) Open Impetus SQQ (Still out of phrase, ladies) Reverse Weave from PP. (Again starting out of phrase) SQQQQQQS. This amalgamation was taught at the ISTD Summer Congress, 1963. Please don't write and tell me that the English style has developed since then and also that you danced at the monthly get-together in Scarsdale Lodge. I have not wrote this message to be sarcastic in any way whatsoever. I will write no more on this.