I'll put my two bobs worth in her. I'm leaning towards the comments above.
The music remains constant. If we get onto dancing on 3412. the music is still playing 1234 from the very first note to the last. I believe from what i have seen is that in the Foxtrot the introduction step is often danced by mistake on 12. I wonder how many of us if asked to dance a Reverse Turn on its own and would take off on 34 as our first step. Unless we are hard of hearing.

Rather than changing the timing of the figures, I believe the best solution for working in things that take an "odd" amount of time is to pair them with another "odd" figure, both danced as intended. One or two figures can be danced mid-measure to mid-measure in between as a tasteful variation.

And that is usually the way things work out in quickstep - in foxtrot because the odd figures are really a minority and we are so more aware of the measures this solution may take a bit longer to discover.

Probobly that is what is intended. But we would need a 15 bar and add a 9 bar to make 24. I cant see the logic behind moving from one figure into the next by two beats. I hope that makes sense. Anyway nobody does the Natural Turn any more in a competition.

Phrasing is not treated as a priority skill bey the ballroom community. It usually develops in the end, but it is addressed much later and more quietely than in for example the swing dance community. Instead, the priority is on learning the physical details of the action. Given the complications faced on a crowded competition floor, even a routine that is planned with phrasing in mind will not necessarily be able to be danced matching the music - the ability to really phrase consistently with the music will only come when the dancers have enough skill and musical ear to adjust their material to accomodate the floor sitution, and still have the adjustments come out matching the music.

Also, the greater wealth of options available to advanced dancers will make this easier. It is no suprise really that a teaching sequence, confined to a more limited range of options but biased in its selection to those things which will produce flowing movement, may not be phraseable. That is not yet one of its goals.

"What use is it dancing your first three on the second bar with the phrasing. This puts the first steps onto the weaker bar of music and the second half of a Spin Turn on the strong bar. Which is back to front."

I think that one could feel the music and dance the figure, part of the figure or any group of figures to suite the music. I don't believe that any figure, part of a figure is inherently strong or weak and can only be danced on certain bars within the phrase. Like they say it's not what you dance it's how you dance it.

I guess what I'm saying is that one gets beyond the idea of phrasing or even timing in the rather academic or technical sense and in time connects with the music through dance in a much more profound way that beats, bars and phrases.

Rha

Rha. So are you saying that you can dance any bar of music as you see fit. Would you start to dance on the third bar in a four bar introduction and carry on through with your routines sometimes in five bar sequences and sometimes seven. Have you watched any IDSF competition where the choreography by the dancers is not eight bar phrased. Or maybe its all news to you and you've never had it brought to your attention before. John Wood goes on to say if you dance out of phrase you will just look like the rest of the dancers around you. In time but out of phrase.If you've ever danced Samba you'll know what phrasing is all about and how uncomfortable it feels if you are out.

LuvLatin,

Hmmm...I see where you're coming from if one belongs to the 'set routine' group. I'm not supporting dance any bar of music anyway one likes. I agree the music is boss.

I don't dance set routines even in competitions. Set routines are one of my pet dislikes because I believe it detracts fundamentally from what partnership (boy/girl) dancing is all about. I certainly build my dance around groups of figures or lines. But they are flexible lines, meaning that I can lengthen or shorten them by adding or subtracting figures from them. I don't necessarily dance them in a fixed order and the musical expression, timing, light & shade, etc, etc that I use varies depending on where I am in the music.

Rha