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 .

The foot lowers to flat fairly quickly, but not so fast as those who insist on artificially slapping it down.

I guess I should have said flik and not flap. Or is it plip flop. I think the point is that many of us don't dance a good heal lead. At one time footwork to me was not danceing a toe when it should be a heal. Since I rarely did that I assumed my footwork was good. Now I know differently and understand the impotance of how we use and place the feet.

"I guess I should have said flik and not flap. Or is it plip flop. I think the point is that many of us don't dance a good heal lead. At one time footwork to me was not danceing a toe when it should be a heal. Since I rarely did that I assumed my footwork was good. Now I know differently and understand the impotance of how we use and place the feet."

The intermediate dancer worries about foot shape. But the advanced dancer worries about the body action that will naturally create the official foot shapes. They shoulnd't be explicit goals, rather if you dance the figure with the proper body actions you will incidentally have your feet in those positions - they are a quick way of checking.

Avoid the temptation to teach to the test with regard to footwork - many students take very exaggerated heel leads by failing to propel the body ahead of the foot. It would really be better that they sent the body even if they stepped on the ball of foot with no heel lead at all, but sooner or later sending the body would have their heel landing first.

Suomynona. Can't agree that the body dictates to the feet. Maybe long ago but not with the way it is being taught today. The feet take the body by already pointing in the new direction.Take an Open Impetus Turn. The man's right shoulder may be pointing diag to wall but the feet are already pointing to the new alignament the technique being that all that is now necessary is to move the body onto the feet. Ladies Whisk is another example. Open Telemark also. Those days of one feet pointing north and the other south never was correct. To get onto something more advanced. Take the 7th step of a Turning Lock. ( that's the one coming from an Overturned Spin Turn )Even though the man is facing against LOD, his right foot which is the 7th step points diag to the centre behind him, which makes the Lock a breeze and the feet will finish on the new alignament. All that is necessary is to bring the body over the feet. The moral behind this little story is feet first. This isn't anything new , take a look at the charts. Its been there since the day dot.

"Can't agree that the body dictates to the feet. Maybe long ago but not with the way it is being taught today. The feet take the body by already pointing in the new direction."

You seem to have misundertood the principle of the body leading the feet.

It is not the direction in which the body is facing that guides the placement of the feet, but rather the direction in which the body is moving.

This is not inconsistent with your observation that the feet often show an alignment before the orientation of the body does.

Of course the direction in which the body is moving is created or sustained by the action of the standing leg. The key to remember is that with only a few exceptions, the moving leg never chooses a direction - the standing leg does that by sending the body, the moving leg starts going in that direction as well, catches up, and lands at the position determined by the position of the body plus any projection due to whole-body sway.

Onlooker .That what I meant by the placement of the feet. Take for example the fallaway slip pivot the feet are both pointing the same way on the fallaway. You would find it hard to do if you tried to do it with just the body. This is the huge difference between the pros and the adverage dancer. It makes the turns so much easier to dance.