If you remember you were discussing the footwork of the Change of Direction (CoD)

SocialDancer. To change the subject slightly. We can all find Marcus Hilton on youtube, or we have watched Timothy Howson in the 06 Foxtrot final from the British. Both on their introduction steps. Has it been noticed which beat they use. I did use the word beat and not beats if you notice.

I think we have already gone too far and spent too much time off topic. This thread is about forward walk turning in rumba or cha.

SocialDancer. If we go back to the original question the answer lies in the Technique Book. On the Second POSITION No 2 ( WHICH IS DOWN AS STEP 2 of the Spot Turn. Weight transfer in place . Which often gets misread. The second step is not a Walk it is in this case RF in place. The next step is a Walk Turning as it is written in the book.
I'll add a bit more to that. As we know there is a hip settling before the Spot Turn just as there is on any walk. As we take step 1 on beat 2 turning to the right the right hip will be higher than the left( what goes up must come down ) it settles on an (and) count.On three the right hip will be up. Then to the side and the left hip is the highest on beat 4. And so on and so forth. It doesn't matter if it is a Checked Walk or whatever the technique remains the same. To get the feel of this it is a good idea to stand feet apart all the weight on the left leg which is straight. The right leg to the side on the toe with the leg also straight. Then simply pass the weight from one side to the other which means from the right hip which is the highest to a neutral position and then to the other side with the other hip the highest. This should be done at the beginning of a class and exlain this is what is happening all the time. We don' t want that 2 step beat 3 to be muted and devoid of any action..

lluv2Dance. Ladies footwork on the Change of Direction. On step two Toe, then inside edge of Toe which must lower and the Heel must be down in contact with the floor. Then inside edge of Toe of right foot. If a heel was used it could result in an ugly toe raised. What does Henry say.
I wonder if you can look at the action of the Feather Step. Does he say rise at the end of step one meaning on two we are already as high as we are going to be on step three. That there is no graduall rise as in the Waltz from one, to two and to three. Anybody who might have some of the other books that have been written since. Do they all agree. It is noticable if we study to see that on step three , as the foot draws level with step two our better dancers are about as high as it is possible to be on the toes at that point. Especially Hawkins.
Richard Gleave has one of those books always on hand in his studio so I was told by somebody who has lessons with him. Best Wishes. Has the headache gone. .

"Does he say rise at the end of step one meaning on two we are already as high as we are going to be on step three."

Rise at the end of step one does not mean that you will reach your full height at this point, as reviewing any video would show. Instead, it means that the rising actions in the feet are complete - however, the body will continue to gain altitude as the legs close during step two, reaching its peak altitude only at the end of step two, and then starting gradually downwards via leg division even before the formal foot lowering occurs at the end of step three.

Once again, you assume a meaning that not only isn't in the text, but GROSSLY CONTRADICTS the actual dancing as done by everyone of any skill whatsoever.

I was wondering if you could please direct me to the place where I might be able to buy Henry Moore's book "Modern Ballroom Dancing". Or if you would like to sell your autographed copy for a price of your choice that would be fine too.

Sincerely,

Jayson Parker

Its worth pointing out that if we use an alignment on which in both the Cha and the Rumba there are none. Imagine we are in the middle of the floor both facing each other and are dead square with the dance floor. A Spot Turn in the Rumba. We are not bound to step down the LOD if we dont wish to. If we like we can step towards each corner of the floor on a diagnal. A New York the same. With the Spot Turn we will turn over the foot of which the whole of the foot is in contact with the floor, that includes the heel. That step is in the manuel as Ball Flat. We do not turn into the step. We turn at the end on the count of ( and ). Which is Three and. At this stage if we wished to change we could either walk backwards or forward . Wally Laird in his book calls it a Forward Walk Turning. The New York is a Checked Forward Walk. On the Spot Turn to the Right in the description which is LF fwd across body turning to finish LF back and slightly to the side. That does not mean that the LF moves from the spot. It simply means that if the first step is not taken across the body you would finish with your feet crossed up and your LF would be behind yourself. Now that isn't hard to understand is it. Just do as the book says.

"is step 3 of a spot turn in cha-cha (ie step 1 of the chasse) a fwd walk tng?"

No, it's not.

Laird uses a fwd walk turning for the equivalent step in Rumba. This fits with his description of a spot turn as three fwd walks (two walks and chasse for CC). Most dancers nowadays prefer the sharper action of the alternative step & replace spot turn which tends to make the third step a side step even in Rumba.

The speed of the cha cha, together with the split beat and the chasse action, make it virtually impossible to dance a fwd walk turning on step 3 even if you wanted to. It is pretty universally danced as a side chasse with any residual turn being made on the standing foot as step 3 is taken.