Carol,
Had a word with Ken. If you want to write to him you can e-mail, kenakrill@yahoo.com.

"But the variations within waltz must be due more to the practicalities and mechanics of individual figures."

That's putting the cart before the horse.

The differences in the practicalities and mechanics of the figures are due entirely to the specific desired character which each figure is trying to achieve. It's the not details of execution that define a figure, it's the character - the details are just there to enable you to achieve that character.

The drag hesitation does not have the character of a big swing that so many of the other waltz figures do. Therefore it's technical details are not those associated with making a large body swing.

well i dont know the history - but i guess the reason the drag hesitation was introduced was as a precede to a back lock for floorcraft, changing the line of movement, ie introducing a practical requirement to get to a PO position.

accidental duplicate

question to SocialDancer. referring to your the last paragraph - is this the equivalent of the pendulum effect discussed in a recent thread.

"is this the equivalent of the pendulum effect discussed in a recent thread."

There can certainly be an element of that about it depending on the style and approach and how much speed is taken from the preceding figure. IMHO there is a difference when preceding with a double reverse spin versus a natural hesitation.

I must admit to sometimes using some left sway on 2, and I do not always follow with the back lock. I like to follow with a contracheck with a natural slip pivot type ending.

You might like to compare and contrast this figure with the foxtrot Change of Direction.

The IDTA is I believe the only association that still includes this figure in their syllabus which I feel is a pity.
While I appreciate and support your desire to understand the reasoning behind the various actions in the figures it is not appropriate in examinations below fellowship level.
Be careful not to volunteer too much extra information during the exam. It is unlikely to earn you extra marks but it will lose some if it is wrong (by which I mean different from the examiner's opinion).

May I offer a small correction: the Drag Hesitation is in the current professional Licentiate Syllabus (and not just examined for Fellowship).

Quite correct SusieQ.
What I meant, but was not very clear about, was that the level of discussion on the reasons for non-standard rise and fall etc is only something that comes in at Fellowship level.
Up to there you are not expected to have an opinion.

SD. Can there really be any residual momentum left from the preceding figure by the time you reach e/o 2 of a drag hesitation.I would have thought frictional forces arising as the last step of the precede is placed would have dissipated that. Surely the thing about human gait is you have to keep generating force to keep moving - a bit like a pin in honey.

"SD. Can there really be any residual momentum left from the preceding figure by the time you reach e/o 2 of a drag hesitation."

Sure. In the swinging waltz figures, that residual momentum carried through from the previous downswing is where the upswing comes from. Since this is not as swingy in character there would be less residual momentum, but there may still be some. Actually, a common problem would be retaining to much of it.

"I would have thought frictional forces arising as the last step of the precede is placed would have dissipated that."

Only if the dancer specifically intends to dissipate it. And it's not dissipated into "friction" against the floor, because there is no weighted sliding action where floor friction would become dissipative. Instead it's dissipated by using the muscles to resist the movement.

"Surely the thing about human gait is you have to keep generating force to keep moving"

This is extremely mistaken. The human gait is effective at retaining movement energy across steps, and the dance version of it even more so. That's what makes good dancing look smooth and effortless - the highly developed ability to carry the energy from a downswing through a step or two and then into an upswing, WITHOUT dissipating and regenerating it.

But as the drag hesitation is not a very swingy figure, most of its commencing momentum will be dissipated, and the eventual rise will instead come mostly from the muscles rather than from an upswing release of retained momentum.