Would you teach intermediate dancers continuous open reverse turns [am. silver waltz]? Would they be able to maintain a proper alignment and body flight? I feel as if I'm being shoved when a man attempts two open reverse turns in a row. I usually follow a reverse turn with a right turning figure. Am I old-fashioned, out of the loop, or just plain difficult?

You can take one reverse turn commencing DC and ending LOD and a second commencing LOD and ending DW. You could keep going after that commencing DW and ending wall, but unless doing some sort of check back into a corner it would be an odd place to be.

Creating a smoothly flowing outside partner action on the last step pretty much requires a precise 3/8 turn to be made - do less and the step is too sideways for the feet to cleanly pass, do more and one partner has to be pulled off balance to make the turn. Two 3/8 turns in succesion (DC to LOD, LOD to DW) are often choreographically usefull, three are in a few places, but four are almost unheard of.

One last thing - the lady's forward open reverse is a feather finish, which is to say it is identical to one of the most challenging steps in the international standard syllabus. It's worth studying the technique of that, particullarly the timing of the foot action and the limitation to the gentleman's rise if the lady is going to achieve this.

Would I teach them? No. Can they be done? Certainly.

The men who are leading you might not be executing them very well. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to do well. See my other post for a technical explanation.

As to why I wouldn't teach consecutive passing half-turns, it has nothing to do with whether or not they're possible. They're simply out of character with Waltz. To continually turn in one direction and travel down a straight line is more of a Viennese than a Slow Waltz thing. And there are better ways to get the job done. Anything wrong with a simple cross turn?

Regards,
Jonathan