Foxtrot Feather and Reverse Turn. After my prep step which has CBM, I stay on the LF and place my first of the Feather. After that foot is in place I swing my left side through onto the first quick(late CBM). I hold that shape onto the next quick which I do with CBMP. I come into a nuetral postition at the end of the second quick and keep the body turning .I place my first of the Reverse having already turned my body ( early CBM ), but not twisting the spine.When my foot and body are in position I step under my elbow with the second step. What I am trying to point out is the difference in the movement of the shoulders to the steps, they have a different timing. On the first we have the foot in position before the shoulders . On the Reverse we have shoulders before the step. Throw a bit of sway into that lot and it gets very interesting.I bring this up because I see teachers who don't even try to explain what is CBM and CBMP. This is true, where I live a friend of mine asked a teacher who does teach medalists. What is CBM and CBMP. He could not tell her.

"On the first we have the foot in position before the shoulders . On the Reverse we have shoulders before the step. "

You're dancing it exactly backwards...

sigh, watch a real couple for a change - Domenico & Goia perhaps

Anonymous,

What Anonymous3 is describing is a technique called "post-step" CBM.
It is a CBM on the second half (as opposed to the first half) of a step.


It is very easy to belittle somebody else's opinion--especially something that challenges what we believe to be right.
It only serves to stifle productive conversation.
Sadly, this results in ALL OF US being deprived of somebody else's perspective because they're afraid somebody will DENIGRATE THEIR OPINION.


We must remember that there are a lot of beginners out there who look to sites like this for guidance.

Those of us who know just a little bit more than them have a certain responsibility and should be careful what we declare as true.

Remember in ballroom, there is no right or wrong of doing things--there is only community opinion.
There are other ways of doing things that can produce the same--if not better effect.


AND BY THE WAY...

Domenico and Gioia use the movement Anon3 just described, which you characterize as incorrect.

And you probably want proof.
Look at the finals of the IDSF WORLD CHAMPS of 2004 (I think, or 2005).
Their running natural spin turn (which they use as their first figure in the Waltz) illustrates this movement very well.
(Steps 4, 5, and 6--if you actually want to look).



m

D&G dance much earlier natural CBM than most of their competition, and teach it too.

On the reverse CBM, scores of people are doing it wrong in a way that demonstrates a gross misundertanding of how an offset hold works. You cannot reverse your shoulders like that, without forcing gross distortion in the bodies or hold. A few of the coaches who undertand the feel but not perhaps the theory are going around teaching that reverse turns have no CBM at all. Compared to what a lot are doing, this is nearly correct. There should be no CBM visible in the topline until quite late in a reverse turn - the early CBM that should happen is in the hips alone. But esepcially when the man is moving backwards, the consequences of leaving it out almost entirely, and not really commencing the rotation until step 2, are less than the consequences of doing the wrong thing early.

Suomynona. Aren't we forgetting that there is a curve on the Feather Step. Without the curve there is no CBMP and if there is not, there goes your CBM on the Reverse.

"Suomynona. Aren't we forgetting that there is a curve on the Feather Step. Without the curve there is no CBMP and if there is not, there goes your CBM on the Reverse."

CBMP is a mandatory requirment for the outside partner position of the feather (or ANY ordinary outside partner position), it is not linked to presence or abscence of curve.

Suomynona. If I do a Feather Step with a slight curve,with CBMP making sure that I do start diagonal to centre. Doesn't that give me a more sweeping turn into the Reverse. Must not forget to get that heel of the LF off the floor as I step to the side on step two.

"Suomynona. If I do a Feather Step with a slight curve,with CBMP making sure that I do start diagonal to centre. Doesn't that give me a more sweeping turn into the Reverse. Must not forget to get that heel of the LF off the floor as I step to the side on step two."

Please specify what you mean by stepping "to the side" on step 2 (the step is forwards with respect to your feet, which is what counts). Please note that if you curve your feather, the curve shows up between steps two and three, but is not evident in the direction of step two itself.

Also, any curve you dance will actually lesson the depth of your CBMP position, since it will tend to align your moving foot more squarely with your body - unless of course you dance CBM on 3 to make up the difference, but I don't recall seeing that in the description.

A full swing on the reverse is a function of the body position and momentum you have at that point, not the directino in the room (DC or LOD) resulting from curving or not curving the figure. Of course if by curving you weaken your CBMP, then that will weaken the reverse figure.

This suggests to me that the curve is fairly minor.

Suomynona. Interesting point here. When I was first taught the Reverse Turn Foxtrot. For want of a better word, on the second step we were encouraged to travell. Now they come around very square to their partner. The feeling I have been told is a bit like doing a forward dive off a diving board. The people I was taught by at that time were Professionaly fifth in the world. And as a point of interest were pupils themselves to Henry Jaques whos name has come up a few times. I have no idea if this was how he taught.