I think it is unfortunate that we us these words in dancing. Leading would have been better using the word Indicate. Following should be react. If the lady waits to be led she will be behind the beat, the dancing will look heavy. If you have in your collection a IDSF final in which at least two of the dances are performed solo. Just have a look and what do we see. Does anybody else agree that the lady must dance her own steps and the man shouldn't try to dance them for her.With a beginner they might need some guidance, but thats where it should stop. I usually say, after the first three of a Natural in Waltz. You know where you want to go, so go there. It seems to work, and the lady soon learns that her job is not to be hauled around the floor, and it soon teaches them that they must learn their steps..

Unless you want to be limited to a preplanned interpretation of a preplanned routine, the lady really will have to wait to be lead. But the critical detail is that following is not a catch up game; dance actions need to evolve in a way such that each major action is predicted by a preceding subtle action that sets it up. The lady can't follow what the man has already physically done as that would indeed be too late. But she needs to follow the evolving preparation for what is about to be done. Sometimes that means the big visible action will indeed happen in her body first - but it's still in response to a setup that was lead, otherwise she's leading that part of the routine and making him follow her (something that happens a lot more often than most ladies who do it realize)

Can one lead a partner through
a Quickstep Tipple Chasse to
Rt (at corner) without her
knowing her steps? This pattern
is complicated for an semi or
untrained lady--she usually
does alright until the timing
of the lockstep. I think that
the lady needs to know her
steps for this pattern.

"Can one lead a partner through
a Quickstep Tipple Chasse to
Rt (at corner) without her
knowing her steps? "

She probably needs to be familiar with possibilities of this sort, but once she is you should be able to lead her through quite a variety of different patterns - not just the tipple chasse, but various other named and unnamed figures that are one step different from the tipple chasse.

THe lady cannot dance her own steps. Quite apart from the fact that the man might want to change what the couple are doing at any time, it would be impossible for the lady to dance to exactly the same rhythm as the man. Really good dancers don't dance exactly on the beat (especially in foxtrot) for good reasons of musical interpretation, so the lady must wait for the man's lead. As suomy says, this doesn't mean the lady has to play catch up. If the hold, contact and balance of the couple is correct, the lady can, with experience, move with the man, keeping perfect contact and alignment. Of course, some figures are more difficult to lead than others, and occasionally things go wrong. Nobody's perfect. I think there are ladies who are uncomfortable with the fact that they must follow the man all the times, but one of the two dancers in a couple must lead. You can't have two leaders or two followers, and the dance set-up and hold means that the man is in the best position to lead.

Whoever is doing the forward step is in control. To simplify things after the first three Natural Turn Waltz into whatever. Be honest, does your partner take control, or do they hold back even if the man has indicated by clearing a space for the lady to move into. Is the step a good heel lead, Is the right leg straight before the weight is passed onto it. That incidently is not leading by the person going forward. That is dancing.

"Whoever is doing the forward step is in control."

???

In control in terms of not hitting something they can see and the other person can't. In control in terms of not falling over. But in control of choosing the nature and size of the movement? Unless there's a problem that contradicts it, that remains the leaders job regardles of direction.

From a purely practical standpoint, the leader can exercise more control when he is moving backwards, as in addition to signalling the magnitude of the motion, he can physically absorb some of the followers energy if she misses his intent - wheras if he's going forwards, what's he going to do, pull on her?

"To simplify things after the first three Natural Turn Waltz into whatever. Be honest, does your partner take control, or do they hold back even if the man has indicated by clearing a space for the lady to move into."

A lot of that would depend if the lowering is along a practical path. If the man drifts in a way that doesn't let the heel lower on step three, then the next step will not originate from the heel and will be weak. If the man lowers and doesn't pull out, the lady will continue crashing into the floor on the next step, etc. But if he does it right, she either takes the opportunity proportionally as he creates it, or she's decided to ingore him and dance her own version instead - hopefully because either there's someone in the way, or he's being insensitive to the fact that she's tired

"Is the right leg straight before the weight is passed onto it."

Unless she's a lot shorter and expert at using CBM to keep the hip back, I sure hope not, as I have something rather important where her leg would then be!

Anonymous. Is the leg of the person going forward straight , in this case the lady,or is it bent ?. Alex Moore.
"The knees should be easily and naturally relaxed throughout the walk.The legs are only straight at the full extent of the stride, but even then not rigid. They are most relaxed as the moving foot passes the supporting foot ".
"Distribution of weight in the walk. In the actuall walk the weight is first on the stationary foot. At the full extent of the stride the weight is divided for the moment between the heel of the front foot and the ball of the rear foot. It is taken immediately onto the front foot as this foot becomes flat". There is no time to hold back here, not by the lady or the man when he is in a simular position. Remember this is a walk. It doesn't matter if it is a walk in a Waltz or a Foxtrot. They should be the same. Get the videos out.

Quickstep, nowhere in your quote does it say that the leg should be straight. It says that it is only straight at the full extent of the stride, but that's a prohibition against having it straight at other times, not a requirement that every stride extend to the point of straightness. Every stride has an "extent" but not every extent of stride employs straight legs - primarly, only those subsequent to body swing will, while the initial (heal lead) action will in practical terms retain some bend to the knee.

As for videos, those on this site show some overextended strides, and if you look closely the problem that results. If you look even closer, you'll see that despite overstepping the body motion, the legs are still not straight at the full extent of the heel lead stride, and appear to bend substantially before the weight arrives.