What are the "common" dance steps, i.e., steps that are used in two or more dances, especially at the beginning and intermediate levels?
Learning such steps early on would seem to provide the biggest payoff for learning time in terms of ability to engage in a number of dances.

JbpDance. A bit of advice for all Modern is. Never twist the shoulders out of line with the hips, keep as one unit. What are common steps. We have in the Waltz an Open Telemark which is also in the Foxtrot and the Quickstep. Also the Open Impetus the Double Reverse Spin and the Fallaway just to name a few.

Anon
I really don't understand your advice about never twisting the shoulders out of line with the hips. What about CBM? Hard to do a turn without some element of CBM

Have to agree with you phil, Anon is severaly mistaken and clearly has not clue about what CBM is... or CBMP for that matter. Hips will not always be aligned with shoulders - in fact they often must be quite misaligned with them.

It depends on whether you are learning International or American style.

In American (the most common form used for social dancing in the US), probably the most common steps are the box step and the underarm turn. There is some variation of these two steps in most of the dances. They are also usually among the first steps learned in dance classes.

The box step is common to American Foxtrot, Waltz, and Rhumba, maybe some other dances as well.

Cross body lead is also common to many dances- smooth as well as Latin, and is frequently part of sequences with inside and outside turns.

Jerry

I'd also add cross over and open break (or throwout?) to the list of common steps.
Cuddles can be integrated into a lot of steps in a lot of dances and are really fun.

In fact, I doubted the word of " never".
Some times, the figures need to treat upper and lower part in one pice , as you said, but some time , we need to separate upper part from lower part. Generally, we should parallel man and lady shoulders in progressive figures.
ylchen

Phil. Only quoting Len Scrivener from his book. Ballroom Dancing Analyed. Never twist the shoulders out of line with the hips. Alex Moore Care must be taken not not to turn the shoulders independently.
Also from Alex Moore page 16 17. As the right foot moves forward and the body turns to the right many dancers allow the Right Foot to travel in a direction diagonal to the wall. This is wrong. It is only the body that turns away from the Line of Dance.( that needs to be carefully read).
A bit more from Len Scrivener.
Never lower then move, always blend the two, lower and move.
To get back to the twisting of the spine. ( after reading the above). It would be wrong on the second quick of a Feather CBMP to try to get your shoulders on the same line as your feet. This in my humble opinion is where the following step the Reverse Turn goes wrong. Back to Len Scrivener who said. If it is not natural it is wrong. Is there anything there you do not agree with.