Forward Walk, Picture two:

1) Is the body vertically aligned from the standing knee up?

2) Where is the center of mass in relation to the standing foot?

3) Is the body leaning? If so, how?

4) Is the body balanced? If so, how?

Anonymous. At the full extent of the stride the weight is divided for a moment between the heel of the front foot and the toe of the back foot. It is exactly the same on a walk forward. The body is verticle throught out.
I wouldn't think that picture two can be taken on its own. It is moving. A fraction of a second later it will be in position three.
I can't see that the body is not verticle from the beginning to the end.
Picture two. The chin is over the standing knee
To find out where the centre mass is I hold a ruler from the centre of the neck down to the knee. The weight is well and truly over the knee. The back foot is pushing and will soon reach position three. Where I would be balanced but moving.
IN TWO THE BODY IS BALANCED OVER THE RIGHT KNEE. In three it is balanced between the two legs.
If we brought CBM into this, on two my left shoulder would be about level with the the right foot. So were does that put the centre of the body weight.

"Picture two. The chin is over the standing knee"

And so more or less is the hip - in other words, the body is vertically aligned without lean.

"To find out where the centre mass is I hold a ruler from the centre of the neck down to the knee. The weight is well and truly over the knee."

Yes, but it is not over the standing foot, hence it is NOT BALANCED.

"IN TWO THE BODY IS BALANCED OVER THE RIGHT KNEE."

The right knee is not on the floor - it is, along with the body, well forward of the only foot providing support. There fore the body is NOT BALANCED in this picture.

Anonymous.If you can't bend your knees and be balanced then don't do any weight lifting, squats in particular. Or maybe you should try a few.

"Anonymous.If you can't bend your knees and be balanced then don't do any weight lifting, squats in particular. Or maybe you should try a few."

Don, quit trying to avoid the issue!

Of course I can bend my knee and keep my body over my foot and in balance, by also bending my hip.

But that is not what picture two of the forward walk shows.

Picture two shows a body over a bent knee, and NOT OVER THE STANDING FOOT.

Picture two shows a body which is OFF BALANCE?

Get it yet?

Anonymous. First we don't bend our hip. When we dance we are moving most of the time. Picture two the weight was over the rear foot and is moving off it. From there the back foot is going to straighten after the front foot has reached its maximim and is also straight. This is a position which many don't know should be there, and never reach. And yet we do it when we walk but not as big or spaced out. To further complicate things we also have CBM. So where would the majority of the weight be with CBM. I would say coming off the standing foot. Or has it already left and is on the last moving foot. Or does it really matter as long as your teacher is satisfied as well as the adjudicators.

"Anonymous. First we don't bend our hip. "

You do - but the dancer in picture two has not, and that is the key problem in your udnerstanding of dancing right now.

"Picture two the weight was over the rear foot and is moving off it."

Has moved well beyond it in this picture - the body is obviously nowhere even remotely balanced over that standing foot. Only if the hip were also bent as you like to could the body stay back in balance while the knee went forward. But this dancer did that part right - she kept her hip unbent and projected her body forward, aligned over the knee, into imbalance.

Anonymous. You've lost me there. My hip bends when I reach down and touch my toes, otherwise it doesn't bend.
Your being a bit ridiculouse with your picture two. The figure is moving, isn't it. Where was it a 1/2 second before. Where will it be 1/2 later. Will it be in position three.If this is a Waltz we are on step one . The front leg has not stopped moving at this point and I can see it is in front of the body and will remain there untill the completion of the step.Which will be as the moving foot arrives under the body and the knees have started to bend. From here we have to decide whether this is a Waltz or a Foxtrot.

"Anonymous. You've lost me there. My hip bends when I reach down and touch my toes, otherwise it doesn't bend."

Well Don, it's really simple.

If you body remains vertical as your knee bends forward of your toe, one of two things must happen:

You also bend your hip, so that your body stays in place over your standing foot. This is what you do, and it's WRONG.

Or, you can NOT bend your hip, keep your thigh vertical and advance the body past the standing foot, so that it remains vertically aligned and located over the standing knee. This puts it off balance, and it is PROPER DANCE TECHNIQUE.

"Your being a bit ridiculouse with your picture two. The figure is moving, isn't it. Where was it a 1/2 second before. Where will it be 1/2 later."

What is important is where it is in that picture - which is to say forward of the standing foot, or in plain English, OFF BALANCE. Now obviously it can't stay in an off balance position - it will either fall over (bad) or keep moving into a nice step (good) - but at this instant in time, it is quite clearly OFF BALANCE.



Will it be in position three.If this is a Waltz we are on step one . The front leg has not stopped moving at this

Anonymous. I stand between a door frame. My first finger and my middle finger on each hand on each side of the door jams. I move up and down to a knee bent position, My hips do not bend and the body stays verticle. Maybe you don't have the strength in the knees anymore. I never go to a full knee bend ever. There was a time that I could go to the full knee bend and up again on one leg and repeat several times. Not anymore, but I have retained some of the strength which i use. I can understand a person getting down so far and then having to bend at the hips. But that doesn't make it right does it. So when I flex my knees and my knees go ahead of my body I still stay on the up and down track which we call verticle. So the lesson behind this story is. If the strength in the knees is not there then don't try to influence people with your own shortcomings to introduce a mistake to cover a mistake.