I've been told I keep taking a heel step instead of a toe-heel on my forward lock. The problem is that I absolutely do not feel it if that's what I'm doing. It feels to me like I'm doing a TH and I consciously try to dance that but I can't argue with what observers see. I probably do come down early in trying to drive forward but I'm not sure.

My partner suggests a HT-T-T-T, but I'm concerned about getting dinged for that and it's also going to shorten the distance covered (which is something our teacher has emphasized since the dinosaurs roamed.)

Any suggestions or tips?

1. A general rule that often fixes problems - if a step is wrong, double check the previous step. In this case, if the third step is correct it will be difficult to get the fourth step wrong.

2. Have you tried your partner's suggestion of HT-T-T-T? In practice I doubt if you could do it, that heel is going to come down anyway as you take the next step.

3. If your teacher is fixated on distance covered, get him to tell you what you are doing wrong. That's always better than us guessing without seeing you dance.

Your partner may actually be on to something there. This is not to say that you should change the footwork ultimately -- but as a purely academic exercise, staying on toes is a decent way to push yourself to the opposite extreme. As a training tool, doing the opposite extreme can be a good way to help cure a bad habit, as long as it's temporary, and understood that you'll eventually be swinging back toward the middle.

I've seen several students over the years, some of my own and some observed in passing at studios, with "lazy" feet that flip up unnoticed to produce a clear heel lead where there should be a toe-heel. It's not limited to Quickstep, but it is always on a step that should be toe-heel, not on steps that are simply up on toes, which should tell you something about the root of the problem... There's something in the mechanics of the lowering that allows the the body to arrive on the heel unnoticed. Here are my theories on that "something":

The first culprit is early lowering. And by early, I don't necessarily mean that you're completing the lowering early. Simply starting the lowering early, even if it's completed at the correct time, means that you'll have a "softer" departing leg throughout the division, and at the moment the foot strikes, you could easily be low enough that a heel lead could slip in under the radar. The fix is simple: Make sure to keep more tone and length in the departing leg (i.e. hold your "up" position) absolutely until mid-stride. If you truly commit to this, a heel lead will be as awkward and jarring as it would be on a normal up/toe step.

Old school technique taught dancers to hold the rise until the body nearly fully arrives over the foot before *beginning* the lowering. Most people nowadays agree that this much delay in lowering is also problematic in its own way, but for those who have some combination of overly reachy legs, early lowering or flippy foot syndrome, it can be exactly what the doctor ordered. And here, too, you could practice starting at the extreme, and then slowly dial it back over time.

It should be noted that the legs never need to be stilt-straight, by locking out the knees. Fully straightened knees will diminish your stability without actually giving you any additional height over *mostly* straight but unlocked knees. Even when students know this, they will still often over-straighten the knees, particularly when focusing on stretching up, increasing rise or delaying lowering, etc. So bear in mind as you work on the above exercises to improve the mechanics of your departing leg, that you don't go to such an extreme in height as to lock out your knees. The goal is to sustain your rise just a little bit longer, not to rise higher.

Another arch-enemy of the toe-heel step is lack of foot pressure. Now the term "foot pressure" itself is a little bit misleading in that it evokes a certain sense of unnatural resistance, which we definitely don't want -- especially in a dance like Quickstep. Generally, the faster you move (or more specifically, the more freely and less bound you want your movement to be), the lighter the contact should be between the feet and the floor. So it stands to reason that Quickstep will have a relatively light contact. But, much in the same way that Viennese Waltz is the dance where the most common error is to overcompensate for the speed by rushing ahead of the music, Quickstep is a dance where a common error is floor contact that is too light, or in some cases, practically non-existent.

Every millisecond of disconnect from the floor is a chance for the feet to commit a crime unbeknownst to their owner. Without floor contact, it's much more difficult for you to feel the difference between a slightly pointed and a slightly flexed foot. The floor gives you immediate and unmistakable feedback, making it much less likely they'll sneak something by you.

(continued in next post...)

To help with loose feet, I have two suggestions: First, in the "opposite extreme" department, you can dance your Quickstep routine (or improvise through your repertoire, if that's what you do), using more foot pressure than you normally should. You can even try dancing with socks or pieces of paper under your feet that you can't let go of. As before, realize that this is only a temporary exercise, but it will serve to increase your awareness of floor contact in general. Over time you can lighten up the pressure, but without losing the awareness of constant, if lighter, contact with the floor at all times.

The second exercise is one where you isolate the toe-heel action, followed by a heel step. In Waltz terms, that would be counts 3 to 1. Start high on toes (knees unlocked, of course), then step forward, toe-heel, in extreme slow motion, remembering to start your lowering *no sooner than mid-stride*. All the while, pay close attention to feeling the toe of the moving foot stroking the floor. As you move past mid-stride and the back foot becomes the moving foot, turn your attention to the floor contact of that foot, starting with the toe, then the whole foot stroking the floor as it passes under the body. Note that on a heel lead, you should always lower the heel as the foot passes underneath *before* lifting the toe, so as to stroke the whole foot for a brief period. Otherwise, if the toe lifts first, you will have a brief moment of complete loss of contact -- a "bubble" -- which is exactly the kind of thing that causes problems with sensitivity to footwork.

As with any skill, dancing or otherwise, improvement comes with time and dedication. Whether you follow this or any other plan to improve, you must log the hours with concerted, deliberate practice. If it's a habit you don't like, you can't expect it to go away with occasional slaps on the wrist from a coach, or continued practice along the same trajectory. You need exercises like the ones above that willfully change the habit, and you need hours and hours of reprogramming. I can't tell you exactly how many hours it will take, because there are too many factors at play. But if you start logging those hours, you are guaranteed to start seeing the changes.

Regards,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

You said: "Quickstep is a dance where a common error is floor contact that is too light, or in some cases, practically non-existent."

This applies to the steps derived from Waltz and Foxtrot and not to the floating type of steps (for lack of better expression), right? Where the floor contact is very quick.

Also, on the syncopated locks, the floor contact is short.

Please comment.

PS
I made a comment on this topic the day before yesterday, as well. However, you eliminated it. Please let me know where I was wrong. Trying to learn from my mistakes.

Quickstep has two general families of movement: I'll call them "gliding" and "springing". The bronze through gold level Quickstep syllabus is composed almost entirely of gliding movements (except perhaps arguably the Tipsy, which is sort of borderline). The gliding movements are essentially Waltz-like, but with a slightly more continuous body flight through space. This results in a lighter stroke of the floor, but it doesn't have to mean less contact.

Springing movements like Scatter Chasses, Runs and syncopated Lock Steps are a different story. These movements are so fast and light that in certain cases, you might leave the floor altogether. For some of them, in fact, the whole point is to leave the floor, such as on hops, jumps, etc. However in these cases, the nature of the movement and mechanics of the legs and feet are very different, and the chances of an unwanted heel lead are fairly slim. (I was going to say "even for a novice dancer", but really a novice shouldn't be attempting these types of movements anyway, so the point is moot).

There is one very typical movement called Pepperpot (Lock or Chasse or both) danced to the timing Q&Q, QQ that serves as a transition from springing to gliding. For our friend Pakarinen (who posed the original question) or anybody having similar problems, the pitfall would only be on the last step. But again, that last step is more gliding than springing, and more importantly, it's yet another toe-heel lowering action. So for those who have trouble with this, I suggest springing only the Q&Q, using the penultimate step as a sort of brake to slow the body speed slightly and re-establish the foot stroking action as the right foot draws into the cross (or close). From there the last step is like any other basic toe-heel, with full floor contact. An experienced dancer can get away with springing until the final step, but this method can help those who need a more deliberate and precise action.

At any rate, I would venture a guess that Pakarinen is referring specifically to more basic syllabus-type gliding movements. Either way, the springing movements, though an interesting topic in their own right, are not especially relevant to the discussion of unwanted rogue heel leads.


Sorry to hear about the deletion... I don't know who was responsible. Until just a couple of years ago, we never deleted anything other than extremely distasteful or offensive content. But then we acquired a participant who started inundating the message board with dozens of daily rants, and it eventually started to diminish the participation of everybody else. So we had to filter most of his stuff, just to keep the balance. He still pops back in once in a while, and the moderators are familiar with his patterns of language and content. My only guess is -- assuming there was nothing offensive about your post -- It could have been mistaken for one of his.

You might consider creating a user account, which will allow you to post instantly without the need to go through the approvals process for each message. It will also give you an identity that moderators won't confuse for someone else.

Regards,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for the excellent explanation. To categorize the steps is very helpful. It gives us a better understanding of what should be happening in this highly complex sport or art called ballroom dancing.

RE: the comment that was accidently eliminated

It was not offensive, rude or besides the topic. It was intended to be helpful to the originator of this discussion, who is obviously a beginner. At any rate you covered this topic so comprehensively that my comment would add nothing new, at this point.

Best Regards,
Voco