i am one of those who believes that between two points there is an exact middle. I wonder why anybody would say different. Unless it would destroy one of their main subjects which is the body is is in front of the front foot. Which it could not be. If i am midway between two feet i most certainly cannot be in front of the front foot. Also any softening of the knee can only take place after the body has arrived. We can hardly soften whilst we are on the heel of one foot and the toe of the other our foot, it being out in front, and our weight moving, but at some given time central. Can that be put any clearer. Answers and comments wellcome. Keep to the one subject though

"i am one of those who believes that between two points there is an exact middle."

Only if you mean points as literal points in space of something effectively similr. For example, if the body moves between two feet that are stationary, then at some point it must be halfway in between.

But the same is not true of the body weight - nothing requires that at some point it be equally divided, because nothing requires that it be CONSTANTLY supported by the feet!

"Unless it would destroy one of their main subjects which is the body is is in front of the front foot."

This is completely unrelated, as no one has even remotely suggested that the body would be in front of the front foot at midstride.

"Also any softening of the knee can only take place after the body has arrived."

Wrong. If you move from mid stride towards your receiving leg while keeping it straight, you will produce a specific type of rise generally reserved for leading heel turns. If you want to move onto it more normally, your knee will bend as you approach the foot. You could bend your knee enough that no rise would occur as you moved onto the foot (ie, tango), generally, you will bend it a bit less, so that a soft rise occurs, and pick the amount as appopriate for the nature of the dance - waltz, foxtrot, or quickstep, similar to each other but also with important differences.

"We can hardly soften whilst we are on the heel of one foot and the toe of the other our foot"

Yes you can, if you'd only try it.

"Can that be put any clearer."

You're perfectly clear, but COMPLETELY AND OBVIOUSLY WRONG

Anonymous. You will stay with what you have written and not in a minutes time change your mind.
You have said. No one has even remotely suggested that the body will be in front of the feet at midstride.
So there is a midstride and the body is behind the front foot which is where it is and has to be.
Other statements that have been made. You must develope a willingness to prodject your body beyond the standing foot into imbalance.
That I take is after midstride when the body reaches a neutral position under the body. Where you have just written there is a softening of the knees.
You do mean that the knees bend to bring the thigh to a maximum of 46 degrees and the shin will also have to bend to the same angle to keep the body upright. (Remember ososceles )Which brings us to the knees which are the foremost part of the body, and our body is over our heels. Then the weight moves from the heel to the ball of the foot just like the book says it does page 10.. And the foot takes over. Now we are back to the beginning to go to midway.
Just one more thing you have slightly wrong. A straight knee will not affect the height of the dancer because as we all know the front toe lowers to the floor immediately and the knee will start to bend as the body arrives. The step has already been taken at this momment
Make a special note of this from the very latest book. Let the body incline forward from the feet upwards untill the weight is felt mainly on the balls but do not let the HEEL LEAVE the FLOOR. In doing this take care not to alter the upright position of the body from the hips up. You are now ready to commence to walk. As the moving foot passes the HEEL WILL COMMENCE TO LEAVE THE FLOOR..
Nowhere in the whole book mentions the word flight as in bodyflight.
Spoken about. The legs are a part of the body. Which i would take to mean that to send the body forward includes the leg or legs also.

"So there is a midstride"

For some meaning of the word, yes there is. But we probaly won't agree on precisly what that meaning should be.

"and the body is behind the front foot"

Behind, or almost maybe over, but certainly not ahead of.

"You must develope a willingness to prodject your body beyond the standing foot into imbalance.
That I take is after midstride"

No, it is long BEFORE midstride. It is in fact the way that you begin to move away from the foot at the beginning of the step.

"You do mean that the knees bend to bring the thigh to a maximum of 46 degrees and the shin will also have to bend to the same angle to keep the body upright.

There is no magic angle! The correct angle is entirely depending on the size of the movement to be made, in relation to the dancer's height.

Furthermore, quite often being upright will mean that the shin and thigh are at different angles. This is elementary geometry - shin forward to put the body weight over or beyond the toe, thigh vertical. Then later, around maximum extension, the thigh angle and the shin angle might more closely match.

"(Remember ososceles )"

Remember what??????????????

"Which brings us to the knees which are the foremost part of the body, and our body is over our heels."

There's a time when the body will pass over the heel of course, but outside of tango you don't want it to dwell there when moving forwards. When moving backwards the weight will spend quite a bit of time in the heel, but the body of course will not remain over the heel, for the simple and obvious fact that THE BODY MUST NOT PAUSE IN ITS MOVEMENT during any typical progressive action in which the heel is on the ground!

"Just one more thing you have slightly wrong. A straight knee will not affect the height of the dancer because as we all know the front toe lowers to the floor immediately and the knee will start to bend as the body arrives. The step has already been taken at this momment"

So now you have changed your story and admitted that the knee will be bending as the body is moving towards the arriving foot. Previously you had claimed that it could only happen AFTER the arrival: you said, and I quote EXACTLY, "Also any softening of the knee can only take place after the body has arrived."

"Let the body incline forward from the feet upwards untill the weight is felt mainly on the balls but do not let the HEEL LEAVE the FLOOR. In doing this take care not to alter the upright position of the body from the hips up. You are now ready to commence to walk. As the moving foot passes the HEEL WILL COMMENCE TO LEAVE THE FLOOR.."

What of it? That is a flat walk without rise or fall. In the rising case, the heel must leave the floor earlier than this. In the lowering case, it must leave the floor later. THREE DIFFERENT STEPS, THREE DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES! Learn the difference or remain an ignorant fool, your choice!

"Nowhere in the whole book mentions the word flight as in bodyflight."

The book is, as many have pointed out, far from complete. The existence of body flight in the book's method of dancing is obvious to anyoone who fully understands the book. Fortunately though, the book cannot stand on its own - you will never amount to anything as a dancer unless you match your "book learnin" with some real, practical in person experience with leading teachers. Who will blow your wacky notions out of the water in no-time.

"Spoken about. The legs are a part of the body. Which i would take to mean that to send the body forward includes the leg or legs also."

In which case you would be WRONG. Remember the other passage, the always feel that the body moves before the legs one. That passage would be pointeless if the legs were always to be considered part of the body. Yes, the are a body part, but most dance instructions about the body apply to the TRUNK and not to the legs.

Reply to this message

Have not got much time here. The lowering has nothing to do with height. It would not matter if you were six foot or five. if we did it by height the shorter guys would have none.
As a man i don't beleive i can go beyond midstride till i get there. If you are saying projetion we are all doing that i would imagine anyway.
let the body incline from the feet up and the keeping the heel of the suppoting foot on the floor untill the moving foot goes past. And the bit on keeping the upright position. It is straight out of the very latest revised book that has been published.
For the ladies .You may or may not have heard of an Ice skater named Peggy Fleming. She was reputed to always finish every move off completely before going into the next. I always think like that. If you are being rushed onto and out of your steps then speak up.Cheers

"Have not got much time here. The lowering has nothing to do with height."

Actually, to a degree it does. A person with shorter legs would need to more leg division to take a 1 meter stride than a person with longer legs would. But the direct relationship is to the leg-division type of lowering (which is NOT really covered in the book) - the impact on foot and knee lowering mechanisms is indirect, though still there.

"if we did it by height the shorter guys would have none."

That's backwards - the shorter guys would need a lot more to cover a given distance.

"let the body incline from the feet up"

Be very careful of that word incline. I know it's in the book, but just be careful not to interpet it as a variable forwards lean of the body used to create movement. In reality, it's a lean of the shin - the knee goes forward, and the body goes forward above it, but from the knee up the body must remain VERTICALLY ALIGNED.

"You may or may not have heard of an Ice skater named Peggy Fleming. She was reputed to always finish every move off completely before going into the next. I always think like that."

Except of course that in dancing, there is no beginning and no end - everything smoothly blends.

"If you are being rushed onto and out of your steps then speak up.Cheers"

True, one should not be rushed form one thing to another. There's a difference between blending - which includes appropriate, well aimed and well timed falling, and falling through things out of control.