As for pivoting, here's my hint-- you do 1/2, no more, no less. Don't make the woman pivot entirely around you, and don't grab her and fling her about as you provide all the power. The key is that you pivot arount your combined center of mass-- that is, where you upper bodies meet. Imagine an axis sticking out of you there. Press you knees and inner thighs together-- this will give you balance. Make sure your frame doesn't change, and that your hips and feet don't start twisting independently of your body in the midddle. That's how I learned, and I've taught a number of beginning guys how.

Sandra--
To add to what you said, practice the waltz step to music, making sure that you don't reach the top of you rise until right at the down beat of the 3. If you do what she suggests, your waltz will ook much prettier-- no popping up and lots of power. Remember-- only bent joints have power. Once your leg's straight, you've stopped!

The problem with these forums is that it is SO much more difficult to describe in words what to do with all of your body...that's why people want to answer this question with "practice." Given that, here's a an attempt to describe a couple of somewhat more detailed suggestions. You didn't ask for a particular dance, I just happen to know a couple of simple exercises in waltz.

To practice rise and fall: standing with feet and knees together, lower so that heels touch the floor and knees are bent. Then, rise only in the knee (at maximum rise, your knee will still be slightly bent). Follow by rise in the ankle (again, do not rise to full extension, at maximum rise the ankle will still be slightly bent). Lower ankle. Lower knee. Repeat, like coiling and uncoiling a spring. Be careful not to combine both motions at once. The points of the exercise are to get your balance in these positions while paying close attention to NOT extending either joint to its maximum reach, which, if done while dancing, would disrupt the fluidity of the movement and possibly cause lack of control. Try to make the movement as fluid as possible.

Another exercise, for heel leads and passing the feet: weight on your left foot, both feet flat and together. To practice forward heel lead: move right foot forward slowly, DO NOT MOVE THE BODY or shift weight forward, gradually lifting toe off the ground to form the heel lead. Swing foot back into place. As you step forward in waltz, this is where the foot position should be as you begin to move your foot and then weight forward to take the step. Practice backwards, lifting heel. Swing right foot back and forth slowly. This exercise helps me remind my feet to take those heel leads. A moving variation on this is to roll the right (forward) foot, taking a forward step slowly, while letting the back foot roll up at the heel until only the toe is on the floor, then slide the back (left) foot to flat next to the right, then forward, toe up, etc. proceed left-right-left walking forward. I can't think of a good way to describe what that looks like, except that it is kind of like Michael Jackson's moonwalk, only going forward. There's a gliding look to it. Of course, you won't be moving exactly like this as you waltz, but you WILL need to pass your feet this way to get the proper heel lead. Careful not to fall forward with your upper body.

Whew! It really is easier just to say, "practice!"

Hope that helps.

--Sandra

You will have to learn to be able to execute without thinking about it by the same method you would get to the Metropolitan Opera, practice, practice, practice. I takes about 10 years to become an accomplished international standard dancer. So, start now to enjoy the journey.

One good idea is... practice, practice, practice. That's the only way I know of learning the steps so intimately that you can use them intuitively (e.g. turn when approaching a wall!!).
Then again, you can go social dancing in a really crowded room and see whether you can avoid bumping into people without halting. I have heard of people who practised dancing around traffic cones! What do you think of that?