Dennis Beach. Why don't you go to Learn the Dances. Look at the Foxtrot and then the Tango. If you cannot see that the feet in the Tango are lifted from the floor something is wrong. Tango is a Walking Dance. Foxtrot . You will see the feet are in contact with the floor. When we walk we lift the feet from the floor. The foot is lifted from the floor whilst it is behind. In the Foxtrot Waltz we keep the foot, which is behind, in contact with the floor and keep it in contact with the floor through to under the body. The toe becomes a ball and then a heel as we continue . If the next step were a toe the ball of the foot will become a toe still on the floor. Go and have a look. If that isn't so then write. But look first. That's why they are there. If you are a walk around social dancer the videos will be of no interest to you. I mean no disrespect here. Where I live the amount of people who dance socialy , mostly are the older age group. I'll change that to all. Here it is possible to go to that type of dancing morning noon and night seven days a week. That is no exaggeration. But what they do is not dancing. It is walking around to music. Most of there dancing is English Sequence Dancing. There are hundreds of difference dances based on modern. Some are OK. The UK Foxtrot is one. Rumba Nevada Siversprings Foxtrot. I wouldn't know if they ran me over.I could go to a dance like this, take a look at the board and wouldn't know one dance out of a hundred or so. If anyone wishes to enlarge there knowledge on the dancing world take a look at Sequence Dancing Queensland. Its entertaining. music and all. Dancing with instructions &4 bring a plate. I think that's about US $3.20 Overseas visitors wellcome.

"Dennis Beach. Why don't you go to Learn the Dances. Look at the Foxtrot and then the Tango. If you cannot see that the feet in the Tango are lifted from the floor something is wrong. Tango is a Walking Dance. Foxtrot . You will see the feet are in contact with the floor. When we walk we lift the feet from the floor. The foot is lifted from the floor whilst it is behind."

Quickstep, the problem is that you are confusing yourself by concentrating on the trivial detail of the moving foot, and entirely ignoring what is important in human locomotion - the ACTION OF THE BODY AND THE STANDING LEG.

When you focus your attention there, you will discover that foxtrot really is a fairly normal means of moving a human body around, wheras tango is... wierd.


"In the Foxtrot Waltz we keep the foot, which is behind, in contact with the floor and keep it in contact with the floor through to under the body. The toe becomes a ball and then a heel as we continue . If the next step were a toe the ball of the foot will become a toe still on the floor. Go and have a look."

You do that when you walk too, you just don't notice it because a) you don't think about it and b) the steps are smaller and so the development of their details is less important and c) you get so distracted by this red herring of picking up the feet that you fail to notice how everything else is the same

Anonymous
Surely, when you walk, you don't keep the moving foot on the ground as you bring it from behind you to under the body. Quickstep was referring to foxtrot and you said we do exactly the same in walking.
I don't think so

"Anonymous
Surely, when you walk, you don't keep the moving foot on the ground as you bring it from behind you to under the body. Quickstep was referring to foxtrot and you said we do exactly the same in walking.
I don't think so"

Phil, I take EXTREME OFFENCE at your misquoting.

If you take the time to look more carefully at what I ACTUALLY WROTE, instead of misquoting, you will see that your accusation is BASELESS.

what was actually said:

"you get so distracted by this red herring of picking up the feet that you fail to notice how everything else is the same"

Even if you pick up the foot as you move it, it still rolls as in quality foxtrot...

The degree to which this rolling is visually obvious depends primarily on the size and efficiency of the movement.

Now some people may make mistakes in their foxtrot action, overstriding, pausing the body, overarticulating their feet, and there is a good chance those are not present in their walking. For them, stopping trying so hard to dance, and just trying to move more naturally, will result in a LARGE IMPROVEMENT.

You see people walk in the studio door doing what is (for everything except the lift of the moving foot off the ground) the action of a good foxtrot.

But nobody walks in doing tango!

Please go into the real world and observe people walking and running. It is much more like Waltz and foxtrot movement, than tango movement.

My opinions are based on seeing how the top dancers move and ther movement in Tango does not resemble the way people walk and run, waltz and foxtrot do.
There is much more to walking than lifting your foot off the floor.

I see why so few people visit this forum, people respond in an insulting manner based on myopic viewpoints.

Obviously none of the dances are exactly like walking, since none do every step as heel-toe like walking. Also nobody walks in a stucatto manner like tango.

In my opinion waltz and foxtrot movement is more similar to wl=alking than tango and you have offerred nothing to change that opinion.

Dennis .Go to the Learn the Dances. Look at the Feather Step in the Foxtrot. Then go to the Tango. Look at the lifting of the feet in Tango. and the none lifting of the feet in the Foxtrot.After that confirm what you have seen with a technique book. It will go like this.
All walking steps in the Tango are picked up from the floor and placed in position.This is of course is in direct opposition to the gliding movements of other dances. Page 233 Alex Moore's Official technique book on the International Style of Ballroom Dancing.
Lastly. In the Tango just about all the steps are on the heel unless an inside edge, which is down as I.E. of Ball, is required. So lets do all the above, and write again telling us what you have seen.
Have I now offered enough to change your opinion.

"Dennis .Go to the Learn the Dances. Look at the Feather Step in the Foxtrot. Then go to the Tango. Look at the lifting of the feet in Tango. and the none lifting of the feet in the Foxtrot."

Once again, you zero in on the trivial detail (the moving foot height) and completely ignore the body parts that do the actual walking and dancing - which are the STANDING LEG and the BODY ITSELF.

Nobody walks with a tango action in the standing leg and body, but most people walk with what is a minimalist foxtrot action in those body parts. As a result, dancing social foxtrot at a high quality requires almost no change - the only difference is that once they aquire dance shoes, they will not need to pick up their feet at all when dancing on a proper floor.

I understand the technical aspects of the feet, which are just one part of technique in dancing. To me Tango is not like walking. Waltz and foxtrot have more similarities to walking from my perspective.

We are looking at this from different perspectives and have different conclusions. To me the carrying of momentum efficiently through the steps is the deciding factor. To you it is the feet technique. I like many other people became a more efficient and effective walker, after learning silver waltz and foxtrot, which also affects my opinion about the similarity between walking and waltz/foxtrot.

At ballroom dances I have been to most people are doing a normal walk in all 3, instead of doing the proper technique. People who have pretty decent technique in swing, rumba, chacha, etc. do not have the same level of technique in smooth dances. Young and old, rise and fall is omitted and steps are way to short for most. it makes all three a navigational challenge.

“To me the carrying of momentum efficiently through the steps is the deciding factor. To you it is the feet technique.”

Me too, the carrying of momentum efficiently through the steps is the deciding factor.

Momentum is mv, mass x velocity. Momentum can be increased or decreased by a impulse Ft, force x time the force lasts. (Force is ma, mass x acceleration or mass x deceleration.

Momentum decreases when you are coming on a new supporting foot to the end of a step. Momentum must also be increased to maintain momentum at a speed.

A force is the push of a supporting foot. But what is the time the push lasts? To me it is the time a stronger downbeat lasts, beats 1 and 3. Thus the momentum decreases during a weaker beat, beats 2 and 4. It feels natural to work pushing during stronger beats and to land relaxing on a new supporting foot during weaker beats.

A problem is if you are supposed to land on a beat, meaning beats 1 and 3. You can not start to push and land on a new supporting foot at the same instant of time. The push begins earlier.