Anonymous. You said. Dance the foot prints, and your bodies will be a mess.
Not if you keep your feet under your body. They become one. I was once told on a Reverse Turn Foxtrot to get my bottom around and in the correct position, which is simply another way of keeping my foot on step two under my body and not putting my foot outside the line of my body.

"Anonymous. You said. Dance the foot prints, and your bodies will be a mess.
Not if you keep your feet under your body."

You should pay more attention to your language, as you've just agreed with me without realizing it.

Keeping your feet under your body is precisely what is necessary, and the only rule you really need for the feet.

The problem is that when people "dance the footprints" or have specific goals for where their feet "should" go, they end up putting their feet elsewhere than under their body.

What they need to do is learn to send their body in the right direction, and then simply keep their feet under it.

This is why good teachers rarely waste time specifying exactly where the feet should go. Instead, they teach their students to use their bodies in such a way that automatically results in feet placed to support the bodies - most of the time without any thought about the foot position!

I most heartily agree with whoever said that this is a great site for free entertainment!!
At the risk of adding to it (in the wrong way) just a few comments about telemark.
The 2 problems i've had to overcome, and which i see so many beginners yet to overcome are:- looking at the floor, and failing to kep the right side (man) stretched to keep good shape. Both of these problems look much worse than step 3 being a couple of inches incorrectly placed. And both faults occur even with the body kept over the feet (or vice versa).
Just one little nugget i'd like to pass on.
We all listen to our teachers and put their suggestions into practice. However, get a video camera out and record that practice. When you actually see yourself doing something awful, it has great impact. What was that saying "tell me and i may remember, show me and i will understand?"

" . . . get a video camera out and record that practice. When you actually see yourself doing something awful, it has great impact."

Outstanding suggestion. I learned a great deal when I had our performance taped during a competition. It cost me $60 but it was the best money that I've spent on dancing.

I would also advise readers to make arrangements to have a friend or family member serve as camera operator. Some instructors may be willing to do so but one should be sure to ask first.

Just setting the camera on a tripod and trying to dance in front of it is problematic (other couples dancing in the way, etc.). Also, you'll wind up recording a lot of stuff that you don't want.

jj