Anonymous. Go right back to the Basics.The man has foot rise the lady has no foot rise. What does that mean to you. At the same time that the man is rising the lady isn't. It goes even further than that, and that is, if this was a Natural in the Waltz, the lady keeps her weight and shape over the LF untill the man has passed then she follows him up. In othe words the lady who points her foot onto step two but keeps her weight still over step one. The man swings past. The lady doesn't swing. No two people swing at the same time. You would know this from the V. Waltz. If she did she would arrive first having the shorter distance to travel, and take the man's centre from him. Then you would be several inches out. On the Spin Turn she will be a few more. Now you will spend the next few bars trying to get back to a balanced position.

"Anonymous. Go right back to the Basics.The man has foot rise the lady has no foot rise."

Actually, I think that you will find that in the REVERSE WAVE it is the lady who has foot rise, wheras the man has a number of steps with no foot rise. True, he doesn't have no foot rise on the middle steps, wheras the lady would in a feather or three step, but then his heel is lower than hers.

"At the same time that the man is rising the lady isn't."

That is where you are mistaken. No foot rise does not mean "no rise" it means no RISE IN THE FEET. But there is still rise. Remember, there isn't that much rise in the forward foxtrot actions either. It's not like one partner is down the other is up - they still rise and fall together, it's just that the lady rolls through her heels on almost all backwards steps, as does the man on quite a few backwards steps.

"It goes even further than that, and that is, if this was a Natural in the Waltz, the lady keeps her weight and shape over the LF untill the man has passed then she follows him up."

Not entirely over the foot except for beginners - advanced dancers will already be progressing some by projecting the body into a swing. But yes, she should let him get a little bit past her and then catch up. Remember, unlike the feather step the natural turn is a TURNING FIGURE so passing the partner is appropriate.

"The lady doesn't swing."

She sure as heck does if she is any good. It's just that the swing on the inside of the turn is different, and so a beginner like you is forgiven for thinking it doesn't exist.

"No two people swing at the same time."

Usually however, if one partner swings on a step the other partner will also have a swing during that step.

"You would know this from the V. Waltz. If she did she would arrive first having the shorter distance to travel, and take the man's centre from him. Then you would be several inches out. On the Spin Turn she will be a few more. Now you will spend the next few bars trying to get back to a balanced position."

Spin turn in the viennese waltz? I don't think so...

Anonymous.I could have put the V. Waltz in brackets then you would have understood it better .There was a full stop there. But never mind. So your teacher hasn't taught you that if both swing at the same time the one who has the shorter distance to travell will arrive first. Why do you think they came up with NFR. It is for that reason. Surely somebody must have told you this. Don't forget the man on some steps has NFR for the same reason that the lady has.
Reverse Wave. I think you will find that most have for years done an extended Wave after a Feather. ( the Feather you only see once at the beginning) is followed by a Reverse Turn into the Wave. In recent years the lady stays in line and does not do the man's Feather this goes all the way around side two into side three where they start to do their own thing. I still prefere the lady stepping outside on the Feather. It allows me to do NFR into it.

"So your teacher hasn't taught you that if both swing at the same time the one who has the shorter distance to travell will arrive first."

Of course not, because it's only true if they are so foolish as to swing at the same time in the same way. Note that I did not say that they swing in the same way or even at the same time. What I said was that if one partner swings during a step, usually the other partner has a sort of swing during that step. And that the partner on the inside of the turn does not stop moving. But no, their swing is of course not the same as the partner on the outside's. Beginners might think that the partner on the inside doesn't swing - but that is not really true for good dancers. It's just that the swing is more subtle - too complicated a subject for the newest beginners to get right, so they might be told for a while that there is no swing there in order to simplify things. But it's not ultimately true.

"Why do you think they came up with NFR. "

Two reasons. NFR on steps followed by turn is what is appropriate for the kind of SWING used on the inside of most turns. NFR on steps followed by continued backwards movement is what is needed to allow you to roll through then entire length of the foot.

"Don't forget the man on some steps has NFR for the same reason that the lady has."

Absolutely. Though because his heel is lower and his poise is different, he won't generally use it on the middle step of backwards foxtrot actions where a lady would when doing something corresponding.

Anonymous. If you watch carefull the man doing the wave. As the lady drives on that slow getting ready to step outside . With the man you can see what appears to be a distinct pause as he goes into NFR. He is on the first step of what would normaly be the ladies Feather Step. Could it possibly be that he is allowing the lady room to step outside by holding the step for a fraction. Also do you see that floating type action on the moving computer images on a Forward Walk. Do you see the same on the Backward Walk.

"Anonymous. If you watch carefull the man doing the wave. As the lady drives on that slow getting ready to step outside . With the man you can see what appears to be a distinct pause as he goes into NFR. He is on the first step of what would normaly be the ladies Feather Step. Could it possibly be that he is allowing the lady room to step outside by holding the step for a fraction."

Slowing yes, pausing ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Anonymous . The shoulders continue the movement. Which brings up another question. If there wasn't some sort of pause how would you know the difference between a slow and a quick. The first step is a slow the third a quick. If there is no delay then there is no slow.

"Anonymous . The shoulders continue the movement."

WRONG! It is the HIPS and center of both partners which must continue the movement for outside partner to work, though many inexperience dancers try to do it with their shoulders instead.

"Which brings up another question. If there wasn't some sort of pause how would you know the difference between a slow and a quick. The first step is a slow the third a quick. If there is no delay then there is no slow."

It's becomming clear that you are one of those eternal beginners who insists on trying to make your slows twice as long as your quicks. I have news for you kid, it doesn't work that way. You must blend the steps together into a continuity of motion - with the result that by no ordinary analysis of real dancing do slow steps take twice as long as quick steps. There are difference yes, but I'm yet to see any written description that can't be poked full of obvious holes inside of two minutes.

You just have to get a good teacher and learn to feel it. If you can't feel it yet, count to place the first quick squarely on beat three, let the rest flow naturally around that one reference without paralizing concern, and you should be far better than most.

Anonymous Actually its the whole side that turns in an unbroken line. If you put your right arm straight down by your side the whole lot turns. Bring your arm up and out you are in ballroom position.
Who said anything about taking a longer step, not me. Sometimes the step isn't as big. First of the Reverse for one. Drive that hard and you'll push your partner off her step. Now with more time to spare with the step not so big we are unhurried on our next two steps. That's dancing
I think you will find that the only time putting the two quicks on the beat and let the slows look after themselves was when I wrote it.

"Actually its the whole side that turns in an unbroken line"

As this is the only part of your post that is actually a coherent and comprehensible sentance, it is the only part I will address - to point out that it's wrong.

In reality, essentially all ballroom rotations occur not as a rigid-body action, but instead as a sequence of actions where each part of the body turns at its own appropriate time - some of them obviously turning together, but not necessarily with the most adjacent body part.

This is very much like the head spotting action that many are familiar with, only applied in various ways to outher parts of the body. The reason for this is that the constraints governing when a body part can rotate are different for each part of the body. Some need to rotate in order to permit moving past the partner, some need to stay oriented towards the direction of movement, and some stay with the partner. Even things many are told are absolutely fixed like upper arms to shoulders, are in the ultimate reality not. But you won't get into that until you have been dancing at a high level for a number of years - it would just confuse a beginner.