Maybe a belated post, but this is my favorite dance, though I am still far from highly accomplished in it, and I had the same kinds of Q's when I started out, in trying to understand it in proper perspective, verus what I was seeing & experiencing on local social floors.
The is only one Quickstep - an Int'l dance - but many variations. It is derived from a turn-of-the-century American dance, beautifully repackaged by the English (with their usual penchant for complexity to try to baffle the savages), and sent back to us as the beautiful thing we now work so hard to master. But in view of its history, that ol' version of fast foxtrot quarter turns, often taught socially and so uninspiring to those of us who love fine movement & technique of the showier version, is just as valid (if not moreso, and the foundation on which the whole English one is based.
I found this revelation helpful, because when I began struggling to learn the I-Brz syllabus at a studio, I would then go see the classes & dancing at the local big social ballroom and say "what on earth is THAT excuse for Quickstep??" in utter dismay, or wonder if I had begun to learn the dance on a different planet. Then, I would try to dance it with ladies who'd learned it at a third place from a very competent instructor, but who also emphasises the social aspects of dance, only to find them dancing with no swing & forcing me to exact 45-deg angles or disgusted that I did not worship this strict directional orientation (and also strict timing right on top of the beat in my leading. I found all this quite frustrating, until I studied its history a little, because both sides of the social "equation" thought the other couldn't do the dance & were hosed up, and many partners began declining me for QS (pout). To this day, finding a good QS partner at a local social dance is still difficult for me, due to the variations, unless she has had similar Int'l training.
I feel that good QS is the most fun adults can have in public without getting arrested, when one has either the floorcraft or the uncrowded floor (at my not-quite Silver level).
I feel that one profits by first mastering controlled chasse movements in slower waltz, with its double recoveries & collection, not to mention good dance position, before taking on QS, if joy is the goal.
I also feel that dancing QS somewhat to the feel of the melody - still "on time" but not religiously rushed - is the way to emotively enjoy the dance without the feeling of "crashing around the floor together."
I feel that directional orientation, while important, is the least important thing in dance - expecially a social dance, where there are 70 other moving people to deal with. There is also a big difference btw what direction my upper body is aligned when moving DW or DC with technique, compared to what the socialized versions demand without it. I have had near-facist followers yank my shoulders around with stiff forearms to point me in the "right" direction(aarrggghh).
It is true, as someone inferred, that one can get by for awhile socially with only 3 moves of it (say, quarter right, prog chasse & fwd lock), and I've done so with ladies who are too terrified to settle down & follow other moves or who perhaps haven't had training in movement & dance position. It is one way to put a partner at ease and still participate out on the floor somehow(grin).
Humorously, or maybe perversely(?), some of my most memorable QS partners have been ladies who never had a group ballroom lesson, but spent a few hours playing privately with me with movement technique & body mechanics, and later followed it halfway though the Silver syllabus in the ballroom without ever learning (memorizing) a single pattern. No body leading (contact), either. (go figure...) Having to "create" partners this way has driven home to me that great lead/follow dance movment & technique is pure physics. If one is not too picky about high accomplishment, and a follower has not been "conditioned" by the patternwork of social dance classes, a great deal of essential lead/follow physics can be very quickly imbued into a willing follower's muscle memory. Nowhere have I seen this more dramatically than in such forays with QS.
When it comes down to true technique (i.e., things that make you move effectively & connect with your partner), I think that QS is where the rubber meets the road.
I do not have a dedicated regular partner, and find that many women can very quickly become fairly good followers in Standard like this, though they won't be highly accomplished dancers for years, and I'm certainly no International trainer. I love sharing dance this way, and it also helps keep me from wrecking my training by dancing with so many ladies (A-Brz) with no technique. When I do - often the rule in social situations - I'm often actually following the woman, though she thinks I'm "leading" - for the same reason. As long as we had fun, who cares? I get a lot of compliments on my "leading" while I'm daydreaming & practicing my following (hee-hee!).
Anyone else have similar experiences?
