Alignments and the Line of Dance

Figure 1:Line of Dance                                                       Figure 2: Alignments

Figure 1 shows a typical ballroom dance floor.  The ‘Line of Dance’ is the direction of travel around the room while dancing.  When viewed from above the line-of dance appears as a counter-clockwise pattern.

Figure 2 indicates the  alignments used to describe the directions in which steps are taken.

On Foot Diagrams:  While many other fine ballroom dance guides are commercially available, one feature which almost all these guides lack is the inclusion of diagrams indicating the placements of the feet.  By including foot diagrams, it is hoped that the less experienced students who do not understand the tabular figure information will find this guide most helpful.  Foot diagrams are placed on a grid where each square represents a 2’x2’ distance.  The mens feet represent a length of 12 inches, and the ladies feet are slightly smaller. 

Pivoting:  In some figures pivoting will occur.  In this case the foot diagrams indicate this with the use of ‘dashed’ foot-outlines.  For example, the first 3 steps for the mans left turn in Waltz are shown to the right.  The first and second steps indicate in darkened feet where the step is originally taken.  Once the weight transfers to that foot, the foot pivots on the ball of the foot to its position shown with the outlined foot symbol.