Re: FT's true timing - Q-S-Q

"B Traven" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I've been finding this conversation frustrating because the book
> descriptions could mean a great number of things, as I read them.
> Could you humor me and plot out your description of what happens when
> for SQQ by "the book" and by current competitors?
>
I will try, although breaking it down that finely may be a bit to pedantic.
Different dancers will interpret exactly where things occur based upon their
feel for the particular piece of music, their body type, etc.

By the "book" (classic Fox Trot interpretation, by some):  ti = time
interval relative to start of figure

(1). The heel would first strike the floor on interval 1 (t.i.= 9) of the
second beat. (W) would occur around t.i. = 16.
(2). Early rise would occur normally somewhere between interval 6 (t.i. =
18) and interval 9 (t.i. = 21) of the second beat. (P) would occur around
t.i = 26.
(3). The swinging left leg would first make toe contact with the floor
around interval 6 (t.i. = 30) of the third beat
(4). The body would arrive over the foot and on balance around interval 9
(t.i. = 33) of the third beat,  and the free
       leg would close (W) by interval 12 (t.i. = 36) of the third beat. (P)
would occur around t.i. = 38.
(5). The CBMP leg's toe would make contact with the floor around interval 6
(t.i. = 42) of the fourth beat.
(6). The body would arrive over this foot on balance by interval 9 (t.i. =
44)
(7). The body would collect (N) around interval 10. (t.i. = 46). The body
would be completely down before the next measure.

Some of the old masters performed this the same way, (for instance, Gleave)
except that they delayed the actual collection until the first two intervals
of the next measure.
Timing by some:                    S Q Qa     S Q Qa
Timing by Gleave:                  S Q  Q      aS Q Q   where a denotes
collection.
This steals very slightly time from the slow of the next measure, but is
scarcely noticable, particularly since the body is commencing to dance the
next figure while collecting.

Today's competitors are all over the place. Some do not have early rise.
Others don't collect until the 4th to 6th interval of the next measure. This
obviously steals too much time from the slow, so that heel turns and other
Fox Trot actions do not naturally occur. Their timing looks like this:

(S QQ Sa QQ) or even (S QQ S and QQ)  where the "a" and the "and" denotes
the point of collection. They have great drift, but arrive on the extended
foot out-of-time.

Some even dance SQQ Sand and then attempt to follow with another SQQ! This
gets them noticably off-time by the fourth measure. These competitors rely
on Changes of Directions or some form of hesitation to get back on time.
They can get away with it because a judge does not watch their entire
sequence but can only see how they move,
their top-line, etc.

I know this sounds very confusing, but it is probably the best that I can do
in a plain-text message.

Regards,

MLC


> Time
> X - 48 intervals of time, 12 per beat
>
> Music
> D - point of strongest downbeat in the music
>
> Mar a space
> . - use . as a placeholder to make things easier to read
>
> Foot Actions
> W - point of significant weight change to the stepping foot
> P - point where the feet are passing (where one big toe passes the
> other)
>
> Rise and Fall
> R - point where rise is commenced
> X - point where maximum rise is first reached
> L - point where lowering is commenced
> N - point where minimum rise is first reached (maximum lowering)
>
> Any other precise moments you can define would be appreciated.
>
>
> Time      XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
> Music     ............ ............ ............ ............
> Book      ............ ............ ............ ............
> Current   ............ ............ ............ ............
>
> - Bb


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