Lesson 6: Walking In Two Lanes

Normally we walk in the same lane, so the man's left foot always moves in front of the woman's right foot, his right foot in front of her left. We are using the parallel system and walking in one lane. In this lesson, we introduced walking in two lanes (while still remaining in parallel system, more on crossed system later).
The man shifts his lane of walking to the left by stepping forward and across with his right foot - this involves a little pivot of the left foot, either before or during the step. During this process of shifting lanes, the torsos of man and woman stay connected, facing each other normally. This means there is no internal change in the embrace of the couple. The hips and torso now point in different directions - the pelvis is always aligned with the direction of the step, while the torso is always aligned with the position of the partner's center.
Moving back in, thus sharing the same lane again, requires the leader to step back in with his left foot, again doing a crossing step that stops his axis from tumbling sideways or having to do an "open step" (the only open step that is really ok is the proper sidestep).
If we combine the above with a double time step we get a nice and simple little element that facilitates rhythmic dancing rather well. One crossing step with the right foot out to the left for the man (this is the slow one), then back in and again in-lane with two quick and short steps, and slowing down with one slow longer step.