Rise and fall

Rise and fall is the gentle up-and-down that runs through the smooth ballroom dances. As you move through a figure you rise, lengthening upward onto the balls of the feet, and then lower again at the end of it. Done well it is invisible as an effort and visible only as flow: it is what makes the waltz look like floating rather than stepping.

The key is that it is smooth, not a bounce. The rise happens gradually across a step or a set of steps, and the lowering is just as controlled. In the waltz the rise and fall follows the three-count, one long breath in and out per measure, which is why counting the timing and feeling the rise tend to click into place together.