is not as easy as it may seem; it should be practised frequently, so as to make it smooth. The shoulders must not go up and down, the body must glide along all the time without any stops. It is correct either to walk on your heel and toe or just on the ball of the foot; but the Argentines nearly all seem to walk flat-foot, or else they step out on their heel first. I advise dancers to do what is the easiest for them, for when one is walking comfortably it is easier to do the steps naturally. The first step to master, and one of the most difficult, is the Cortez.
THE CORTEZ
Let us suppose that the gentleman is walking backward and the lady forward (the position is exactly the same as in the commencement of all the dances I have explained so far). Now when you are ready to do the Cortez you pause for two counts on the left foot, which should be in the position shown here. Now the right foot passes back of the left for one count. The left shifts to the side a few inches for one count, and the right does the same thing for one count (keeping behind the left). Thus five counts have been occupied, and the feet should have shifted to the music in this way, provided, of course, that the music is very simple.
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