Sometimes it is hard to picture what you are supposed to do, based on a word description only. Still photos help a little (see the Photo Album link at left or the album table of contents at the bottom of this page), and footprint diagrams are another widely used aid. Here, I offer just a few examples. With hundreds of different figures in round dancing, I couldn't illustrate all of them this way, even if I was a good artist. So, compare these diagrams to the word descriptions under the various dance rhythms, and work to become more comfortable with those word descriptions. In round dancing, it is especially useful to be able to work from the word descriptions, because there are so many different figures, and the cue sheets are, after all, nothing but words.

Box
This is the forward half box for the man. The stepping pattern is the same in waltz and fox trot, although the timing will be different: 123; for waltz and sqq; for fox trot.	This is the man's back half box. Put these two measures together, and you have a full box. The man steps forward, side, close; back, side, close;	Here are the two parts of the woman's box. She mirrors the man: back, side, close; forward, side, close;
Fox Trot Basic
The fox trot basic or "magic step." He steps forward, forward, side, close. The timing is slow, slow, quick, quick.	The woman's steps in the fox trot basic.
Reverse Turn, Waltz		Fox Trot
In dance, "reverse" is to the left, and "natural" is to the right. Reverse or left turns are common components of almost every smooth dance. Here, the man starts facing diagonal center, and he steps forward turning, side, close; back turning, side, close;	The woman mirrors him, stepping back turning, side, close; forward turning, side, close;	The figure is similar in fox trot, but the steps are all passing: forward turning, -, side, back; back turning, -, side, forward; The seventh step illustrated here is the first step of the next figure, perhaps a box.	The woman steps back, -, does a heel turn, forward; forward turning, -, side, back; Again, the seventh step illustrated here is the first step of the next figure.
Double Reverse Spin
As an example of an advanced figure, I have the phase V Double Reverse Spin, used in both waltz (shown here) and fox trot. The man steps forward on his left turning, side, and then draws his left to his right with no further weight change. The steps of the woman spin him around one full turn.	The woman's steps are quite different. She steps back R. The man's turning and his stepping "through" her leads her heel turn. On the third waltz beat, she steps side and back and then quickly crosses left in front of right. The man steps 1, 2, hold; The woman steps 1, 2, 3&; The diagram is a little misleading in the way it labels the steps "3&." The step with the right is really the "3," and the crossing in front is the "&." The woman's timing in fox trot would be slow, -, quick/&, quick;