Damjan and I are teaching Rachael and Julian a waltz for their first wedding dance.

‘Hmm,’ I said, pondering the step that Rachael and Julian had dutifully taken on my instructions.

‘I think it’ll be too slow to do it the way I said. Instead of doing a full L-shape, try sweeping your foot diagonally to land to the side.’

Here is the way I originally described the basic waltz step.

And this is what I showed Rachael and Julian to do instead.

Julian made the switch quickly and was soon keeping up in time with the music.

‘That’s great, Julian,’ I said. ‘Rachael, remember you don’t need to bring your foot right back, just go straight across.’

‘It’s like sweeping your foot over a soccer ball,’ Julian said helpfully. ‘That’s the way I think of it.’