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Bulldoze Forward

Whether pulling or pushing a cart, the Push-force is invariably used that act from the feet.

The "Push"
All walking strides are because of pushing the body forward and the moving foot is swung from the hip to fall under the body. And another comparatively lighter Push from the back foot's ball to bring the back-foot forward. All these movements occur naturally and subconsciously and exactly the same is needed in a dance.

To understand this better lets take the example given above. Here we have a rigid angle in black. The red arrow is the force or weight acting downwards from the heel, and the blue arrow pointing upward is the reaction from the ground. Both are in line and thus cancel each other out. This is the normal and relaxed way of standing. For the forward movement additional leverage is given by the part between the point 'A' and the Reaction Force in blue colour. As a result a stronger and better-controlled Push force is possible as compared to a Pull force.

Moreover in a figure of speech too, the socks are pulled up but we always push our way to climb the heights of success.

Thus it is imperative to feel a push from the stationary foot to move the moving-foot in any and every direction.

When standing on one foot, the balancing in all the four horizontal directions, i.e. forward, backward, and the two sides, is better achieved at the ball of the foot since it is broader and more flexible as compared to the heel area. The proximity of the toe joints to the ball make it easier to use a better controlled Push force for forward movements as against backward movements. Thus for moving back the fine balance required for the push is achieved from the partner. This necessitates the forward moving dancer to "bulldoze" forward, and the dance partner who is moving backward to give subtle resistance.