In ballroom dancing (and in some other types of partner dance), directions of progressive movement, in particular directions of steps, can be indicated either in relation to the room or in relation to the body position. Directions of turns, although there are only two of them, may also be indicated in several ways.
Directions of progressive movement
Basic directions of movement with respect to the room
Dancers can align their bodies and move in any of these directions: line of dance (LOD) against LOD center (C) wall (W) diagonal center (DC) diagonal wall (DW) diagonal center against LOD (DC against LOD) diagonal wall against LOD (DW against LOD)
These directions may be taken either facing if the dancer's feet are pointing in the direction of the movement, or backing if the dancer's feet are oriented in the opposite direction and the dancer is moving backwards with respect to their body. For example, "backing DC against LOD" means that a dancer is moving diagonally to the center against the line of dance, but as they are dancing backwards, the feet (and, roughly, the body) are pointing diagonally to the wall.
The term pointing refers explicitly to the direction the feet are pointing, which is useful if they are not, or not yet, aligned with the orientation of the body. For example, a dancer can be pointing DW while facing the wall.
Basic directions of step with respect to body position
These are described in one of the following ways.
With respect to the line of the supporting foot, the next step may be placed
in one of the primary directions: forward, back, side(ways), in a diagonal line: diagonally forward, diagonally back, in a hybrid diagonal: forward and slightly leftward (for the left foot) or rightward (for the right foot) side(ways) and slightly forward side(ways) and slightly back back and slightly leftward (for the left foot) or rightward (for the right foot) in contra body movement position (CBMP): forward in CBMP (i.e., the moving foot is placed directly in front of the supporting foot), forward and across in CBMP (i.e., the moving foot crosses in front of the supporting foot), back in CBMP, back and across in CBMP. By clock: The leader (man) is said to face 12 o'clock immediately before a figure starts. Then directions can be described by saying, for example, that the direction of the second step is 3 o'clock, and the direction of the third step is between 4 and 5 o'clock. By compass points: Assuming that the dancer faces North at any moment, one may say, e.g., "take a step North-West".
Directions of turns
Ballroom dancing distinguishes
natural (that is, right or clockwise) and reverse (left or counter-clockwise) turns, inside and outside turns (not to be confused with a dancer being on the inside or on the outside of a turn).
Natural vs. reverse turns
The term "natural turn" describes a right or clockwise turn of the dance couple. This usage originated from the names of waltz moves and was transferred to other, similar dances.
A commonly stated theory of the origin of the term is that considering the right-shifted position in a couple (even more pronounced in older times) and the counter-clockwise direction of travel along the line of dance, the right turns are easier to perform, they are more "natural". This is especially true at the corners of the dance floor: the amount of the right turn is effectively only of a full turn, and the amount of the left turn is effectively as much as , because the LOD changes its direction by 90 degrees to the left (CCW).
The partner dancing forward is said to be on the outside of the turn, having the longer way to move, and the partner dancing backward is on the inside of the turn.