A Side Step is not what you think it is. It’s a whole thing. It’s not just a ‘step’ to the side. No. There’s actual technique in how you extend your leg, how you use your foot to take the step itself, how you engage the floor, and a host of other details that we’re not going to get into here. There’s a whole treatise on this stuff in our foundation videos > https://tangotopics.com/foundation/side-steps/
Just to give you a taste of the number of stuff the crops up for the side step, play the video below: