SQUARE DANCING DEFINITIONS

Alamo Style: A circle of dancers who are alternately facing in and out with hands joined. If the Alamo Style is called after a Left Allemande, retain your Allemande Left hold with your corner, then join Right hands with Partner.
Box: Two couples facing 2 couples.
Break: To release hands, to let go.
Columns: Two parallel lines of four dancers with one line facing down the line and the other facing the opposite direction.
Down The Line: In facing lines, two faced lines or ocean waves, dancers will execute the call with the others in the same formation.
Face: Face In: Turn 90' to face into the formation. Face Out: Turn 90' to face out from the formation. Face the Sides: Directs a head person(s) to turn his back on his partner and face the sides. Face the Heads: Directs a side person(s) to turn his back on his partner and face the heads. Face Those Two: Designated persons will face those with whom they have just worked. Face To The Middle: A call usually directed to active couples to change their present facing direction to make a quarter turn toward the center of the square. When in an even numbered line dancers should turn a quarter to face the center of that line. Face Your Own: Designates a quarter turn to face partner.
Flip: The term flip is used to mean an action where the designated dancer(s) will roll 180' in either direction, assuming the position that was originally adjacent to him. It is the same action that would occur if the designated dancer (the "flipper") was asked to do a run around an imaginary adjacent dancer and into the imaginary dancer's position on the floor.
Home: For each man, his starting position in the square; for each lady, the home position of the man with whom she is at the time of the call.
Honors: The men will bow and the ladies curtsy. Men turn slightly to face your partner, making eye contact. Place left hand behind back or at left hip, palm out. Place right foot in front of left foot. The right foot should be pointed toward the lady with the toe touching the floor. Man's right hand holds lady's left hand. Both legs are straight, with weight on the back foot. An acceptable traditional variation of styling is that the men bow slightly from the waist as the ladies acknowledge with a curtsy. Ladies turn slightly to face your partner making eye contact. Left foot should be pointed forward with toe touching the floor, right foot in back. Right hand holds skirt toward center of the square, right arm bent at elbow. Place left hand in partner's right hand. Both legs straight with weight on the back foot. To Your Corner: Men, right hand holding partner's left hand turn slightly to face corner making eye contact then follow above......Ladies left hand in partner's right hand, turn slightly to face corner making eye contact then follow above.
Hourglass Formation: This movement was so named because the configuration of the formation resembles an Hourglass with it's pinched-up middle and bulging ends. A simple way to create the Hourglass formation is to start from normal 2-Faced Lines with the Girls as Centers. Then have the girls circulate 1/2. Note: At this point the two Center Girls can Touch Right Hands and represent the pinched-up Centers of the Hourglass formation while the other three dancers represent the bulging ends. Dancing movements in the Hourglass are similar to dancing them in the Diamond.
Imperfect Diamond: All four dancers in the Diamond will be mixed in their facing direction such as Centers facing Clockwise and Points facing Counterclockwise. This is also known as Face-to-Face Diamonds.
Lines: Line of 4: 4 dancers in a line facing the same direction. 2-Faced Line: 4 dancers in a line with the 2 on each end facing in the same direction and opposite that of the other end pair.
On To The Next: After executing a movement with a couple (or single dancer) the active person or couple will leave that position and move on to the next position in the direction they were going.
Perfect Diamond: All dancers within the Diamond are facing in the same relative direction, i.e. All facing Clockwise or all facing Counterclockwise.
Quarter More: A one-quarter continuation of the movement then being executed.
Reverse: The call to change a Right hand Star to a Left, a clockwise moving circle to a counterclockwise circle, etc.
Roll Promenade: When a Couple Promenade is called just before the completion of any figure normally ending in a Courtesy Turn, the dancers will do a Wheel Around or "Roll Promenade" in Promenade position rather than awkwardly switching from Courtesy Turn position.
Square: A square is formed by four couples facing in, with the back of each couple parallel to a different wall in the hall. Space across the square is 7-10 feet. The lady is on the right of the gentleman. The couples are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4 around the square to the right counterclockwise starting with the couple whose backs are closest to the front of the hall and the caller. Head couples are 1 and 3. Side couples are 2 and 4. The lady directly to the man's right is his partner. Next lady to his right is known as his right hand lady. The lady across the set from him is his opposite. The lady to his left is his corner or left hand lady.
Step Thru: The term indicates that when dancers are in waves they release handholds and take one step forward, passing the adjacent dancer to await the next call.
Waves: Mini-Wave: 2 dancers holding hands and facing opposite directions. Holding right hands is a right handed wave, and left hands is left handed mini-wave. Ocean Wave: 4 dancers in a line alternating in facing direction. If the end dancer and their adjacent center are holding right hands then it is a right handed ocean wave and vice versa. Mini Tidal: 6 dancers in a line alternating in facing direction. Same rule applies for right and left as in Ocean Wave. Tidal Wave: 8 dancers in a line alternating in facing direction. Same rule applies for right and left as in Ocean Wave.

This page was last revised on November 20, 1997

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