This thread, and all its participants' additions, makes me happy.
On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 2:59 PM, John Sweeney <[email protected]>wrote: > One key aspect of a Square Through (as opposed to n changes of right & > left, cross trails, circular heys, etc.) that hasn't been mentioned, is > that after the last Pull By of a Square Through you do NOT turn. The > initial Pull Bys all have a quarter turn after the Pull By, but the last > one leaves you back to back with the last person you passed, facing in the > opposite direction to them. > > Square Throughs or changes of rights & lefts, in ECD, take as many beats > as there is music. Some dances require you to make each change in two > beats, some are more leisurely and allow you four beats for each one. > Contra dancers don't want to use four steps to pull past someone when they > can do it in two steps. Hence the Balanced Square Through: four beats to > balance forward & back; four beats for two changes - making a total of > eight beats - just right for a contra dance figure. > > As has been mentioned the "Cross-Trail" found in modern contra dancers is > not really a cross trail; it is much more like two changes of a circular > hey or two changes of rights & lefts, without hands. > > Happy dancing, > John Sweeney > > _______________________________________________ > Callers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/callers >
