Systemizations
Lots of things in square dancing are almost the same except for one small difference, and can be arranged into systematic paradigms. This is possibly good because it gives the whole activity a sense of cohesiveness, or possibly bad because it makes it easy to confuse similar things with each other. In any case, I've collected several examples here.
From a 2x4, all possible distorted boxes have names.
plussplit
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C3Bdiagonal box
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C2once removed
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C4interlocked parallelogram
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C1concentric
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C3Btrapezoid
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There's a useful "call" that isn't named but comes up a lot, approximately defined as "centers cast 3/4, others phantom hourglass circulate". It's roughly the end of plusrelay the deucey.
Among a bunch of dancers I know, it's often referred to as finish it, based on the callback to relay the deucey ("deuuu-ceyyy, 6, 4, 6, finish it!").
There are a large number of calls that roughly follow the pattern "arm turn X, finish it, turn the star Y, finish it".
I, J fin, K sno, L fin |
C4IJKL 1/4 the deucey |
I, I fin, I sno, I fin |
→ C3AI the deucey |
1/2, 3/4 fin, 1/2 sno, 3/4 fin |
→ C4spin chain the star |
I, J fin, K str, L fin |
C4IJKL relay the top |
I, 3/4 fin, I str, 3/4 fin |
→ C3BI cast & relay |
1/2, 3/4 fin, 1/4 str, 3/4 fin |
→→ C1relay the top |
1/2, 3/4 fin, 6-4-6, 3/4 fin |
plusrelay the deucey |
crc, 3/4 fin, 1/2 str, 3/4 fin |
A2motivate |
ext, 1/4 fin, 1/4 str, 3/4 fin |
A1chain reaction |
To explain the notation:
fin is a finish it,
centers turn the given fraction.
str is a star turn by the given fraction,
others trade.
sno is a star turn, others do not trade.
The "6-4-6" for relay the deucey is the part that's equivalent to "triple trade, acey deucey, triple trade". The A1chain reaction row is sort of shoehorned in; that's absolutely not how it's danced, but it's homotopic to the real call (from right hand waves), which I think is pretty cool.
Note: C1tally ho and C1linear action also have a "finish it" action, but don't follow the pattern. Also, the outsides' part feels more like a "last 1/2 all 8 circulate" than a phantom hourglass circulate.
There's a large class of calls which take a 2x2 and rotate everyone one position clockwise.
In the table below, starting and ending formations are given as: [R]H waves, [L]H waves, couples facing [I]n, couples facing [O]ut. If the ending formation is starred, it has rotated 90° (changed between head walls and side walls).
The numbers are the clockwise rotation of the top left and top right dancer respectively, in 1/4s.
| plusbox circulate* | R → R | 2 | 0 | [trailers work stable couple up] |
| C3Acouple up | R → I | 2 | 2 | [box counter rotate & roll] |
| A2box counter rotate | R → R* | 1 | 1 | [1/4 stable couple up] |
| pluswalk & dodge | R → O | 0 | 0 | [stable *] |
| A1reverse swap around | I → O | -2 | 0 | [beaus work stable short cut/reverse split swap & roll] |
| C2reverse split swap | I → O* | -1 | -1 | |
| pluscircle 4 left 1/4 | I → I* | 1 | 1 | |
| C4short cut | I → R* | -1 | 1 | |
| C3Brip off | I → R | 0 | 0 | [stable *] |
| C3Brip off | L → I | 0 | 4 | |
| C3Brip off | O → F | 2 | 4 | [beaus work 1/2 stable shakedown & roll] |
| C3Bchase the 1/2 tag | O → R | 2 | 2 | [1/2 stable shakedown/rip off] |
| C1vertical 1/2 tag | O → R | 2 | -2 | |
| C1shakedown | O → I* | 3 | 3 | [chase the 1/2 tag & roll, 3/4 stable rip off & roll] |
| C3Amini chase | O → R* | 1 | 3 | [beaus work 1/4 stable shakedown] |
* = rip off = vertical 1/2 tag
There are also a few asymmetric calls in this family, which have catchy descriptions.
- C3Bshake & rattle: change whether you're facing head/side walls, and whether you're a beau/belle.
- C4short & sweet: change whether you're facing head/side walls, and become a beau.