|
Restart Tutorial
Table of Contents Tutorials Home |
32: MORE ARM TURN VERBS
Several of the actions we have looked at so far can be described in terms of Arm Turns. An Arm Turn means that two dancers who are facing opposite directions and holding hands turn around that hand-hold. Both dancers are walking forward, with the hand-hold acting as a pivot. For example, in an Allemande Left, each dancer joins left hands with his or her corner, and they turn around that hand-hold.
In many cases, to perform the complete action correctly the dancers must turn around the hand-hold a specific fraction of a full turn, such as 1/4 or 1/2. In Scoot Back, the two trailers step forward, do an Arm Turn 1/2 with each other, then walk straight back out.
Sometimes an action includes more than one Arm Turn action. For example, the action of Swing Thru can be described as a Right Arm Turn 1/2 (done by those dancers who are holding right hands with each other), followed by a Left Arm Turn 1/2 (done by those dancers who are holding left hands with each other).
Note: The term "Arm Turn" reflects the fact that some of these actions are done with the dancers holding each other's forearms, not simply their hands. Exactly which ones are done which way varies, according to local tradition and dancer preferences. Allemande Left is always done with a forearm hold. Swing Thru is rarely done with a forearm hold, except in certain specific geographic areas.
We will now look at some more actions that include arm turns.
| PREV | NEXT |