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American Square Dances |
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Four Ladies Chain
This figure is also called the "Ladies Grand Chain" and is danced exactly as is the Two Ladies Chain except that all four ladies in the set dance the figure instead of two.
The four ladies join their right hands in the center of the set to form a Right Hand Star and circle clockwise until they reach their Opposite Gentlemen with whom they join left hands. The gentlemen place their right hands at the ladies' backs, wheel the ladies counterclockwise, and send them back to the center of the set, where they again form a Right Hand Star. The ladies then circle clockwise to their own Partners, who receive them by taking the ladies' left hands while placing their right hands at the ladies' back and wheeling them counterclockwise to face the center, ready for the next movement called. In the Western dance the figure of "Four Ladies Chain" is divided into two halves with a separate caU for each crossing and exchange of partners, eight beats of music being required for each half of the figure, sixteen measures for the complete figure of "Four Ladies Chain" and "Chain back to place."
The Eastern dance has kept the original meaning of the call to denote the full figure, unless qualified by the :word "half" in the call.
Four Gents Chain
Often called the "Gentlemen's Grand Chain." The movement and pattern is exactly the same as "Four Ladies Chain" except that the gentlemen do not wheel the ladies around with their right hands at the ladies' backs. Instead, the dancers swing once around with a Left Hand Swing after the four gentlemen "star" across to their Opposite Ladies, and Partners swing once around by the left hand at their home place after the gentlemen "star" back to their Partners. The figure has the same timing |
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