Swing

MORE INFO Taminations 3D Animation

Swing is done by two dancers, one boy and one girl. They step forward and slightly to their left, use a ballroom hold, and rotate clockwise as a unit for four or more beats of music. As dancers end the swing, the girl continues turning to her right (unrolling along the boy's right arm) until she is facing the same direction as the boy.

The dancers end up as a couple, with their facing direction depending on what they expect to be doing next. Most commonly they will end facing promenade direction (and the next call will be Promenade), but if the caller says something to indicate that everybody should form a circle or squared set then they should end facing in toward the center of the set.

There are many variations in styling of this action, including how the dancers hold their arms and how many times they turn. One common variation is that the boy will make an arch by raising his left hand, allowing the girl to twirl under. There are also some people who would prefer not to swing at all, in which case they just take hands as a normal couple in preparation for doing the next call.

This is used in almost every "singing call" (and only rarely in "patter"), and typically is done at the end of each sequence. At the end of the first ("opening") and last ("closing") sequence dancers will be swinging with their original partner. At the end of each sequence which moves the girls around the square, each boy will typically be swinging with his current corner, who then becomes his current partner.

Note that there are also calls (e.g., Swing Thru) that have the word "Swing" in their name, representing an entirely different action (a simple arm turn 1/2). Usually it is obvious from context which meaning is intended, but to avoid confusion this action is sometimes called as "Swing Your Partner" (or "Swing Your Corner" at those points in a singing call when corners are going to become new partners).