Tech Squares: the square and round dance club of MIT

Call of the Month: February, 1993

Cross Roll to a Wave, and Shakedown

by Barry Leiba

We're going to talk about two calls this month, since there are two Callerlab quarterly selections of interest. Both calls are on the C1 list and have been selected as quarterlies at lower levels. This is a good opportunity to get exposure to some calls that you might see later in your square dance life.

The current Mainstream quarterly is CROSS ROLL TO A WAVE. The call starts from two-faced lines (at C1 it can start from any general lines, but then it doesn't end in waves). The definition of the call is ends run while the centers cross-run. It's an easy call that has a nice feel to it. Let's have a look at how it's used.

From a squared set, have the heads LEAD RIGHT and all VEER LEFT. We have right-handed two-faced lines with the boys on the ends. If we CROSS ROLL TO A WAVE from here, the boys will RUN into their partners' spots while the girls CROSS RUN to the opposite ends, and we'll end in right-handed waves with the girls on the ends. Note that everyone started by moving toward the center of the line, and that the ends of the starting lines became centers of the ending waves, while the original ends became centers. Those two things are true of any CROSS ROLL.

Now, from the wave we have, let the girls RUN. This time, we'll start in left-handed two-faced lines with the boys on the ends. Since it's left-handed, and we always move toward the center on a CROSS ROLL, we'll be going to the left now, instead of to the right as before. CROSS ROLL TO A WAVE: boys run (to the left) while the girls CROSS RUN (to the left), and we end in left-handed waves with the girls on the ends. We can finish the sequence by having the girls RUN, all BEND THE LINE, PASS THE OCEAN, BOX THE GNAT, and RIGHT-AND-LEFT GRAND.

I like to think of CROSS ROLL as one of a family of calls wherein some dancers RUN and some CROSS RUN. The Advanced dancers should now know the whole set:

  • TRADE (Mainstream)—everybody RUN
  • MIX (A1)—everybody CROSS RUN
  • SWITCH THE WAVE (A2)—centers RUN, ends CROSS RUN
  • CROSS ROLL TO A WAVE—ends RUN, centers CROSS RUN
Another C1 call has been brought down as the current Advanced quarterly selection. The call is SHAKEDOWN, and it has a CHASE RIGHT feel to it that Plus dancers will recognize. SHAKEDOWN starts from back-to-back couples and has the dancer on the right do a ¾ ZOOM (make a ¾ looping turn) while the dancer on the left does a RUN AND ROLL. It finishes in facing couples. Let's look at an example.

From our squared set, heads PAIR OFF (face your corner) and all PASS THRU. All dancers are now back-to-back with their corners, in couples with the boys on the left. SHAKEDOWN: girls ¾ zoom (into the spot behind themselves) while the boys RUN AND ROLL (into the girls' spots). Note that everyone is working to his or her right. Note also that everyone is making a ¾ turn to the right. The girls must be careful not to turn all the way and do a full ZOOM ... it's only ¾. In the end, we'll have facing lines parallel to the head walls. The girls, who started on the right of a couple, will now be on the left of a couple, partnered with the same boy as when the call started (it's your original partner). We'll all be facing the couples that were behind us before. These things are always true for SHAKEDOWN: you end up half-sashayed with the same partner you started the call with, you end up facing the couple you were back-to-back with, and you end up facing the wall to the left of the one you started facing. While the call feels much like CHASE RIGHT, it ends in facing couples rather than in mini-waves (MINI-CHASE, a C3 call, is actually the shorter version of CHASE RIGHT). As you might expect, there's a LEFT SHAKEDOWNthat goes to the left and has a sort of LEFT CHASE feel.

Let's put them both together now:

  • Heads TOUCH ¼ and WALK AND DODGE
  • All SWING THRU
  • Boys RUN
  • CROSS ROLL TO A WAVE
  • PASS THRU (sides don't go too far; you should be facing in the center!)
  • SHAKEDOWN
  • Sides REVERSE WHEEL AROUND and all PROMENADE HOME

(Printable Version)

The columns are copyright ©1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 by Barry Leiba; for permission to reprint them, please contact the author. No request has been refused yet. Of course, you may print a copy for personal use without specific permission. You may contact the author by e-mail at "leiba@watson.ibm.com".

These columns were originally sponsored on the web by the IAGSDC on space provided by Glyphic Technology. In 2006, Tech Squares took over hosting. Some information in the articles might be out-of-date: remember that Callerlab continues to tweak the program lists and definitions.