By Dave Wilson
about 1995
I had the pleasure of calling an A2 weekend in Southern Germany last month. Although, my flight was delayed, the other caller covered the dance until I arrived. The first dance of the weekend went well. On Saturday morning, I was ready to attack the A-2 dancers with my normal barrage of A-2 take no prisoners stuff. One concept that I attack quite regularly is the All 4 Couples Concept. I assume that A2 dancers know the basic idea about the concept, but the last 10 years or so, I have been on somewhat of a crusade in educating them (another word is pounding) with the clause in the definition. (Some people would say it is not a clause because it has been part of the definition since 1995.)
To quote Clark Baker from a recent posting:
The rule which covers all of the existing cases, at the expense of making a few new cases unexpected has an adjustment so that those who finish facing the head walls, finish on the heads spots. Another way of thinking about this is that you always end so that you are ends of columns.
The rule has been such since 5/24/95, and has been taught and danced this way for much longer by many. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone today…
While in the process of explaining All 4 couples Quarter In (the call I use, more often than not, for teaching), the other caller stopped me to say, “According to the Callerlab definition, when the dancers would normally walk through the middle of the square (e.g. as part of a Pass Thru or Pull By), they walk around the perimeter instead. All the hand actions and shoulder passes are the same as for the basic call. However, passing the other dancers (e.g., heads passing sides) alternates between right shoulders and left shoulders. An example of this shoulder passing can be found in All 4 Couples Right and Left Thru.”
When two dancers would normally walk through the center of the square (e.g. as part of a centers Pull By or centers arm turn), they still go through the center--they adjust into a star as they go, to avoid collisions. Examples of this can be found in All 8 Swing Thru and All 8 Dixie Style To A Wave. Therefore, (he continued) All 4 Couples Quarter In is illegal according to the definition.”
I thought I had missed something; something about which I was not aware. I decided not to call it again until he and I had a talk at the end of the tip.
At the end of the tip, he explained himself again, quoting Callerlab verbatim. I asked if he could show me about what he was talking. He pulled out a copy of the Callerlab definition, and, sure enough, he had quoted it precisely. I still had no clue! Finally he said, “The definition says WHEN the dancers would normally… WHEN! That means they always pass the center!” Light finally dawned on Marblehead! (Must be a New England expression.) “I see!”, I said. “Do you mean that if the definition said, 'IF the dancers would normally…' and 'IF two dancers would normally...' that you would accept All 4 Couples Quarter In as a call.” He said “yes!”
Many square dancers around the world do not have the luxury of having callers, dancers and sometimes family, who have learned from past generations of square dancers. We try with our books and discussion groups to address everything possible, but people who speak English as a second language must take everything we write literally. They have no choice. On the other hand, a Swedish friend of mine recently pointed out, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” doesn’t mean that you are definitely in Rome. It means, “If you are in Rome…”
I hope by sharing this story with you that you understand, as an A2 dancer, more about the concept All 4 Couples. If you haven’t understood the concept completely, you’re not alone.
Unfortunately, I may have been, at least partially, responsible for the All 4 Couples definition. I remember in the early to mid 1990s Ed Foote contacting me about phrasing the definition. At that time, most of the C4 community was dancing All 4 Couples concept without a problem. As I was new to the higher challenge community, I was puzzled to learn there was more to the definition than I learned at A2. That’s when I first decided to write a few articles in the Zip Coder magazine to try to bring the information from the C4 community to the level at which the call is first introduced. I was trying to Bridge the Gap— and I continue.