Bridge the Gap

By Dave Wilson

about 1995

As Couples Concept - Level A1

The As Couples Concept is the first official concept introduced in square dancing. A concept is an idea applied to a call. Here is the definition:

Callerlab:
As Couples Concept

From any formation composed only of couples, for example double pass thru, facing lines, or parallel two-faced lines: This is used to modify a call, e.g., As Couples Walk and Dodge from parallel two-faced lines. Each couple acts as though it were a single dancer, and does the part of the call appropriate to its position in the starting formation.

For example, the diagrams below show As Couples Walk and Dodge. Each couple works as a unit, and the dancers act as though they were in a box circulate formation. The couples facing in take the part of single dancers facing in, and the couples facing out take the part of single dancers facing out. The result is as shown:

As Couples Walk and Dodge diagram

For Teaching: No one should let go of their partner during an As Couples call.

The As Couples Concept has two people working as if they were one person. If the caller precedes a call with As Couples, every person in the square finds another person who is adjacent to them and joins them to become one person.

The next level of difficulty might be when the caller says, “Boys, As Couples do something”. In that case, the girls are not to work As Couples. For example:

From a tidal line with all the girls in the middle of the square, the caller might say, “Girls, As Couples, Run.” Here the girls would run around 1 boy, not 2, because the caller did not say, “As Couples, Girls Run”. The boys were not working As Couples.

I can hear my German caller friend yelling, “… but the definition says that it should be done from any formation composed only of couples. Therefore the boys must be a couple too!” Although the boys were a couple when we started, they were not working As Couples. And, furthermore, the Callerlab definition should not say the As Couples Concept should be limited to any formation composed only of couples. It should say, “From any formation where two adjacent dancers are facing the same direction.”

Let’s go one step further. From the same tidal line with the girls as the center line and each side of the tidal line facing the same direction:

As Couples, As Couples, hinge. (This is not a typo.) The first As Couples means that every person in the square pair up with the adjacent dancer to become one person. Therefore, 8 people become 4 people. Then, this new very large person must find an adjacent (very large) dancer with whom to become a couple. Therefore, 4 people become 2 couples (2 people as 1 + 2 people as 1 = 4 people as 1). In other words, 8 becomes 4 then 4 becomes 2 people. The result has the pivot of the hinge as the very center of the square.

And for those of you who simply need to complete the process:

As Couples, As Couples, As Couples Quarter Right (From a tidal line with everyone facing the same direction). With the first As Couples, 2 become 1 and therefore 8 become 4. With the second As Couples, 2 sets of 2 become 1 and therefore 8 become 2. With the 3rd As Couples, 2 sets of 2 sets of 2 become 1 and therefore 8 become 1. The entire line works as a unit of 1, and does a Quarter Right!

This makes me tired.