by Robert Cromartie

A1 -----------

(8) Long lines, forward and back

(8) Men allemande Left 1-1/2

A2 -----------

(16) Partner balance and swing

B1 -----------

(16) Down the hall four in line  Dixie Twirl* and return

B2 -----------

(8) Circle Left 3/4

(8) Neighbor swing

* Dixie Twirl: Without anyone releasing hands, the left-most pair, led by the end dancer, go under an arch made by the central pair to become the left-most pair in a line of four facing up. Simulataneously, the right-most pair sweep across the set to become the right-most pair in the inverted line.

And I believe that some of the confusion might be caused by interchanging the phrase “Dixie Twirl” with a different move: right hand high/left hand low. The dance above is, as the title indicates, using a Dixie Twirl, with all four dancers changing position. There are a number of dances that have a different move: right hand high/left hand low, or an arch and duck under movement for three dancers. Chip Hedler mentions one of the first dances with this move: The Nova Scotian, by Maurice Hennigar. For this move, two dancers change position relative to each other, but the other two maintain their positions in the line (an end dancer turns alone; another turns under his/her own arm after the arch/duck movement has happened).

So the dance, as written down by Vicki does work. I have not seen it before; don’t know a title; and did not find it in Michael Dyck’s comprehensive dance listing. It seems like a good dance, so knowing a title would be great! Here’s another, similar dance by Bob Isaacs: