Nearer HandsNormally Nearer Hands are used when dancing in a circle (Hands round), when 2 or more dancers, Facing the same way in a line, Set or Advance or Retire and when more than 2 dancers Travel together, side by side. It is the preferred way for 2 Scottish Country Dancers to Travel together, side by side, when the next Figure requires them either to Take Both hands or to Cast away from each other. It is also used when briefly meeting and separating as, for example, in symmetrical Figures of eight on the sides and Mirror reels of three. When Travelling together, the joined left and right hands should be between the dancers at chest height; for all other movements, the hands should be as described above in Take hands with no relative movement. This Hold is used in the Figure, Promenade round (see under Travelling in Figures), and occasionally in some other Figures, such as Chase. For example, here are some Scottish Country Dances in which the term, Nearer Hands, is used in either the Minicrib or the Maxicrib Dance instructions or both -
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