Crescent Reel Of Four
Sometimes Crescent reel of four is called "Banana reel of four".These are performed by four adjacent Dancers on the Side of a Square or other Circular set. The name recognizes that the line joining their initial Places is an arc of a circle (or, more precisely, three adjacent sides of a polygon) but it is somewhat misleading in a Square set in that it implies that the axis of the Reel is similarly distorted whereas the axis is actually the straight line joining the Starting Places of the Middle two Dancers.
For example, in bars 25-32 of the Scottish Country Dance Strathspey, Sloane Square, 4th man, 1st couple and 2nd lady perform a Reel whose axis is the extended line joining the 1st couple's Places in the Square set While 4th lady, 3rd couple and 2nd man perform a Reel whose axis is the line joining the 3rd couple's Places; 1st couple and 3rd couple Start by Passing Partners By the left.

Crescent Reels of Four in a Square Set
The above diagram shows the situation about halfway through bar 27, by which time the Dancers are equally spaced with 2nd lady and 4th man Passing By the left in the Top Reel and 2nd man and 4th lady Passing By the left in the Bottom Reel. The vertices of the shaded octagon are the Starting Places of the Dancers in the 4 couple square set, as in the following diagram.

Structure Of Square Set
In a Triangular set, the term Crescent reel of four is commonly used as a synonym for Interlocking reels on the Sides (see the following diagram); in this case, the axis of each Reel actually is distorted into a crescent shape.

Here are examples of those Scottish Country Dances for which we have instructions on this site and in which the term, Crescent reel of four, either appears explicitly or is implied; note that for a common term these will be a small selection; for a rare term, these may be all that exist:
Autumn In Pitlochry
John And Ruth's Ruby Wedding
Nova Scotia
Dance Video Clip Which Demonstrates Crescent Reel Of Four
Crescent Reel Of Four Video ClipLinks To Pages Related To 'Reel(s) Of Four'
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