Scottish Country Dancing Dictionary

Taking Hands With No Relative Movement

Taking hands with no relative movement covers the obvious situations such as Pas-de basque Setting on the side lines by adjacent Couples and also those in which the Dancers are all moving together as a group as, for example, in Hands across or Hands round, but where there is no relative movement while the Hold is retained.

Hands should be at shoulder height of the shortest person in the group whose hands are touching, with the elbows a little lower than the hands in almost all cases. The diagram shows an example of Balance in line, where the left hand of the taller Man is at the shoulder height of the Lady on his left and his right hand is at the shoulder height of the Lady on his right; if these Dancers were in the same order and part of a group performing Hands round, the hands shown joined would be exactly the same; if they were to perform 4 hands across in any order, all hands would be at the shoulder height of the Lady second from the left in the diagram.

Exceptions to this rule are covered under Holds notably Allemande hold, Promenade hold and those Holds used for Travelling (in Figures).

Diagram, Hand Positions

Hand Positions

Taking hands: ready for Balance in line in Scottish Country Dancing.
The triangular symbol on the Ladies' faces represents the nose and so indicates that they are Facing the viewer; the Men are Facing away.


Dance Video Clip Which Demonstrates Take Hands With No Relative Movement

Take Hands Video Clip

Links To Pages Related To 'Take Hands'

Hand Positions

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