Breathing is the expansion and decrease of the size of the formation as we execute a call. We breathe all the time while dancing but never think about it. It is important to successful dancing to be aware of breathing and to be able to do it well.

Why is breathing so important? Every call has specific formation-oriented starting and ending positions. If calls are not executed properly then the correct ending position will not be achieved. This directly affects the next call because if you don't end a call correctly then you can't start the next call correctly. In order to end correctly, the call must be executed properly which means that all intermediate positions in the call must also be correct. Breathing helps to insure that the dancers will be at the proper position.

Let's take a quick look at some basic positioning.

When we stand in a squared set we are really standing inside a positional grid that is four dancers high by four dancers wide. This is called a 4x4 grid or 4x4 matrix.

When you square up the formation looks like this:

The dancers are actually standing inside of a 4x4 grid which makes the squared up set look like this.

Notice that the 8 dancers are standing in a grid made up of 16 spaces, 4 on a side. This is a 4x4 grid, also called a 4x4 matrix or 16 matrix. Also notice that 8 of the spaces are not occupied by dancers. Those 8 spaces are still there.

The purpose of the grid is to show the relationship of the dancers to one another and the grid within the current formation setup. All the examples shown will show positioning as it relates to the grid.

You must always remember that you are always dancing in some kind of a grid setup. Sometimes it is a 4x4, sometimes 3x4, sometimes 2x4. There are many other grid setups you will encounter in Challenge dancing.

The grid may change shape during the call. For example, the grid for a Pass Thru is 1 dancer wide and 2 dancers high. Halfway through the call the grid changes to 1 dancer high by 2 dancers wide. Likewise, a Pass the Ocean starts is a grid that is 2 dancers high by 2 dancers wide but changes to a grid that is 1 dancer high by 4 dancers wide at the end of the call.

Heads Lead Right

A simple case of breathing that we all do many times is the call - Heads Lead Right.

The first diagram shows how this call is normally done. The heads will automatically just move into the required ending position without thinking about breathing. But they still do it. The second diagram show the heads stepping ahead one spot before leading right.

Heads Lead Right

Since Lead Right is a box-of-four call, the heads have to move ahead one position in the matrix in order to do the call. Actually, we all do this call directly from the squared-up set position and just blend into the correct ending position. Normally, this doesn't really make any difference. Occasionally it does matter so the dancers must be aware of what they have done.

Interestingly, the Sd square dance choreography program does exactly this when beginning a sequence. It moves the heads into the center of the square on any "heads start" call.

Heads Pass Out

Just like Heads Lead Right, the dancers have to move forward one spot in the formation. Then they can do the Pass Out. The forward movement is a form of breathing. Once again, most dancers don't think about breathing in this situation. This call is shown here:

All Pass Thru

A very simple case of breathing is the call Pass Thru from facing lines. In order for the dancers in each line to get to the other side of the formation, the formation has to spread, or breathe, temporarily to be 8 dancers wide so that the dancers have room to pass one another. When the Pass Thru is complete, the dancers have to shrink the formation back to being four dancers wide. More breathing. This call looks like this:

As you can see, the dancers breathed the grid out in order to Pass Thru and breathed the grid in to complete the Pass Thru. Remember, Pass Thru requires the dancers to be directly facing one another at the beginning of the call and to be directly back-to-back with each other at the end of the call.

Peel Off

The definition of Peel Off in The Callerlab Plus list and the Ceder Chest describe how to do the call in each group of four dancers. The call looks like this:

However, there is no mention in either document of the breathing required to reestablish the 2x4 formation at the end of the call. This requires each wave to breathe in to complete the call.

Why is this necessary? The Ceder Chest definition includes this phrase:

      "the ending formation is centered and compact, with each dancer ending on a center-axis of the
       original 4-dancer formation"

The second diagram above clearly shows this. But the call requires the dancers to be in parallel waves or waves at the end of the call. I can find no documentation that supports this. I suspect that it falls under the classification of "common usage" and thus requires the breathing.

Swing Thru

Let's look at a simple case of square breathing in a call that we do all the time - Swing Thru, to see how we breath the formation while doing this call.

Notice how the dancers must breath during the first half of the initial swing to keep from bumping into one another. Also notice how the dancers are positioned after the initial swing. The dancers are not standing in the same line as when the call was started. The dancers had to breath twice to provide physical space to do the call. At the end of the call, we must restore the original 2x4 formation.

Switch to A Diamond

Switching to a Diamond from waves requires breathing because the four dancers in the center of the diamond are in a wave which is 90 degrees away from the original formation axis. The points are still in the same line as when they started but slightly shifted as shown in this diagram.

The formation is now 4x4 instead of the original 2x4. This means that the call is a shape-changer because the formation is larger. The breathing took place during the call. The points had to breath slightly to establish their diamond point positions.

Switch to A Point-to-Point Diamond

If the call were Switch to a point-to-point diamond there would be some heavy breathing needed along the formation axis because it is now 8 spots in size. The original centers spots used only 2 spots. Of course the points now have a hand-hold so they required 2 spots. The formation now is a 2x8 formation.

Switch to An Hourglass

Switching to an hourglass gives us the same 4x4 matrix as the normal diamonds with the centers of the hourglass adjusting to their final positions.

Quarter Thru

Quarter Thru leaves the two waves separated by an extra line. Since there are no phantoms involved in this call, that line shouldn't exist. The dancers must breathe the lines together into a 2x4 formation. Invariably, when a call of this type is done, you will see the experienced dancers in the square move the lines together to reform the 2x4. In squares with inexperienced dancers the extra line will still be there for the next call. This may cause difficulty with the next call because of the extra space.

If each part of this call is done correctly, the final formation will not be the desired 2x4 formation. Why not? If we look at how each element of the call is done. The first part of the call is a Hinge. Hinge is defined as a movement done arond the spot that is inbetween the two dancers. Each pair of dancers has to breathe slightly so that the dancers are lined up and spaced properly just like the Swing Thru example above. The second part of the call is a partner trade done by the centers, once again around the center point between the two dancers.

Notice that at the end of the call each wave is correct in itself but because of the rule for doing each part of the quarter thru and the spacing resulting for following the rules, the 2 waves are too far apart. So they must be adjusted to the correct grid spots for the 2x4 formation. Notice that there are 2 places where breathing is done during the call.

Split Phantom Lines Counter Rotate

Triple Box Quarter Thru

Triple Box Recoil

The empty spaces must be reclaimed. This is a Triple Box call which must start and end in 12 spots, in this case a 2x6 formation. There were no phantoms created by this call. They were already there at the beginning of the call.

Split Phantom Columns Invert 1/2

Additional Square Breathing Articles

This additional article provides additional information and insights about square breathing:

Square Breathing by Barry Leiba

Conclusion

Examination of a great many calls shows that square breathing is an important integral part of square dancing. It is critical to proper execution of the calls from the beginning of a call to the end of a call. Failure to breath properly results in incorrect positioning and leads to difficulty in properly executing succeeding calls. All dancers must be aware of square breathing and make every effort to exercise proper square breathing.