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A Block FORMATION consists of two overlapping Boxes of 4. Typically, one of the corners of one Box is positioned at the very center of the other Box, and vice-versa. Dancers in each Box work together in a disconnected setup, independent of the dancers in the other Box.

Block FORMATION   Who works with whom in a Block.

• Dancers must remain in their own Block. At the end of the given call, each dancer should be on one of the original footprints in their Block.
• If you connect all four dancers in one Box by drawing imaginary lines from each dancer to the next adjacent dancer, and then separately draw lines connecting the four dancers in the other Box, a Block FORMATION would look like the familiar interlocking squares that symbolize square dancing.
• To help identify who is working within your Box of 4, it is customary to point to the two nearest dancers in your Block. Use one arm to point to the dancer beside you in your Box, and the other arm to point to the dancer either in front of or behind you in your Box. It is important not to turn your shoulders to accomplish this, as you might forget which wall you are facing or confuse others as to your facing direction. Therefore, we recommend that you use your closest arm to point to the dancer beside you (i.e., use your R-H if the dancer beside you is to your Right; use your L-H if the dancer is to your Left), and use your other arm to point to the dancer in front of or behind you. If the dancer is behind you, bend your arm at the elbow and tuck your hand behind your back to point, so that you do not twist your shoulders.
• Within the Block FORMATION there is a diagonal of four dancers which contains two dancers from each Box. This diagonal is used as a landmark for re-establishing the Block FORMATION after completion of a complicated call. The slant of the diagonal never changes; it is always either a North-West to South-East or a South-West to North-East slant.
• Blocks are alternatively known as Interlocked Blocks or C1 Blocks.

Calls done within your Block must require 4 or fewer dancers to do the call, and must start and end in a 2 x 2. Shape changing calls are not allowed.

before (In Your) Block Swap Around   after

At C1, the caller often gets the dancers into Blocks from Parallel Waves by saying: 'Leads Press Ahead (& Trade), check Blocks'. Then, after executing a series of calls in Blocks, the caller may get back to normal Lines by saying 'Outsides Press Ahead to make Lines'. This terminology is problematic in that technically there are no Outside 4 dancers in a Block; there are 2 Very Outsides (the Ends of the diagonal) or 6 Outside dancers. A Block is a four-dancer Box, having no Centers and no Ends. Being partially overlapped by another four-dancer Box, Interlocked Blocks gives the illusion of being an eight-dancer formation. In the Blocks shown below, all dancers except and could be considered Outside dancers (in particular, dancers , , , and are all equally distant from the Center of the Set).

Here, dancers , , , and can Press Ahead to Lines     Here, dancers , , , and can Press Ahead to Lines

To determine who should Press Ahead to make Lines, there are two things to know:

1. You must be facing the center of the set. If you are not facing the center of the set, you can not move toward it, therefore you are not active for the Press Ahead.
2. You must not cross the center line. If your Press Ahead would put you past the center line, you are not active for the Press Ahead.

When doing calls within Blocks, traffic patterns vary. For simple calls that do not require interaction with more than one other dancer at a time, execute each part of the call within the footprints of your individual Block (e.g., Square Thru, Touch 1/4). On more complicated calls (e.g., In Your Block Square Chain Thru), start the execution of the call to the footprints of your individual Block, and when it becomes necessary to interact with more than one dancer at a time, the dancers closest to the center of the set should cross the center line to join the other dancers in their Block to complete the call on each side. Once the call is completed, re-establish the Block footprints by having the appropriate dancers move to re-create the original slant of the diagonal (i.e., NW-SE or SW-NE) and the other dancers move to appropriate Block footprints. Note: Some dancers need not move at all to re-establish footprints (typically, only four or six dancers need to move)!

Doing a complicated call from Blocks:       Start the given call working to footprints...   When the call becomes complicated, blend into a formation that removes the Interlocked aspect.   Upon completion of the call, re-establish the Block footprints.

In Your Block Square Chain Thru   before In Your Block Square Chain Thru         after Right Pull By & 1/4 In   after Step To A L-H Wave (removing the Interlocked aspect)   after Left Swing Thru & Left Turn Thru   after re-restablishing Block footprints (done)

The following is a partial list of calls that might be done from Blocks at C1. These calls start and end in a 2 x 2.

Note: When the given call is a call that normally requires 8 dancers (e.g., Circulate or Counter Rotate), do the 4-dancer version of that call.

Other types of Blocks:     Inner & Outer Blocks; also known as Concentric Blocks   also known as Interlocked Boxes

See also Stagger CONCEPT [C2].

CALLERLAB definition for Block Formation

Choreography for Block Formation

Comments? Questions? Suggestions?

C1: