The Lady Round The Lady / Figure Eight

The Lady Round the Lady (also called Figure Eight) is the name of a family of dances with two main branches. In the first the active lady describes a figure eight figure around the outside couple (starting around the other lady) with her partner following her (and stopping half way through). In the second her partner does a full figure eight starting around the other man.

Aside from these two branches there is little variation in the figure among the dances. But there is immense variation in all the superstructure which surrounds the figure. This is more an example of the variations of Square Dancing itself than of the figure.

• ...and the gent also
• ...and the gent around the gent

The Lady Round the Lady
and the gent also

Background Sources

I have about six sources for this dance. The first is Cecil Sharp's description of The Kentucky Running Set in Part V of The Country Dance Book from 1918. The second is Ida Levin's Kentucky Square Dances from 1928. The third is Tressie Dunlavy's Old Square Dances of America, 1932. The fourth is Z. Dozier's Alabama Country Dances found in American Folk Dances by Lynn Rohrbough, 1939 (Dozier claims his figures date from before 1850). The fifth comes from Frank Smith's Square Dances of the Great Smoky Mountains, and the last is from Lloyd Shaw's Cowboy Dances from 1939.

The first two and the fourth and fifth are descriptions of the "Square Dances" of the Southern Appalachians in the early part of the 20th century, while the other two are from the mid-west of the US.

I put "Square Dances" in quotes for the Appalachian style because these dances were often danced in large circles, with a square (a circle with 4 couples) being just one of the possibilities.

Sharp visited the US in 1917 looking for old tunes, and stumbled onto this style of square dancing. He happened to see squares, so that is what he describes, though he makes a note that circles are possible. He seems to have invented the term "Running Set", but his name remains with us.

Levin and Smith, on the other hand, call their dances squares, but they describes circles.

Lloyd Shaw's dances are very definitely intended to be squares, though most of them could be danced as larger circles. Many of his dances show clear similarities to the Appalachian style.

This style of dance starts with an introduction, then there is a "figure" which the 1st couple will dance with the 2s, and then the 3s, 4s, etc. When the 1s reach the last couple they will dance a special figure called the "do-si-do" (both Sharp and I call it "do-si" to avoid confusion with the back to back figure). Then the 2s will do the same thing. And the 3s...

Sharp (and Shaw, and Dunlavy) have the 1s complete their circuit before the 2s start. Levin, with more couples involved has the 2s start with the 3s as soon as the 1s reach the 4s. In an appendix Sharp mentions that he once saw this form of progression in one of his squares.

Dozier describes circles, but he has the head and foot couples start dancing simultaneously, each moving around the set counter-clockwise.

Smith describes circles, but he has the set count off so each couple is an odd or an even couple, then when a figure begins all the odd couples move right to the next even couple and they all perform the figure. As far as I understand his description, the figure ends when the odd couples reach home, and the even couples never become active.

Sharp and Shaw's method became a standard pattern for traditional squares, called "visiting couple". While Levin's method is simply the old Playford progression for duple minor dances adapted to a circle (1s and 2s dance, and no one else, then 1s+3s dance, then 2s+3s and 1s+4s dance and so on).

The "do-si-do" figure probably is the most destinctive feature of this style of dancing, yet it also seems the most variable. Sharp, Levin, Dunlavy and Shaw all give very different choreographies for this figure (yet all use the same name).

Sharp has the do-si-do danced after 1s have danced the main figure with the last couple.

Levin has the do-si-do danced instead of the main figure with the last couple.

While Dunlavy and Shaw does a do-si-do after each iteration of the figure.

Dozier has a two hand turn, instead of a do-si-do after each iteration.

Sharp defines "do-si-do" as:

Two couples face. Men turn their partners half-way round with left hands, pass each other by the right (moving sideways, right shoulders forward, back to back), turn their contraries half-way round with right hands and return to places, passing each other by the left (back to back, left shoulders forward). This movement, which is known as the Do-si-do or the Do-si, is then repeated.

At the conclusion of the repetition, men turn their partners once round with left hands, cross hands with them and dance round a small circle, counter-clockwise, each couple breaking off and proceeding to its original station.

The half turns in the Do-si-do must be executed at great speed and with bent arms, each performer describing as small a circle as possible. In crossing over between the turns the men should arch there backs and pass as closely to each other as they can.

Levin defines it:

1. First couple walks to the last couple, all four join hands in a circle and walk to the left completely around.
2. Partners then join left hands and change places.
3. Each gentleman joins right hands with the opposite lady and swings her completely around.
4. Each gentleman takes his partner on his right and joins both hands crossed with the right above the left. The visiting couple passes to the right of the other one, around behind that couple's place and back to its own place in the circle. Simultaneously the other couple describes a circle following the visiting couple and finishes by turning into its own place.

Levin actually has two different do-si-dos. The second is designed to be used as the main figure of the dance, rather than an embellishment.

Dunlavy defines it:

Two couples join hands in a circle and walk to the left (4 counts). They pass through as in Right and Left Through, (2 counts). Partners then join left hands and walk past each other, releasing their hold as they pass, but do not turn (2 counts). Each gentleman joins right hands with the opposite lady and turns her completely around (4 counts). He then joins left hands with his own partner and turns her round onto his right (4 counts).

If the couples will practice walking through this slowly at first, they will soon be able to dance the figure without consciousness of the number of counts

And Shaw thus:

At the end of a circle the hands break, ladies pass between neighbor and the other lady (ladies passing dos à dos), back to her partner who takes hef left hand into his left then she turns round behind him, eventually dropping hands. He remains facing the other gentleman as she circles counter-clockwise around him.

Now each takes his/her neighbor of the opposite sex by the right hand and the ladies circle clockwise around their neighbors (the gents continue to face and drop right hands when they need to).

Then each takes partner left in left ending in a courtesy turn hold. The traveling couple can move on to the next this way.

Frank Smith (in Square Dances of the Great Smoky Mountains

Has a version of the dance with no do-si-do in it at all.

Each of these has a different introductory figure as well, though this figure is unchanged for all their dances. Shaw is the only one who says that one could call a different figure for the introduction.

Both Levin and Shaw provide standard words to use when calling the dance. It is interesting to see that some of Levin's descriptive calls have degenerated in to nonsense by the time they reach Shaw:

Levin

1. Lady around the lady and the gent also.
2. Lady around the gent and the gent don't go.
3. Circle four.
4. On to the next

Shaw

1. First couple out to the couple on the right
2. The lady round the lady
3. And the gent so low.
4. The lady round the gent
5. And the gent don't go.
6. Four hands up and here we go
   'Round and around and a docey-doe.

Examples

The Running Set

Kentucky Square Dances

Alabama Country Dance

Old Square Dances of America

Square Dances of the Great Smoky Mountains

Cowboy Dances

The Lady Round the Lady
and the gent round the gent

Background Sources

I have five or six different sources for this version of the dance too, often a book will have both versions in it.

Examples

The Running Set

Good Morning

Kentucky Square Dances

Cowboy Dances

Northern Junket

Colin Hume

This website is copyright © 2021-2026 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.