Forward and Back

Also known as: Lead In and Fall Back, Advance and Retire, En avant en en arriere.

Bars: 4.

Move in to the middle, and fall back. Usually taking neighbor's hand.

History

Playford was using this as early as 1651, in Cuckolds All A Row: Meet all forward and backe.

Playford tended to say "Lead in and fall back", but in Scotland this figure was called "Advance and Retire" in the Castle Menȝies collection (1749). The French figure En avant en en arriere was used in cotillions and quadrilles and was translated as "Advance and retire" when they arrived in England.

Something very interesting happened in Contra Dancing between 1956 and 1983. In Rickey Holden's The Contra Dance Book, 1956, he uses the call "forward four and back again" (or "forward six" for triple minors), but in Larry Jennings' Zesty Contras, 1982 these two calls have completely vanished and been replaced by "Long lines forward and back".

Somewhere between these two publications the integrity of the minor set ruptured and people reached to take hands with those in other minor sets.

Now Chorus Jig had become a duple minor by Holden's day, so it's contra corners figure reached outside the minor set, but nothing else did. Perhaps it was Becket Reel, 1957 which made people look outside the minor set?

Some dances which (probably) use this figure

• Dances for which I have animations
• Dances in (R)SCDS Books

Note: This list may be incorrect or incomplete.

See Also

• Long Lines Forward and Back

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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.