Turn Corner, Partner, Corner, Partner
Also known as: Swing Corners.
An online definition may be found here.
Bars: 8.
Turn 1st corner right, turn partner left (once and a half times in Scottish), turn 2nd corner right, cross with partner by left.
History
Early examples of this figure are not very explicit, and it is not always clear which hand you use to turn whom, thus in modern dancing styles we have two different versions of what is basically the same figure.
In US Contra Dancing you turn your partner right, your 1st corner left, your partner right again, and your second corner left. The first description I can find that explictly says to do this is in Thomas Wilson's An Analysis of Country Dancing from 1808.
Most other styles have settled on: turn your first corner right, partner left, 2nd corner right, partner left.
In Iantha the Lovely, Walsh, 1718 said: the 1st Man turn the 3d Wo. and the 1s Wo. the 2d. Man, then he turns his own Partner; then 1st Man turn the 2d. Wo. and the 1st. Wo. the 3d Man, and turn his own Partner again. We know whom to turn, and the order, but not whether to use right or left (or both) hands.
In Bullock's Hornpipe, John Young, 1726, says: And then cross over quite round all the 4 corners. which is even less specific.
Walsh, in 1731 does a little better in the dance Prince William saying: The 1st Man turns the 3d Wo. with his Right Hand, his Partner does the same with the 2d Man at the same Time and then turn your Partners Do the same at the other Corner.
Nathanial Dukes, 1752, in his A Consise & Easy Method of Learning the Figuring Part of Country Dances also defines it as right hands to corner, left to partner, right to corner, and left to partner.
Usually 8 bars are allocated for this figure, but occasionally 16.
Porter, Heffer, & Heffer suggest using a two hand turn (instead of right or left) for a 16 bar version in Fandango when Thompson said: turn corners & turn your Part: the same at the other corners.
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
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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.