Gate Turn

Also known as: Gate, Assisted Cast.

Bars: 4.

Two adjacent dancers join inside hands then one walks forward, the other backward turning in a circle about their joined hands. The one backing up is said to be "gating" the one going forward.

History

This appears to be a modern figure. Douglas & Helen Kennedy describe it (but do not use the term "gate") in their interpretation of Abergenny, though they do not name it. (Colin Hume has a different interpretation of this dance which does not use a gate figure.)

Porter, Heffer, & Heffer also describe a gate figure in their interpretation of The Bishop from 1931, but again they do not name it. They use it again in their own dances The Happy Clown, and The Northern Lass, published in 1932.

In the mid 1970s, Pat Shaw uses the figure in The Amazed Geneticist but still doesn't call it a gate.

The first use of "Gate" that I can find comes from Fried de Metz Herman's Yola's Invitation devised 1978.

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

• Hand Turn

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