Grand March

The Grand March has been an event-opener for centuries.  It’s an opportunity to show off your own finery (and your date), and to check out what everyone else is wearing and see who they’re dancing with.

A Grand March is done in couples and is led by a head couple.  If you’re organizing a Grand March it’s wise to teach two or three other couples the figures you plan to use.  These co-conspiratorial couples should be placed directly behind the head couple, at the very end of the line, and somewhere in the middle.  If anyone is without a partner, or wishes to sit out of the Grand March, he or she can be used to help direct traffic.

The head couple leads the group through figures.  At JMU events we’ve often used a Grand March as a lead-in to Big Circle Mountain Square Dance, and some of the figures are similar or the same.

Some Grand March Figures:

Two-Four-Eight

This is what makes a Grand March a Grand March, and is also where a friend sitting out can come in handy.  The head couple leads the line of couples down the middle of the hall toward the head of the room.  At the head of the room, the head couple turns right, the second couple left, third right, and so on.  The friend can point right and left to make sure all the couples get the right idea…  Don’t assume the dancers will pick up on what’s happening!  Even if the first three or five couples successfully split right-left-right sometimes dancers later in the line still get confused!

The couples walk down the sides of the room to the foot of the room and join hands to be in fours.  The man from the head couple should have his left hand free on the left end of the line.  All following couples will do the same: join hands in fours, march again toward the head of the room.  At the head the fours will again turn right-left-right and will march down the sides of the hall in fours.

At the foot of the room the fours will join hands with another set to become lines of eight.  The head man should still have his left hand free!  These eights will again march to the head of the room and will march in place for a moment to allow the other eights to come to rest behind them.

(A variation on this is to have the head couple lead the long column of couples to the head of the room and pause while the couples stack up behind them.  The head couple turns to bow/curtsey to the couple behind them, and then does the right-left-right directing themselves.  The bow/curtsey will be done with and returned by every couple in the march.  When the eights come to rest, the head couple can hop onto the front of the line and lead the next part.)

The head man turns over his left shoulder and signals to the man directly behind him that he should take the hand at the end of the line.  Everyone must keep holding hands in their lines of eight!  The head man leads his line of eight face-to-face with the second line of eight.  As the last woman from the head line passes the first man from the second line, these two join their free hands. 

When the head-head man reaches the end of the second line of eight he turns to pass behind them, between the second and third lines of eight.  He will tell the man at the end of this line (who is in the head position) to take the hand of the woman at the end.  “Grab the end” will usually suffice.

The head-head man continues weaving between the lines of eight, always telling the man in the head position of each line to take the hand of the woman at the very end of the line.

The head couple will be leading a long line of couples, and may or may not need to make one final U-turn after weaving to lead the long line around the room in a clockwise direction.

Once the long line has unwoven, the head couple can join hands with the tail couple to make a big circle.  This is where Big Circle Mountain Square Dance figures can begin, or, if you’re good and the music is about to end (or you’ve signalled the band), you can all stand and applaud the Grand March.

Arbor

The head couple leads the column of couples around the edges of the hall counter-clockwise, and at the foot begins to come down the middle of the hall toward the music.  The head couple stops, joins inside hands only, and raises them to make an arch.  The second couple goes under this arch, joins inside hands, and continues the arbor right next to the head couple.  All couples continue the arbor. 

The head couple will follow the tail couple under the arbor, the second couple will follow the head couple, and the arbor will fold in on itself until all couples are again promenading line of direction around the room.

Serpentine

The head couple leads the couples in a promenade around the room in line of direction.  When approaching the head of the room (walking along the right side of the hall) the head couple will turn left to follow the edge of the room, but then rather than turning 90 degrees to the left to continue along the long wall to the foot of the room, the head couple will turn 180 degrees so the men pass left shoulders parallel to the head of the room.  At the right edge of the room the head couple turns 180 degrees again, so that the women are passing right shoulders.

This weaving continues until there’s no more room at the foot of the room for another pass, and the head couple will lead the long column of couples again in line of direction around the room.