Sweep a Quarter is a suffix call. This is, its action depends on the preceeding call.

Dance action:

Circle Right or Left 1/4 (#1.b), except that each couple does not join hands with the couple they are facing. The circlung direction continues the motion that completed the previous call.

Ending formation

Facing Couples

Timing: 2

Styling

Dancers use a couple handhold

Comments

As the previous call ends, each dancer’s motion around the center of the forming Facing Couples must be the same (either clockwise or counterclockwise). Sweep a Quarter is improper after Chain Down the Line because of the dancers that start in the center. At the end of the call, their turning motioon is not around, nor approximately around, the center point of the forming Facing Couples. Similarly it is improper to call Sweep a Quarter after Bend the Line, Wheel Around, Cast Off 3/4, etc.

From a Wave, Recycle and Sweep a Quarter is proper. This is an exception made because of years of use. The exception is needed because in the definition of Recycle, the last part for some dancers (those dancers who began in the center) is a turn in place.

After Ferris Wheel (or Wheel and Deal from Lines Facing Out) “Sweep a Quarter” is improper, but “Centers Sweep a Quarter” is proper. Some callers use “Ferris Wheel and Outsides do a big Sweep a Quarter; You’re Home” as a gimmick (see “Additional Detail: Commands: Gimmicks”).

“Sweep a Quarter Twice” is an uncommon phrasing. A caller is more likely to say “Sweep a Quarter, Sweep another Quarter”, “Sweep a Quarter, Sweep a Quarter More”, “Sweep Two Quarters” or “Sweep one Half”. Caution must be used when calling to groups for whom Englisch is not their native language.

ARC Decisions

(January 2000)

Q: Is it proper to call “Sweep a Quarter” after Recycle?

A: Yes.

(April 2002)

Q: Is it proper to call “Sweep 1/4” after the following:

1. Swing Thru, Single Hinge, Sweep 1/4? A: No.
2. From a Two Faced line – Bend The Line, Sweep 1/4?A: No.
3. From a Two Faced line – Cast Off 3/4, Sweep 1/4? A: Yes.
4. From facing lines of four – Touch 1/4, Sweep 1/4? A: No.
5. Chain Down The Line, Sweep 1/4? A: No.

A: To Sweep 1/4, the definition states that the starting formation is “facing couples in a circling movement (right or left).” CALLERLAB has pictorially defined a couple as two dancers side-by-side facing the same direction. Therefore all of the above applications do not fit within the definition except item “c”).

(July/August 2005)

In 2002 the ARC reviewed Sweep 1/4 after five different calls and made the decision that they were all improper except as follows; From a Two Faced Line, the following calls were given: “Cast Off 3/4, Sweep 1/4.” At the time of the review, this was voted to be proper.

Q: Is Cast Off 3/4, Sweep 1/4 proper?

A: NO. The committee voted this does not meet the definition of Sweep 1/4. The action of Cast Off 3/4 is a pivoting action for the end dancer rather than a circling action as required.

Q: The formation is Lines Facing Out. Is it proper to call: “Wheel and Deal, Sweep a Quarter.” expecting all four couples to Sweep 1/4.

A: The decision of the ARC was that this is improper due to the fact that the center couples are the only ones that can execute the call as they are the only facing couples in accordance with the definition of Sweep 1/4. The outside couples are not facing couples. It would be proper at C-1 under the Concentric Concept.

Q: The formation is parallel Two Faced Lines. Is it proper to call: “Ferris Wheel, Sweep a Quarter.” expecting all four couples to Sweep 1/4.

A: The ARC voted this to be improper due to the fact that the center couples are the only ones that can execute the call. They are facing couples and the outside couples are not. It would be proper at C-1 under the Concentric Concept.

(September/October 2015)

Q: Is it proper to Sweep a Quarter after a Recycle in Mainstream?

A: The ARC ruled that it is proper

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