Box the Gnat

Starting formations

Facing Dancers, one man and one woman

Command examples

Box The Gnat

Tag The Line, Face In; Box The Gnat; Right And Left Thru

Right And Left Grand; Box The Gnat; Wrong Way Grand

Right And Left Grand; Box The Gnat; Pull By; Left Allemande

Box The Gnat, Change Hands; Allemande Left

Heads Slide Thru and Box The Gnat; All Double Pass Thru

Swing thru, Box the Gnat, Right and Left Thru

Dance action

Dancers join and raise their right hands to make an arch; these hands remain connected throughout the call. In one smooth motion dancers Pass Thru and turn around:

• The woman turns left and goes under the arch.
• The man turns right and walks forward around the woman.

At the end of the call, each dancer will be standing in the other’s original position and they will again be facing.

Ending formation

Facing Dancers

Timing

4

Styling

The initial handhold in this call is like a handshake but less connected than palm-to-palm. Throughout the call the dancers smoothly adjust this connection so that they end with the same handhold. Hands should slide over one another easily while still providing some degree of security and stabilization.

Comments

The right hands are still joined at the completion of the action, and often the next call will begin with the joined right hands.

The Ocean Wave Rule applies to this call. From a Mini-Wave, dancers smoothly adjust handholds into the one described above. Depending on the handhold used in waves (which can vary regionally), this may require dancers initially to back up slightly.

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