At Challenge, I expect dancers to dance this way. If you ever get a chance to watch a C4 floor, you will notice that they close up the spaces after each call. Challenge dancers need to close up the gap or they might breakdown on the next call.

I'm going to start an A1 class in January or February, and I expect to drill the dancers on keeping their squares tight. I will try to train them to close up their formations.

On a recent trip to England, I was impressed when I called Promenade Home. Most squares had all the Boys in a very tight (good looking) Star. The Boys were all sticking their left-elbows up, trying to touch the points to make a Star. I asked them later why their Promenade looked so sharp, and they explained that one of their callers teaches the Boys to touch elbows. The dancers in this particular club were, in jest, trying to over-emphasize the elbows-up part, and in doing so, made some very nice looking tight Stars.

As long as I'm on the 'European-styling' soap box, here's another thing about the European dancers that impressed me:

The dancers can actually do the call Circle To A Line! There is no such thing as 'slide out to a line'. When you call 'Heads Lead Right, Circle To A Line', they do something similar to what I'm about to describe (I don't know exactly how they do it, but someday I intend to find out)

On the call Circle To A Line, they join hands in the group of 4,

On beat 1, they raise their hands in the air on beat 1 and start circling;

On beat 2 they lower their hands and continue circling;

On beat 3 they raise their hands and continue circling;

On beat 4 they lower their hands and the appropriate (Head) man breaks;

On beat 5 the Sides raise their hands; and

On beat 6, the (Side) Girl twirls under.

This styling looks very sharp.