THE PROGRESSIVE LONGWAYS DANCE.
There are two methods of progression in a Longways Dance - the whole-set and the minor-set.
In the whole set dance the progression is effected by the transference in every Round of the top couple from the top to the bottom of the General Set, the rest of the couples moving up one place.
The minor-set dance is one in which the Complete Figure in each Round is performed simultaneously by subsidiary sets or groups of two (duple) or three (triple) adjacent couples.
The effect of every performance of the Complete Figure is to change the positions of the couples in each minor-set. In a duple minor-set dance the two couples change places, in a triple minor-set the two upper couples. This necessitates a rearrangement of the minor-sets in the following Round, and this is effected by each top couple forming a new minor-set with the adjacent couple or couples below. In this way the top couple of each minor-set will move down the Set one place every Round; while the lower couple of the duple-minor set, and the second couple in the triple-minor set, will each move up one place. As the dance proceeds, therefore, every couple will move from one end of the Set to the other, the top couples down, the rest up. In a duple minor-set each couple on reaching either end of the General Set becomes neutral in the following Round. In a triple minor-set each couple upon reaching the top of the General Set remains neutral during the two following Rounds; and on reaching the bottom for one Round only. It should be added that when the top couple of a triple minor-set dance reaches the last place but one it must, in the succeeding Round, dance the progressive portion of the Complete Figure with the last couple or change places with them.
Page transcribed by Hugh Stewart