Wait for the Wagon

Wait for the Wagon is a Square Dance. It was published by Ralph Page in 1949 in Northern Junket. It is a Square dance. It is a multipart dance. The minor set lasts 192 bars.

Ralph Page writes:

A singing call

Repeat first 8 measures of music. Do NOT repeat the second eight measures. This is a 24 measure call.
Introduction
Honor to your partner, the one you love the best
Honor to your corner, the one who's from the West.
Swing your partners one and all, the handsomest girl in the hall.
Promenade your partner, keep a smile upon your face,
While you wait for the wagon, walk around to place.

The Dance:
The head two step inside the ring (1st couple)
Balance there and swing.
The lady steps out to the right
The gent goes to the left.
Go between the two side couples,
Join hands and forward six,
Six fall back on the same old track,
And the head two in again.
They balance in the middle,
Then swing around once more,
Swing her if you love
Up off the old pine floor.
Then balance to the opposite two,
Be careful what you do,
You right and left right over
And you right and left right home.
When you're in your places,
You balance all and swing,
Take the ladies with you, and promenade the ring.
Promenade with your partners, never more to roam,
While you wait for the wagon
You can promenade her home.

[Virtually the same wording for the 2nd couple which I'm not going to type out again.]

(Other two couples do the same changes in turn The third couple going between the two side couples, and the fourth couple going between the head two couples. Use any ending you wish.)

Note: When Ralph Page said "balance" in 1949 he probably didn't mean what modern Contra Dancers think "balance and swing" means. In the March, 1955 edition of Northern Junket, Ralph Piper gives 50 variations of the balance (setting) step.

The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.

An online description of the dance may be found here.

right and left through, swing (and probably others).

If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.

If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=WaitForTheWagon

This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.