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Hole In The Wall Cross

Bars: 2 or 4.

The Hole in the Wall cross is a variant of a simple cross, in it the people crossing approach one another and just as they would bump they sidle around each other in a semicircle and then back away into the other person’s place.

History

When I started dancing I was told that a "hole in the wall cross" came from the dance "Hole in the Wall". But it doesn't.

If you look at Playford's description of the dance he says simply:

The 1. Man cross over with the 2. Wo. and the 1. Wo. with the 2. Man, so all four Hands half round, and so cast off into the 2. Place, the rest do the like.

The dance "Hole in the Wall", as published by Playford, contains two perfectly ordinary corner changes as part of a standard sequence.

Then I assumed that Douglas and Helen Kennedy put it in when they interpreted the dance in 1929. But, again, they didn't. They say:

B 1-2 First man changes places with second woman.

3-4 First woman changes places with second man.

As far as I can tell Pat Shaw is the first to have used the term "hole in the wall cross" in his interpretations and dances. In 1960 his interpretations of both The Lover's Luck and Whimbleton House call for a "hole in the wall cross" (at least as transcribed in Another Look at Playford). While his own dance Miss Avril's Delight from 1971 may be the first modern dance to use the figure.

I assume he used it when he taught the dance "Hole in the Wall", but I have no record of that.

The next person to use it seems to have been Tom Cook with his dance Belgia Retriev'd in 1979.

Some dances which (probably) use this figure

Dances for which I have animations

Note: This list may be incorrect or incomplete.

B	1-2	First man changes places with second woman.
	3-4	First woman changes places with second man.

Hole In The Wall Cross

History

Some dances which (probably) use this figure

See Also