Be a Better Dancer/ MCASD 

How to Make Lines During a Patter Call Breakdown 

You're dancing along to a patter call. Suddenly your square breaks down hopelessly. All is lost! Or is it? This is the time for On-the-Spot Square Boss to step up and say to fellow dancers in the square, 'We're down! Let's make lines."  
Here are the steps to make lines at the side -- the fastest way for a square to get back in the dance, according to CALLERLAB: 

  • Step 1: All go home

  • Step 2: Heads slide to the right to make lines at the side position 

  • Step 3: Wait for the caller to notice your square is down. The caller will then organize all the squares to be in lines. When the caller says, 'you've got lines!' - your square can start dancing again. Ta-da! 

Metropolitan Chicago Association of Square Dancers 
SquareDanceChicago.com 
©2025