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Holds Directions Actions Positions

Normal closed hold

Normal open holds

Crossed holds

Facing the line of dance

Facing perpendicular to the line of dance

Change of a hand hold, Change of directions
Cross body lead, Turns, Duck, Check
Copa or 'In and Out', Hand drop, Hand throw
Natural top, Walks
 Hammerlock
Half hammerlock or Broken arm
Embrace, Arm loop, Sombrero
Arm lock or Arm hook

Cross Body Lead

Variation Description Symbol Thumbnail
Click to enlarge
Standard cross body lead In a normal hold the man opens the way for the lady by turning to his left by 90°and leads her forward across him. The lady walks across, does a half left turn and ends up facing the opposite direction she was facing to start with. At the same time, the man does another quarter left turn in order to face the lady. At the end of the action, the dancers have reversed their original directions.
*N*
M → ← L
XBL
 
XBL with a left (inside) turn for the lady The man initiates a XBL and while the lady steps across, he leads an additional one or more inside (left) turns.
*N*
M → ← L
XBL
 
1@
XBL with a right (outside) turn for the lady The man initiates a XBL and while the lady steps across, he leads an additional one or more outside (right) turns.
*N*
M → ← L
 
XBL
@1
360° XBL

In a normal closed hold the dancers execute a full 360° left turn (i.e. rotate counter-clockwise). At the completion of this XBL, the dancers end up in their original spots facing the original directions.

*N*
M → ← L
 
°XBL
 

 
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