Square set
Four couples standing on the four sides of a square, all facing the centre.
Also: square, square dance formation
A square set has eight dancers. Each couple stands on one side of a square, facing the couple opposite. The first and third couples are called the heads and the other two the sides. Figures are danced across the square, round the ring and with the neighbours at each corner. The formation came from the French cotillon and quadrille of the eighteenth century. It is the basis of American square dancing, Irish set dancing and many Scottish and Caribbean figure dances.