Passing Rule
"If the definition of a call has two dancers on the same path and requires them to walk past each
other, they should pass right shoulders (unless otherwise specified) and continue."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
This is the single most useful rule in square dancing. It answers the question "what happens when we both walk at the same spot?" without the caller having to say.
What it means in practice
When you are walking toward another dancer and there is not room for both of you on the same line:
- Pass right shoulders — your right shoulder goes past their right shoulder.
- Keep going. Do not stop, do not dodge, do not improvise a way round.
- Do not turn it into a turn. A pass is a pass; you do not take hands.
Right shoulders by default, because most dancers are right-handed and the movement is natural. The mirror version — a Left pass, as in Left Square Thru — requires the caller to say so.
Calls that are built on it
The Passing Rule is what makes these work:
- Pass Thru — the plainest case
- Dosado — a pass on both shoulders, in sequence
- Right and Left Grand — a continuous series of passes
- Square Thru — four passes in a row, alternating hands
- Double Pass Thru — everyone passes, twice over
The directional warning
The rule has a sharp edge that catches dancers out: it applies to two dancers on the same path. When two dancers are moving in opposite directions along the same path — which happens constantly in circulates — they pass right shoulders, and the call expects that.
But once you are holding hands with someone, the Passing Rule is not in play. A joined pair moving past another joined pair uses the handhold, not the shoulders. The rule is about walking past, not about dancing through.
Interaction with the Same Position Rule
The two rules answer different questions and are easy to confuse:
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Two dancers walking past each other | Passing Rule — right shoulders |
| Two dancers ending on the same spot | Same Position Rule — form a right-hand mini-wave |
For teachers
This is worth teaching on the first night, before any call that needs it. A class that has not been told the Passing Rule will invent its own, differently, and then spend months undoing it.
Next
- the rule for arriving at the same spot → Same Position Rule
- starts from an "unusual" formation → Facing Couples Rule