Same Position Rule
"If two dancers are required to occupy the same position at the end of a call, and are facing in
opposite directions from each other, they form a Right-Hand Mini-Wave. If an adjustment is
necessary (since there are now two dancers side-by-side in a formation that expected one dancer),
the adjustment is sideways, towards the outside of the group in which they were working."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
Why such a rule is needed
Some calls, danced honestly, deliver two dancers to the same square foot of floor. That is not a mistake in the call; it is a consequence of the geometry. The rule says what happens when it does.
The usual case is a circulate with a fractional distance: Circulate 1 1/2 sends a dancer round and a half, which lands them where another dancer is standing.
What you do
- You arrive facing the other dancer (if you are facing opposite ways) — so join right hands. You are now a two-dancer wave: a Right-Hand Mini-Wave.
- If the formation only had room for one dancer, step sideways — outwards, away from the middle of the group you were working in — so that the pair sits side by side.
Callers sometimes call this situation a "crash". It is an informal word, and the manual records it as what callers say rather than as a term of art.
What the rule does not cover
The rule applies when the two dancers are facing in opposite directions. The manual is explicit about the cases it does not permit:
"Callers should not use a call that would result in two dancers who are facing the same direction,
or at right angles, trying to occupy the same position."
So if you find yourself on someone else's spot, facing the same way as them, you have not met the Same Position Rule — you have lost your place, or the call was not proper for the formation. Look for the shape and rejoin it.
How to tell it apart from the Passing Rule
| You are… | Rule |
|---|---|
| walking past someone | Passing Rule — right shoulders |
| arriving on the same spot, facing opposite ways | Same Position Rule — right-hand mini-wave |
The two rules never apply at once. If you are passing, you are not colliding; if you are colliding, you are not passing.
Next
- the default pass → Passing Rule
- a rule that changes a call's starting formation instead → Ocean Wave Rule