M25 — First Couple Go Left/Right, Next Couple Go Right/Left
Teaching unit M25 of the CALLERLAB (New) Mainstream Suggested Teaching Order, effective
1 September 2026. Prerequisites: Completed Double Pass Thru,
First Couple Go Left/Right, Next Couple Go Right/Left
At a glance
| Starting formation | Completed Double Pass Thru |
| Ending formation | Facing Lines — or a Promenade if both couples are sent the same way |
| Timing | 6 beats |
| Unit | M25 of 50 |
Animation
▶ Play this call — pause, step and scrub it: Watching the animations.
Dance action
"Dancers, with each Couple working as a unit, walk forward in an arc in the indicated direction. The
Center Couple walks forward before taking the second direction given. If the Couples are asked to go
in opposite directions (for example, "First Couple Go Left, Next Couple Go Right"), they should move
in a tight circle in their specified direction for half a circle."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
What you do
This call is one sentence of walking, and the only hard part is knowing which couple you are.
- Look at where you are. You finished a Double Pass Thru, so you are standing side by side with your partner, facing out of the square, with another couple directly behind you facing the same way.
- Find your label. The couple in front is the First Couple. The couple directly behind it — nearer the middle of the set — is the Next Couple.
- Every couple walks forward first, still holding an ordinary couple handhold.
- Then turn where the caller says. The First Couple arcs in the first direction given; the Next Couple — the one nearer the middle — has to walk an extra step or two forward to clear the couple in front before it starts its own arc, and then takes the second direction.
- Stop when you are facing the other dancers. Sent in opposite directions, each couple turns through half a circle on a tight curve and you finish in Facing Lines.
The turn is a turn of the whole couple, not two separate turns: the dancer on the inside of the curve is the pivot and the dancer on the outside walks the wider arc. That is the same Wheel Around action you already know.
Timing
6 beats — three bars of music, which is a comfortable walking arc. The manual's timing is 6; the animation runs in 4. There is a little room here, because the Next Couple has a longer path than the First Couple: if the caller rushes, the two couples bunch up. See Timing and music.
Styling
"Use Couple handholds. Dancers in each Couple who are making the tighter turn serve as the pivot
point and should exert slight pressure to assist as in any Wheel Around movement."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
Keep your couple handhold throughout; the inside dancer pivots, the outside dancer walks the wider arc. If the caller sends both couples the same way, the manual says to "adjust to a Promenade handhold" because the next call is normally a Promenade.
Restrictions
The manual records one restriction, and it is about a variant rather than the main call:
"The following sequence is occasionally used (women must be centers): Tag the Line (or Double Pass
Thru); Lady Go Left, Gent Go Right, Allemande Left."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
So when the caller says "Lady Go Left, Gent Go Right", the two Ladies must be the center dancers — otherwise the immediate Allemande Left cannot complete the sequence. The manual also asks callers not to expand on this usage, and warns that these definitions "are not going to further define "Go"". See Mainstream restrictions.
Common faults
| What happens | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The two couples collide at the start | The Next Couple turned too early | The Next Couple walks forward first, to clear the couple ahead, and only then turns |
| You and your partner turn as two separate people | Losing the couple handhold | Hold hands. One of you pivots, the other walks the wider arc |
| You finish a quarter turn short of facing the other line | Turning less than the half circle the manual asks for | Turn until you are facing the dancers in the other line, then stop |
| You cannot tell whether you are First or Next | Not looking at the formation before the call | First is the couple in front; Next is the couple behind it, nearer the middle |
Where you meet it
This call is taught in Class 7, immediately after Double Pass Thru. It is the standard way a caller turns the finished Double Pass Thru into two facing lines, ready for a Ladies Chain, a Pass Thru or a Right and Left Thru.
Related calls
- Double Pass Thru — the call you have just danced. See M24.
- Wheel Around — the same pivot-and-walk turn, used by one couple. See M8.
- Promenade — where the same-direction version ends. See M3.
- Tag the Line — the other call that finishes in this formation. See M49.
Also called / formerly
The manual's full title is "First Couple Go Left/Right, Next Couple Go Left/Right"; this unit uses the opposite-directions version in its title because that is the one you meet most. Callers shorten it constantly: "First Couple Left, Next Right", "First Couple Go Left, Next Couple Go Right". If both couples are sent the same way — "First Couple Go Left, Next Couple Go Left" — the ending is a Promenade or Wrong Way Promenade instead of Facing Lines, and the next call is usually Promenade.
Manual source: Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026, page 33. Reproduced under the permission in sources and attribution.