M34 — Run / Cross Run
Teaching unit M34 of the CALLERLAB (New) Mainstream Suggested Teaching Order, effective
1 September 2026. Prerequisites: Ocean Wave,
Run / Cross Run
At a glance
| Starting formation | Run: Mini-Wave or Couple. Cross Run: General Line |
| Ending formation | Run: Couple or Mini-Wave. Cross Run: General Line |
| Timing | Run: 4 beats. Cross Run: 6 beats |
| Unit | M34 of 50 |
Animation
▶ Play this call — pause, step and scrub it: Watching the animations.
Dance action
"The runner and non-runner exchange places: the runner walks forward in a semicircle into the
non-runner's spot (ending with the opposite facing direction), while the non-runner moves into the
runner's spot without changing facing direction."
"The cross-runners walk forward in a semi-circle into the spot vacated by the farther non-runner
(ending with the opposite facing direction). While doing this, each cross-runner will cross the
center of the four-dancer formation. Simultaneously each non-runner moves into the spot of the
closer cross-runner without changing facing direction."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
What you do
The caller names who runs — "Boys Run", "Centers Run", "Girls Cross Run". The named dancers are the runners; everybody else in the group is a non-runner.
For Run:
- Find the non-runner beside you — the dancer to your right or your left, whichever the caller named. You are now a working pair.
- If you are the runner, walk forward in a semicircle around that dancer and stop in their spot, facing the opposite way from how you started.
- If you are the non-runner, step straight sideways into the runner's spot. Do not turn around — you keep facing exactly the way you were.
For Cross Run, the same idea across a line of four:
- The cross-runners are the two Centers or the two Ends, as the caller names. The other two are non-runners.
- Each cross-runner walks a semicircle across the middle of the line, past the far non-runner, and stops in that dancer's spot, facing the opposite way.
- Each non-runner moves one spot inwards — an End moves to the nearer Center spot, a Center moves to the nearer End spot — without changing facing direction.
Timing
Run is 4 beats — one smooth half circle. Cross Run is 6 beats because the runner travels further, all the way across the line.
Styling
"Hands should blend into the handhold required for the ending formation (either Couple or
Mini-Wave)."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
Let go at the start if you need to, then take the right handhold as you land. Do not try to keep a handhold through the semicircle — the path is too long and you will drag your neighbour.
Restrictions
The manual states that for Cross Run the cross-runners must both be Centers or both be Ends. It also records that at Mainstream the runner and non-runner will almost always begin as a Mini-Wave or a Couple — other arrangements need a workshop first.
Two further points are worth knowing. Direction words identify which side the non-runner is on; they are often optional ("Swing Thru, Boys Run Right") but are required to avoid ambiguity, for example from an Alamo Ring or a Circle, or in "Center Girls Run Left". And "Boys Run" is improper in a situation where it is unclear whether the Girls should do the non-runner's part or not move at all; the caller uses "Do Your Part" instead.
Common faults
| What happens | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The non-runner turns to face the other way | Copying the runner | The non-runner's facing direction does not change — only the runner's does |
| You run past the dancer instead of around them | Walking straight | The runner walks a semicircle into the adjacent spot |
| Cross Run dancers bump in the middle | Both crossing on the same side | Cross-runners pass in the center; each crosses to the far non-runner's spot |
| You run in the wrong direction | Missing the direction word | Listen for "Run Right" / "Run Left" — it says which side the non-runner is on |
Where you meet it
Run turns up constantly after Swing Thru, after Pass the Ocean and anywhere a caller wants to change which dancers are in the Center of a wave. "Boys Run" and "Girls Run" are among the most used calls in the program. See the course overview for where this unit sits.
Related calls
- Swing Thru — the wave call that usually comes first. See M33.
- (Named Dancers) Trade — the other way two dancers swap places in a wave. See M32.
- Pass the Ocean — builds the wave you run in. See M35.
- Centers and Ends — how the caller names who runs. See Naming the dancers.
Also called / formerly
You will hear "Boys Run", "Girls Run", "Centers Run", "Ends Run", "Leaders Run", "Women Run Right" and "Girls Cross Run", "Centers Cross Run", "Ends Cross Run". The names say who runs; the direction words say which side the non-runner is on.
Manual source: Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026, page 49. Reproduced under the permission in sources and attribution.