M40 — Ferris Wheel
Teaching unit M40 of the CALLERLAB (New) Mainstream Suggested Teaching Order, effective
1 September 2026. Prerequisites: Two-Faced Lines,
Ferris Wheel
At a glance
| Starting formation | Two-Faced Lines — right-handed, strictly |
| Ending formation | Double Pass Thru |
| Timing | 6 beats |
| Unit | M40 of 50 |
Animation
▶ Play this call — pause, step and scrub it: Watching the animations.
Dance action
"Each Couple Steps Forward. Out-facing Couples do their part, Wheel and Deal. In-facing Couples
form a momentary Two-Faced Line in the center, and without stopping Wheel and Deal."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
What you do
You start in Two-Faced Lines: two couples with their backs to the middle of the square, facing out, and two couples facing in towards them.
Everyone starts by stepping forward — that part is the same for all four couples.
If your couple is facing out:
- Wheel and Deal — the two of you, still holding your couple handhold, wheel around as a unit a half turn and finish facing the other way.
If your couple is facing in:
- Walk forward far enough to meet the other in-facing couple in the center. The two of you form a momentary Two-Faced Line with them — a quick touch, not a stop.
- Without stopping, Wheel and Deal as a couple from there.
You finish in a Double Pass Thru formation, ready to pass through and keep going.
Timing
6 beats — the two halves of the square travel different distances, so the timing is a compromise. The manual notes it works best if the out-facing couples adjust their speed so that everybody finishes at the same moment.
Styling
"All dancers use Couple handholds. The Infacing Couples should walk forward enough that they could
form a Two-Faced Line in the center before starting their Wheel and Deal. The dance action should
be a forward and wheeling action, not a bending and sweeping action."
"It is not necessary for the Couples to touch adjacent hands in the momentary Two-Faced Line, but
some popular styling variations do involve touching or slapping hands."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
"Forward and wheeling" is the thing to remember. Dancers who bend at the waist and sweep their arms around produce a slow, sagging Ferris Wheel. Dancers who step forward and then wheel produce a smooth one.
Restrictions
The manual is clear that the phrase "Ferris Wheel and Deal" is improper — Ferris Wheel already contains a Wheel and Deal, so the extra words do not describe anything. It also records that the original starting formations for Ferris Wheel (Facing Lines, 1/4 Line) have never been part of the CALLERLAB program, so at Mainstream you should expect right-handed Two-Faced Lines.
One further application is legal but uncommon: from the formation "Two-Faced Lines plus the Couple looking in Bend the Line", Ferris Wheel is proper, with each couple doing their part.
Common faults
| What happens | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| You bend over and sweep your arms round | Dancing it as a bend instead of a wheel | Step forward first, then wheel — a wheeling action, not a bending one |
| The in-facing couples stop in the middle | Waiting to form the line properly | The Two-Faced Line is momentary; wheel straight through it |
| The square finishes raggedly | The out-facing couples going too fast or too slow | Out-facing couples adjust their speed to finish at the same time |
| You end up back where you started | Wheeling a full turn | It is a half turn — you finish facing the opposite way, in a Double Pass Thru |
Where you meet it
Ferris Wheel is the standard way to turn two-faced lines into a Double Pass Thru, and from there the square usually rolls straight on into a Double Pass Thru or a Wheel and Deal. It appears in singing calls and in figures such as "Ferris Wheel, Centers Sweep a Quarter". See the course overview for where this unit sits.
Related calls
- Wheel and Deal — the call Ferris Wheel is built from. See M26.
- Double Pass Thru — what you finish in. See M24.
- Sweep a Quarter — proper as "Centers Sweep a Quarter" after Ferris Wheel. See M38.
- Two-Faced Lines — the formation you start in. See Lines.
Also called / formerly
"Ride a Ferris Wheel" is an alternative wording for the same call. Watch out for "Ferris Wheel and Deal", which the manual marks improper.
Manual source: Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026, page 32. Reproduced under the permission in sources and attribution.