M42 — Touch a Quarter
Teaching unit M42 of the CALLERLAB (New) Mainstream Suggested Teaching Order, effective
1 September 2026. Prerequisites: Facing Dancers,
Touch a Quarter
At a glance
| Starting formation | Facing Dancers — only |
| Ending formation | Right-Hand Mini-Wave |
| Timing | 2 beats |
| Unit | M42 of 50 |
Animation
▶ Play this call — pause, step and scrub it: Watching the animations.
Dance action
"In one smooth motion, Step to a Wave and Turn 1/4 by the Right"
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
What you do
- Take the hand. Step forward and join your right hand with their right hand, in a Hands Up hold — forearms angled up, elbows near your sides.
- Step in. As you take the hand, you are already closing the distance, so your feet move you into the middle of the pair.
- Turn a quarter turn by the right. Keep the joined right hands where they are and walk a quarter of a circle around them, both of you turning in the same direction.
- Stop facing the other way and lower your hands to the standard wave position.
You finish side by side, facing opposite directions, right hands still joined — a Right-Hand Mini-Wave. The whole thing is one movement: the step and the turn are the same beat of music, not two.
Timing
2 beats — one bar of music. It is quick, and it is meant to be: Touch a Quarter is a quarter of a turn, the same distance your feet cover in a single walking step and a turn.
Styling
"Hands Up (see 'Styling: Hands and Arms', page 68). When called from Facing Couples, the four
dancers do not make a Wave midway through Touch a Quarter."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
Keep the handhold light. Your right hands are the pivot, not a lever — you are not pulling your partner round, you are both walking round the same joined hand.
Restrictions
The manual gives the starting formation as Facing Dancers only, and adds that the Ocean Wave Rule does not apply to this call. That means the caller may not use it in a phrase such as "Swing Thru, All 8 Circulate, Touch a Quarter"; that combination is improper.
The left-handed version is a separate call, Left Touch a Quarter, and it steps to a Left-Hand Wave and turns by the left.
Common faults
| What happens | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| You make a wave with all four dancers halfway through | Thinking of it as two calls | It is one movement; each pair just steps to its own Mini-Wave |
| You end up in a full Ocean Wave of four | Over-turning | A quarter turn is 90 degrees — stop there |
| The turn goes the wrong way | Turning left out of habit | Right hands joined means a right-hand turn |
| The handhold is high and stiff | Gripping instead of resting | Hands Up: forearms angled up, light grip, elbows in |
Where you meet it
Touch a Quarter arrives with the wave-family units in the later part of the teaching order, and quickly becomes the shortest way to get from a facing pair into a wave. You will hear it inside longer phrases — "Heads Square Thru 4, Touch a Quarter, Scoot Back" is a very common one. See the course overview.
Related calls
- Step to a Wave — the same step and turn, but starting from a distance. See M31.
- Single Hinge — a half turn from a Mini-Wave instead of a quarter turn from facing dancers. See M43.
- Swing Thru — a half turn by the right and then by the left. See M33.
- Pass the Ocean — a Touch a Quarter with the outside dancers pulled in. See M35.
- Box the Gnat — a quarter-turn handhold that ends facing the same way rather than opposite. See M30.
Also called / formerly
You will often hear the short form "Touch 1/4" or "Touch a Quarter" with no difference in meaning. The left-handed version is always named in full as Left Touch a Quarter.
Manual source: Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026, page 61. Reproduced under the permission in sources and attribution.