M47 — Scoot Back
Teaching unit M47 of the CALLERLAB (New) Mainstream Suggested Teaching Order, effective
1 September 2026. Prerequisites: Box Circulate,
Scoot Back
At a glance
| Starting formation | Box Circulate, 1/4 Tag, or Single 1/4 Tag |
| Ending formation | Box Circulate, 3/4 Tag, or Single 3/4 Tag |
| Timing | 6 beats |
| Unit | M47 of 50 |
Animation
▶ Play this call — pause, step and scrub it: Watching the animations.
Dance action
"From a Box Circulate: Trailers Extend, Arm Turn 1/2, Extend while Leaders Box Circulate
From a 1/4 Tag or Single 1/4 Tag: Extend, Arm Turn 1/2, Extend"
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
What you do
From a box, the two halves of the call happen at the same time — so you only do the half that belongs to you.
- Find out whether you are a Leader or a Trailer. In a box, the Leaders face out and the Trailers face in. See Leaders and Trailers.
- If you are a Trailer: reach forward, take the hand of the dancer in front of you, turn half a turn with them, then move forward again. That is Extend, Arm Turn 1/2, Extend.
- If you are a Leader: simply Box Circulate — walk forward to the next spot in the box.
- Keep the same hand free. You take a hand at the start, use it for the arm turn, and take it again at the end.
The two Trailers meet in the middle and turn; the two Leaders walk round the outside. From a 1/4 Tag the same idea applies, but every dancer does the Extend – Arm Turn – Extend pattern, because a 1/4 Tag is a box with two extra dancers attached.
Timing
6 beats — three bars of music. The arm turn in the middle takes the middle two beats; the two Extends take one beat each either side, with the rest going on the step forward.
Styling
"Those who Arm Turn 1/2 use a forearm handhold. Dancers must keep the same hand available, because
it is used in the starting formation, the Arm Turn, and the ending formation (for Trailers in a Box
Circulate and Centers of a Single 1/4 Tag)."
— CALLERLAB, Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026.
Take a forearm grip for the turn, not a handshake. And do not close the hand you need: the same hand does all three jobs in this call.
From a left-handed formation the arm turn is left-handed and the ending formation is left-handed. Callers sometimes help with "Scoot Back, use the left".
Restrictions
Scoot Back is a four-dancer call, and both dancers in each pair take part. That makes some naming improper: after "Heads Square Thru, Touch a Quarter", it would be improper to call "Boys Scoot Back", because the action genuinely needs the Girls as well. It is proper only where the named dancers really are the ones who turn — for example "Boys Scoot Back" from Ocean Waves with the Boys in the centre.
Scoot Back is also a call of four dancers. From Columns, dancers form two Box Circulates and each box does the call separately.
Common faults
| What happens | Why | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The Leaders also try to turn | Thinking everyone does everything | Leaders Box Circulate; only the Trailers turn |
| You use a handshake instead of a forearm | Habit from other calls | The turn is a forearm hold |
| You close the hand you need for the Extend | Not noticing it is the same hand throughout | Keep that hand ready from the start |
| You end up facing the wrong way | Turning a full turn instead of a half | Arm Turn 1/2 — you finish facing the opposite direction |
Where you meet it
Scoot Back is a standard way to rotate a wave or a box, and it appears often right after Touch a Quarter — "Heads Square Thru, Touch a Quarter, Scoot Back" is a phrase worth learning as a shape. See the course overview.
Related calls
- Box Circulate — exactly what the Leaders do while the Trailers turn. See M19.
- Extend — the step forward before and after the turn. See M36.
- Touch a Quarter — a common call just before it. See M42.
- Spin the Top — the neighbouring wave call with a three-quarter centre turn. See M46.
- Swing Thru — the simplest arm-turn call. See M33.
Also called / formerly
Scoot Back has always been called Scoot Back. Callers add helping words for clarity — "Scoot Back, use the left", or "Scoot Back, Boys go in" — so listen for the extra phrase.
Manual source: Mainstream Dance Program Definitions, revised 29 March 2026, page 51. Reproduced under the permission in sources and attribution.