Core of the dance was written by Chris, with extra ideas from the side. Three Point Turn is a dance designed to allow two groups of three dancers to get to know each other whilst also discussing their love for steam engine turntables. This is a double-stepped dance is written for a single line of 6 dancers, all of whom start facing towards the centre. Throughout this write-up, the positions shall be labelled as follows, and dancers do not change numbers throughout the dance.:

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         3  2  1  1  2  3 

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Additionally, the spaces on the line the six dancers can inhabit are referred to as Ends, Intermediates and Centres. This will refer to the people who are standing in those positions at that time, which will change as people move around throughout the dance.

 

Overview

A - Aardvarks

B - Chorus

A - One over X

B - Chorus

A - Reel

B - Chorus

A - Rounds

 

Chorus

Each chorus begins and ends with the dancers in a line facing each other in pairs, so the two dancers at the centre of the line are facing each other, and the dancers at the end of the lines are facing the remaining dancers (known as the intermediates). The person you are currently facing is referred to as your partner. For the first chorus, the formation will be as follows:

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     3 - 2   1 - 1   2 - 3

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By the end of the chorus, the intermediates and the centres will have swapped places with the dancer directly behind them, and additionally the set will have rotated 60 degrees.

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1:     Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

2:     Nothing

and: Ground strike on the 'and' 

3:     Nothing

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

4:     Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Nothing

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5:     Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

6 - and - 7: Petronella forwards and to the right, turning 3/4 right in the process to form a 3 couple set.

      2   1   3

      3   1   2

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner (this is the same person you were just sticking with)

8:     Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Change the orientation of the set 60 degrees by having the people who started as Intermediates take a step forwards towards each other on the long diagonal to become each others' partners. The previous Centres should take a step back and to their left with their left foot, while turning to face the person on their left. The previous Ends should take a step forward and to their right, and turn to face the people that were standing to their right. This forms three new partnerships

          1

        2   \

     3   \   3  

        \   2

          1

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9:     Forehand stick strike with your new partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

10:   Nothing

and: Ground strike on the 'and'

11:   Nothing

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

12:   Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Nothing

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13:   Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

14 - and - 15: Petronella forwards and to the right, turning 3/4 right in the process to return to a line of six, with the new centres (the previous intermediates) facing each other, ends facing new intermediates (the previous centres).

                  3

               1   

            2

        2

    1

 3

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and: Forehand stick strike with your partner (this is the same person you were just sticking with)

16:   Forehand stick strike with your partner

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Note, the set has rotated 60 degrees anti-clockwise, and the 1s and 2s have swapped position. For the next chorus, they will be in these same positions, and the 1s and 2s will swap back while the set rotates another 60 degrees.

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Final Chorus

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The final chorus is the same for the first 8 beats. There is then no set rotation between the 8 and 1 half way through the chorus. The second  half is as follows.

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9:     Forehand stick strike with your new partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

10:   Nothing

and: Ground strike on the 'and' 

11:   Nothing

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

12:   Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Nothing

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13:   Forehand stick strike with your partner

and: Forehand stick strike with your partner

14 - and - 15: Take three purposeful strides forward, passing your partner right-shoulder. Aim to get a bit beyond where your partner was standing.

and: Strike the ground with the butt of your stick

16:   Strike the ground with the butt of your stick, then keep walking forward off into the crowd.

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Figures

 

Before the first figure, the two lines walk on from opposite ends towards each other, lead by the 1s. At dance outs, this will take place during the announcement. The 1s can feel free to pretend to be unsure about making eye contact, dependent on the style of announcement for the dance. Dancers stand in their lines facing each other until the music introduction ends.

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Double Half Aardvarks (commonly called Aardvarks)

This figure starts with everyone facing the centre of the set, but the centres (1s) will turn half way to their left just before the first beat. This figure is not stepped, but rather people should walk solemnly and with purpose.

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1-4: Centres (1s) and Intermediates (2s) clash forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, one clash on each beat. Ends (3s) stay rooted to the spot. On the 'and' between 4 and 5, the Intermediates turn half way to their left to face the Ends

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5-8: Intermediates (2s) and the Ends (3s) repeat the stick striking as from 1-4, while slowly moving so that the Intermediates now occupy the Centre positions, and the Ends now occupy the Intermediate positions. Meanwhile, the Centres (1s) take (ideally) four slow large steps to move to the end of the line, starting by moving forwards and to their left. If they need to take more steps, then that's fine. On the 'and' between 8 and 9, the new Intermediates (3s) turn half way to their left to face the new Ends (1s).

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9-12: Repeat 5-8 with everyone in their new positions. It will be the 3s and the 1s clashing and the 2s walking around to the end of the line

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13-16: Repeat 5-8 again with everyone in their new positions, with the 1s and 2s clashing and the 3s walking to the end of the line. Make sure the 1s don't end up too close to each other in the centre of the set. On the 'and' after 16, the 1s should turn to face each other, and the 2s should turn to face the 3s behind them, ready for the chorus

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One Over X

Stepping starts for the first time (double-step).

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1-4: The 1s (in the Intermediate position) need to turn half-way right. This can be done either on the 'and' between 16 at the end of the Chorus and the 1 at the start of the figure, or it can be done on the 1st beat of the Figure as people move off, whichever is more comfortable. The 2s lead their lines out to the right, with everyone else moving forward to meet in the middle and then curving right to follow the person in front of them. The shape on the floor should be roughly the same as a graph of y=1/x, hence the figure name. On the hop at the end of the second double-step, everyone turns right half-way to face back in.

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5-8:The 3s lead their lines forward, curving right when they reach the middle, just the same as before. Everyone turns right at the end of the second double-step.

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9-16: Repeat the above back to place. The 3s and the 2s will need to make a final turn half-way at the end to face in for the chorus.

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Reel

1-16: Everybody should be facing their partner from the end of the chorus. Pass this partner by the right shoulder into a 6 person reel. There will be three changes (either right - left - right or left - right - left) every 4 beats, and the dancers should aim to hit the line on beats 5, 9 and 13. When falling off the end of the line, dance in a small loop to your right to re-enter passing by the next person right-shoulder. This is quick, but there is time with it double-stepped.

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Rounds

1-2: On the first double-step, cast out over your left shoulder into a circle. The centres will have to move slightly further than everyone else

3-6: Chase this circle half way around anti-clockwise

7-8: Curve back in to come face to face with your partner, hitting the line with a slight pause on 8

 

9-10: Cast out over your right shoulder into a circle.

11-14: Chase this circle half way around clockwise

15-16: Curve back in to come face to face with your partner