St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School

PK and JK students were introduced to the basic form of the style of a Virginia Reel square dance. Having mastered the general concept of partner dancing, students learned the form of the Virginia Reel, where partners are placed across from one another in two facing lines. The "Head Couple" takes hands and glides down the length of the group of dancers, passing between the two lines, and ends up at the end of the line, taking the place of what had been the last couple, while the rest of the partners move toward the beginning of their respective line. The new "Head Couple" then repeats the pattern. The activity fosters following directions, spatial awareness, patterning, sequencing, and rhythmic movement.