Mainstream
Spin the Top
Links: Define – Standard – Module – Teach – Other – Extend
Call Analysis:
Hands needed at the start:
— Right hand for applications from a Right-Hand Wave or Facing Couples
— Left hand for applications from Left-Hand Wave or for Left Spin the Top
Hands held at the end: One or both depending on position and ending formation
Body flow at the start:
— For Right applications, clockwise
— For Left application counter-clockwise
Body flow at the end:
— For Right applications, Centers are moving counter-clockwise and Ends are moving clockwise.
— For Left applications, Centers are moving clockwise and Ends are moving counter-clockwise.
Good preceding calls:
— Swing Thru
— Box the Gnat
— Centers Trade
— Ends Circulate
Good following calls:
— Pass Thru
— Centers Run (or in each four Centers Run)
— Single Hinge
— Right and Left Thru
— Cast Off 3/4
Ending Formations for Standard Starting Formations and Arrangements:
a) Right-Hand Parallel Waves, “1/2” (Girls on ends, Boys in center): Spin the Top
Ends in a Right-Hand Tidal Wave “0”, BGGBBGGB
b) Right-Hand Tidal Wave, Two GBBG waves: Spin the Top
Ends in Right-Hand Parallel Waves, “0” (Normal)
c) Right-Hand Tidal Wave, GBBG wave in center: Center Four Spin the Top, Others Single Hinge
Ends with a Normal Right-Hand Wave between two mini-waves
d) Right-Hand 1/4 Tag, “1/2”, “3” (GBBG wave in the center): Centers Spin the Top
Ends in a Normal Right-Hand Wave between and perpendicular to two facing couples.
Some Extended Applications:
a) Right-Hand Parallel Waves, “0”: Spin the Top
Ends in a Right-Hand Tidal Wave “1/2” (GBBGGBBG)
b) Eight Chain Thru, “0”: Left Spin the Top
Ends in a Left-Hand Tidal Wave, “1/2” (BGGBBGGB)
c) Facing Lines, “0”: Spin the Top
Ends in Right-Hand Parallel Waves, “1/2”
ARC Rulings (Applications Review Committee of CALLERLAB):
(October/November 2002)
Q: Would it be proper to call “Reverse Spin The Top?”
A: No. There is a call, #190 in the Burleson Encyclopedia, named “Reverse The Top” that describes this very action. The consensus of the committee is that if this action is to be used (without workshopping the call Reverse The Top) it should be called “In Reverse Order, Spin The Top.” The committee further recommends that this type action should NOT be used at MS and Plus as it is too confusing and difficult to comprehend.
(May 2014)
Q: The formation was Two-Faced-Line. The calls given were “Begin with a Partner Trade and Spin The Top.”
A: This application was voted to be improper, as it does not comply with the MS definition. The starting and ending formation for Spin The Top is Ocean Wave. The definition states that the end and adjacent center Turn 1/2, NOT Partner Trade. There is no need to trick the dancers.