Often each person lightly grasps the wrist of the person they follow. Right hands across, similar to a right-hand star except that the dancers take the hand of the person directly across from them in a handshake grip. Takes only 4 beats and often leads into a swing. A New England favorite, especially if you want to show off. Keep your left heel raised.
Beginners often resort instead to smooth, closely-spaced normal steps in time with the music.
Usually 8 to 16 beats of music. In the classic courtesy turn, the first dancer's right hand is placed in the small of the second dancer's back and both dancers face the same way during the change of direction. A common modern trend is for both dancers' left hands to be raised and loosely touching, allowing the second dancer to freely pirouette clockwise while following the counterclockwise path around the first dancer's position. In this case the first dancer simply turns to keep facing the second until the figure is completed. It is the second dancer's option whether or not to pirouette, easily signalled by controlling the position of the joined left hands.