Tom Fromm writes:
12. HALF SASHAY FAMILY:

(a) HALF SASHAY: Starting formation -couple. Partners exchange places without changing facing directions. Dancer on the right sidesteps to the left, while the other dancer on the left steps back, sidesteps to the right, then steps forward to rejoin partner.

(b) ROLLAWAY. Starting formation -couple. The directed dancer, or if not specified the dancer on the right, rolls across a full turn (360°) in front of the dancer on the left, as he sidesteps to the right -to exchange places. From a circle, unless otherwise directed, the ladies roll left across in front of the men.

(c) LADIES IN, MEN SASHAY: Starting formation -circle or line with alternating men and ladies. With all dancers facing in, the ladies step forward and pause, while the men move to the left behind and past one lady. Ladies step back and rejoin hands with the men. If the circle is moving to the right, the men sashay to the right.

STYLING: Hands held in normal couple handhold. Man and lady each use a slight pulling motion toward each other as they initiate the sashay movement. Rollaway: Handhold same as joined couples. Man should slightly pull lady as both man and lady reach to join hands and continue pulling motion with outside hand. Man steps back with left foot, to the side and across. Ladies In, Men Sashay: Men's hands in slightly up position ready to rejoin the ladies in the circle. Ladies should have both hands on skirt when moving to the center and momentarily bunch skirts before returning to the circle.

TIMING: Half sashay, 4 steps; Rollaway, 4; Ladies in, men sashay, 4.

I teach the three moves in this family separately. I first teach Rollaway. I teach it from a SS, giving each a couple of tries. I demonstrate the way we exchange hands, and tell them that a sashay is a side-step.I want to be sure that I tell the men not to hold the ladies hand to tight. (Remember that we can have the girls roll the boys.) I will point out, that we don't change facing directions when we do this move. It is important to circle the ladies to another man, to make sure each of the dancers get the feel for the move. Then I will tell them that it will be easier if we have some movement first. I will have them circle, and tell them to be careful, and for the boy, with the girl on his right side, roll her away a 1/2 sashay. I will "play" with this a lot, and a few lessons down the pike, have same sexes roll each other away. I might try it the same lesson, if the dancers are up to it. A quick (Boys roll the girls, Girls roll the boys, LA) is easy, and a surprise to the dancers. I will probably skip a week between, and teach "Ladies In, Men Sashay" next. I will teach it while circling left first. I once again tell them that a sashay is a side-step. I will again remind them, that we don't change facing directions when we do this move. I will also have the Men go in and the Ladies sashay. I'm not certain if that is exactly "legal", but the dancers have no problem with it, it makes them listen (as well as get some smiles), and adds variety. I will vary back and forth, as to whom should go in. The following lesson,I spend a little time teaching it from lines. I will want to show them that it can be done from there. I will tell them that the same thing applies, and that when someone goes in, the other side-steps behind them before the dancer that stepped in steps back out. I will have them sashay both ways, telling them to see which other dancer is dancing "only" with them at the time. By doing this both ways, they will be doing a normal 1/2 sashay at times, but don't even know it exists.

I will allow maybe two more lessons before I teach 1/2 sashay. I will be using it as stated above, but don't want to muddy the waters too much. I will teach from a SS. and tell them that they already know how to do this. I will tell them the definition, and remind them, that we don't change facing directions when we do this move. I will stress that the right hand dancer steps forward, and to the left. I will then take a minute to explain the difference between this, and ladies in from lines. I will show them when and why it is the same, as well as why it is different at times. I will try to use these somewhat close together, but not really back to back. I will cue what I want for them to do for awhile.

Al stevens writes:
I have to disagree with the way you handle the Sashay family. First of all, if you look at the family as a whole, the predominant part of the "family" is "Half Sashay". The secondary part of the family is "Rollaway", and the third part of the family is "Ladies Center, Men Sashay". All parts of the family do the same thing in the end--they exchange places for two people--it's how the two people exchange places that makes the various parts of the family different.

I contend that it is not correct to "rollaway" when the man's left hand and the ladies left hand are joined, such as in any call which ends in a "courtesy turn". In this case, if I wish to exchange the two dancers, I ALWAYS use the helper words "turn the girl WITH a Half Sashay". I ONLY use "rollaway" when the inside hands of a couple are joined, it is much smoother for the dancers to dance, especially the ladies.

Here in Europe, we use "Half Sashay" much more than we do "rollaway". We also can "reverse" a "Half Sashay" (after a "Flutterwheel", for example) much easier than we can reverse rollaway, and the ending formation after a "Half Sashay once and a half" is 180 degrees different than a "Rollaway once and a half". The younger women really think that Half Sashay is much smoother than Rollaway, imagine what the elderly ladies would think?

Dardenne Phillippe writes:
Yes I use 'half sashay'from lines...and even,I sometimes should moderate my tendency to overuse it !! I like this call a lot and still think it is mostly underused :

- from normal lines :
right & left thru ,
flutterwheel ,
boys in,girls sashay(sashay couples)
reverse the flutter(girls go with the left hand)

- from double pass thru formation ( should be called in time to be succesfull):
ZB swing thru,
boys run,
ferris wheel,
all boys in,
all girls sashay....

Cark Baker writes:
Gimmick: Join hands, circle left, ladies in men sashay, circle left, ladies in men say hay, ...

Kim S. Andersen writes:
Yes it's a good one. But unless your dancers are used to it, prepare yourself for a mess. At least that's what I find, but it may be because of the language barrier, which in some cases may make it a bit troublesome to step aside from the main road. You may loosen up a bit by prefixing it with "Listen carefully!". And like any gimmick, use sparingly.

Another one used by some callers over here is to say, in a singing call opener:
Circle Left
Now instead of saying "Walk Around Your Corner" say "Walk around in a great big ring" or so.

Sometimes half the floor does the Walk Around Your Corner. I had a class teacher who I think overused this one, so I've never liked it or used it myself.

Dave Hass Writes:
I believe the reason for this is that most callers don't use the figure other than to have the ladies center and the men sashay. I use both ways regulary, and get pretty good reponse no matter who goes in. I also use often from a circle right.

Guy Adams Writes:
Funny but everytime we talk about a call not being danced correctly, we come back to the fact that it is not thoroughly taught, or it is taught incorrectly. Which brings us back full circle to "Caller Education."

A caller who does not have the proper knowledge of the calls, their formations and when and where they can be used, fails to educate correctly.

Johnny Preston Writes:
Because it is called 95% of the time after Circle Left (or Right) and the blankety-blank Men do NOT go straight in and out but rather go in while continuing to Circle.

In all fairness to the men, the women don't do this call well from the mans position. I try to call men to the center and the ladies sashay every dance. The success rate is very poor and there is enough blame for both genders.

d2z writes:
I hope all callers are "studying" the Basic TTT and not thinking they only need to improve in Plus and higher.

In all fairness Basic SHOULD be able to handle "Men In, Ladies Sashay". But they can't. Anytime a caller calls "Men In, Ladies Sashay" it doesn't work.
Do you know why? Because it is called 95% of the time after Circle Left (or Right) and the blankety-blank Men do NOT go straight in and out but rather go in while continuing to Circle. This makes it impossible for the Ladies to get past them as they Sashay. Perhaps if callers, when teaching (and then use for ninety weeks thereafter until they-the callers felt comfortable with it) Sashay would direct more of the time on Sashay from a stationary position, Men would learn to go straight in and out and then when dancing it following a Circle Left the men would dance it correctly.

Don't answer this on the message board, just answer to yourself: How many times in the last dance did you call "Ladies In, Men Sashay" from a Line? How many times in the past year? Have you ever called it from a Line?