Editing Contra dance (section)

===Formations===
Contra dances are arranged in long lines of couples. A pair of lines is called a ''set''. Sets are generally arranged so they run the length of the hall, with the ''top'' of the set being the end closest to the band and caller, and the ''bottom'' of the set being the end farthest from the caller.<ref name=Pittman>{{cite book|last1=Pittman|first1=Anne M.|last2=Waller|first2=Marlys S.|last3=Dark|first3=Cathy L.|title=Dance a While: A Handbook for Folk, Square, Contra, and Social Dance, Tenth Edition|date=2015|publisher=Waveland Press|isbn=978-1478629511|page=197}}</ref>

Couples consist of two people, traditionally one male and one female, though same-sex pairs are increasingly common.<ref>Dart 1995, "Choreography and Community"</ref>  Traditionally the dancers are referred to as the ''lady'' and ''gent'',<ref>{{cite journal| last       = Snyder| first      = Andrew| date       = 2019| title      = Contraculture: Bird Names and the Degendering of Contra Dance| url        = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/yearbook-for-traditional-music/article/contraculture-bird-names-and-the-degendering-of-contra-dance/C6AFC44FD9F5058E245B1CE0AEC19B56| journal    = Yearbook for Traditional Music| volume     = 51| page      = 195| doi        = 10.1017/ytm.2019.3| s2cid = 212795287| access-date = 2020-01-31}}</ref> though various other terms have been used: some dances have used ''men'' and ''women'', rejecting ''ladies'' and ''gents'' as elitist;<ref>{{cite journal| last       = Snyder| first      = Andrew| date       = 2019| title      = Contraculture: Bird Names and the Degendering of Contra Dance| url        = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/yearbook-for-traditional-music/article/contraculture-bird-names-and-the-degendering-of-contra-dance/C6AFC44FD9F5058E245B1CE0AEC19B56| journal    = Yearbook for Traditional Music| volume     = 51| page      = 198| doi        = 10.1017/ytm.2019.3| s2cid = 212795287| access-date = 2020-01-31}}</ref> others have used gender-neutral role terms such as ''bares'' and ''bands'', ''jets'' and ''rubies'' or ''larks'' and ''robins''.<ref>{{cite journal| last       = Snyder| first      = Andrew| date       = 2019| title      = Contraculture: Bird Names and the Degendering of Contra Dance| url        = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/yearbook-for-traditional-music/article/contraculture-bird-names-and-the-degendering-of-contra-dance/C6AFC44FD9F5058E245B1CE0AEC19B56| journal    = Yearbook for Traditional Music| volume     = 51| pages      = 199; 202| doi        = 10.1017/ytm.2019.3| s2cid = 212795287| access-date = 2020-01-31}}</ref><ref name="Contra culture wars">{{cite news |last1=Reback |first1=Storms |title=Contra Dance Meets the Culture Wars |url=https://www.theassemblync.com/culture/contra-dance-culture-wars/ |access-date=1 November 2023 |work=[[The Assembly (magazine)|The Assembly]] |date=November 1, 2023}}</ref> Couples interact primarily with an adjacent couple for each round of the dance. Each sub-group of two interacting couples is known to choreographers as a ''minor set'' and to dancers as a ''foursome'' or ''hands four''. Couples in the same minor set are ''neighbors''. Minor sets originate at the head of the set, starting with the topmost dancers as the ''ones'' (the ''active couple'' or ''actives''); the other couple are ''twos'' (or ''inactives''). The ones are said to be ''above'' their neighboring twos; twos are ''below''. If there is an uneven number of couples dancing, the bottom-most couple will wait out the first time through the dance.

There are four common ways of arranging couples in the minor sets: ''proper'', ''improper'', ''Becket'', and ''triple'' formations.<ref name=Pittman /> Traditionally, most dances were in the proper formation, with all the gents in one line and all the ladies in the other.  Until the end of the nineteenth century, minor sets were most commonly triples. In the twentieth century, duple-minor dances became more common.<ref>Nielsen 2011, pp.113&ndash;114</ref> Since the mid twentieth century, there has been a shift towards improper dances, in which gents and ladies alternate on each side of the set, being the most common formation. Triple dances have also lost popularity in modern contras, while Becket formation, in which dancers stand next to their partners, facing another couple, is a modern innovation.<ref>Dart, "[http://www.cdss.org/elibrary/dart/changes.htm Changes in Contra Dance Choreography]", ''Contra Dance Choreography: A Reflection of Social Change''</ref>