The Ocean Wave is an easy walking mixer described by Fran Riel and Buleah Davis in their 1966 book Happy Dancing, Handbook of Dance Mixers.
Facing partner, holding right-in-right hands, with Leads facing out, Follows facing in.
Part I - Do-Si-Do Right (4 bars): Do-si-do right one full circle, i.e., pass forward by the right shoulder and back by the left (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
Part II - Do-Si-Do Left (2 bars): Do-si-do left three-quarters, ending up in a circular wave with Leads facing out, Follows facing in, holding right-in-right with partner, and left-in-left with person to your left.
Part III - Balance and Turn Right (2 bars): Balance* forward (1) and back (3), then turn halfway clockwise with partner to form a new wave with Leads facing in and Follows facing out (5, 6, 7, 8).
* Riel and Davis give three options for "Balance" in their glossary: 1) step and lift the other foot, 2) step and touch the other foot, or 3) two-step or pas-de-basque when the dance is in 2/4 (as this one is).
Part IV - Balance and Turn Left (2 bars): Balance forward (1) and back (3), then turn halfway counterclockwise with person to your left (5, 6, 7, 8). At the end, travel a little further to end up in original position with the next person you're approaching.
Repeat from the beginning.
The recommended music is "any good square dance tune."
© 2019 Nick Enge
For more dance descriptions, see our three books on dancing:
The Book of Mixers: 100 Easy-Teach Dances for Getting Acquainted (2022) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge,
Cross-Step Waltz: A Dancer's Guide (2019) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge, and
Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living (2013) by Richard Powers and Nick Enge.
For full-length teaching videos, visit: University of Dance.
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