grand chain

British  

noun

1. a figure in formation dances, such as the lancers and Scottish reels, in which couples split up and move around in a circle in opposite directions, passing all other dancers until reaching their original partners

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Example Sentences

They danced first a waltz, then a polka, then a quadrille with a grand chain which Captain Polyansky led through all the rooms, then a waltz again.

From The Party by Garnett, Constance

We see whole nations swept away from the surface of the globe, and others springing up to form the connecting link in the grand chain of nature.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous

It represents a golden brown grandmother, with a coiffe and a ruffle and a grand chain round her neck, and a ring on her forefinger, and a double-winged house in the background.

From Old Kensington by Thackeray, Miss

Of the few cotillon figures danced in New York society, the grand chain is the most popular and the simplest.

From The Complete Bachelor Manners for Men by Germain, Walter

Again Polyansky led the grand chain through all the rooms, again after dancing they played "fate."

From The Party by Garnett, Constance