The most common formation
is the parallel line. In this formation, the dancers dance in a synchronized manner, but
independently of each other. There are usually no moves that
require any interaction between the dancers, other than they
execute the maneuvers at the same time. Each dance has a
different sequence of movements that must be learned.
There are several
variations to this parallel lines set-up. There may, for
example, be two sets of lines where the dancers face in directly
towards each other. In larger groups these will become several
sets of in-facing parallel lines. In these "contra" line dances,
the dancers will dance with the others in the facing lines.
