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How do processional folk dances move through a community?

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Western dance Egyptian dancing, detail from a tomb painting from Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qurnah, Egypt, c. 1400 bce; in the British Museum, London.

In the context of Western folk dance, processional dances are characterized by their ability to traverse significant distances, sometimes moving through an entire village or community.1

These dances typically utilize a chain formation, where a long line of participants is linked by holding hands or by using handkerchiefs. The movement is often guided by a leader who traces a complex, serpentine pattern for the rest of the group to follow. While the procession may travel across a wide area, it is common for the dancers—who are usually arranged in couples—to halt periodically throughout the journey to perform dance steps together.1

These processions are one of several ordered floor patterns, such as the circle or the longways dance, that define the structure of traditional European folk dance.1