For Four or Eight (Square, 8 bars)
This figure is called Around the House.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The man jumps first, leaping around his partner into the man's position on the couple's right.
(1) The lady jumps next, leaping around her partner into the lady's position next to the man.
(6) The couple continues this counter-clockwise pattern until they reach home.
For Four or Eight (Square, 8 bars)
This figure is called a Half Around the House. It is commonly used in progressive dances.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The man jumps first, leaping around his partner into the man's position on the couple's right.
(1) The lady jumps next, leaping around her partner into the lady's position next to the man.
(2) The couple continues this counter-clockwise pattern until they are halfway around the set, opposite from home.
(4) The couple swings in place.
For Six (Triangle, 8 bars)
This figure is called Around the House.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The man jumps first, leaping around his partner into the man's position on the couple's right.
(1) The lady jumps next, leaping around her partner into the lady's position next to the man.
(4) The couple continues this counter-clockwise pattern until they reach home.
(2) The couple swings in place.
For Eight (Square, 8 bars)
This is colloquially referred to as Around the Couch.
An Around the Couch is fundamentally the same as an Around the House in terms of the pattern of motion, however it is performed in an 8 person set by either heads and first sides or heads and second sides. All eight people in the set are performing an Around the House, but they are doing it in sets of four people.
Another description of an Around the House is below.
To swing while traveling around in a circle, often around one or several other couples; to swing with partner in a counter-clockwise circle or half-circle around the other couple to place or to progressed place. Alternate stepping behind with the Right foot with leaping or reaching around your partner with the Left foot. (Syllabus of Irish Dances, Terry O'Neal)
An Around the House can be done in jig or reel time, and the footwork is different for each. Additionally, good tension between the partners is essential for a controlled Around the House, and will come in useful anytime you have to swing into a line or to meet a new couple.
For Four or Eight (Square, 8 bars)
This figure is called See Saw and is usually performed immediately after an Around the House.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The lady jumps first, leaping around her partner into the woman's position on the couple's left.
(1) The man jumps next, leaping around his partner into the man's position next to the lady.
(6) The couple continues this clockwise pattern until they reach home.
For Four or Eight (Square, 16 bars)
This figure is called an Around the House with See Saw.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The man jumps first, leaping around his partner into the man's position on the couple's right.
(1) The lady jumps next, leaping around her partner into the lady's position next to the man.
(6) The couple continues this counter-clockwise pattern until they reach home. It is easier to reverse the rotation if both the man and lady jump twice in place at their home positions on the final bar of the Around the House.
(1) The man and lady take crossed hands facing each other. The lady jumps first, leaping around her partner into the woman's position on the couple's left.
(1) The man jumps next, leaping around his partner into the man's position next to the lady.
(6) The couple continues this clockwise pattern until they reach home.
Terry's Syllabus of Irish Dances notes that a See Saw consists of:
(a) Around the House with uncrossed hands to place.
(b) Reverse Around the House to place, same hands.
That being said, it is uncommon as of this writing to see a See Saw performed with uncrossed hands.
Note that some callers will call a See Saw to mean not an Around the House followed by a reverse Around the House, but instead just the reverse Around the House, performed in 8 bars. Others tend to think of the See Saw as the actual act of switching the direction of the House. If you are planning on calling this figure, make sure you are clear as to which one you mean.