Close Embrace

Close embrace is central to a lot of our dancing at Tango Salón, but we also recognise the need for flexibility, especially for some figures. There's been quite a bit of debate about close v. open embrace lately on the tango discussion board, tango-l , and these three excerpts from 22nd July are worth reading in full:

• Ron has an interesting take on the intimacy of close embrace.
• Nina says that "if you know how to hold a woman in your arms, then you might be able to learn this dance"
• Polly says, "to please the woman, concentrate on the embrace, then the steps"

The close embrace is beautifully illustrated by Detlef & Melina in video clips recently recommended by:

• Sue Butler, who suggested a clip featuring the couple dancing to two different versions of Corazón and, of course, dancing it differently. She added, "both are beautiful, but I really enjoyed the second one; it's just so slow and danced with such feeling for the music"
• John Hayward's recommended clip is an illustration of "excellent walking techniques"

Bob