Comments on: Notes on a popular embrace

By: MV

MV — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 08:17:55 +0000

Pardon my rambling… I am just a novice… no professional… no expert. But I dance the way that feels comfortable to me and my partner so I experiment and just doing that has taught me that I should normally push with my heel when walking backward. Similarly I have sometimes found my hand way down (no I am not a pick pocket nor an ass-grabber); note however that I don’t consciously place my hand down and I don’t feel it happening with every leader… so its probably something between dancing with a particular type of lead that makes it more comfortable… frankly its just a guess. On a side note, if so much importance is placed on dancing with core then isn’t lower back kind of connected to it (its closest!).

By: Terpsichoral

Terpsichoral — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:50:11 +0000

Personally, I think it can be hard to know how an embrace feels from seeing a photo. For myself, I think it’s about finding a position which is comfortable for both parties and which feels as close to a real-life embrace as possible, while not restricting movement. And I believe different couples find different embraces suit them. I have danced with men sometimes whose embraces looked a little stiff but who felt lovely and snuggly in my arms.

I do sometimes, myself, copy people’s embraces. If I’m dancing with a new man and he has a regular dance partner, I often try to embrace him in the same way as she does — provided our relative heights make it feel natural for me to do so. I assume, you see, that the way his regular partner embraces him, where she puts her right hand, etc., feels good to him, or they would have made changes to their embrace.

I write more about my own feelings about the embrace and experiences of embraces here:

http://tangoaddiction.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/embrace-me-my-sweet-embraceable-you/

By: Cherie

Cherie — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:15:14 +0000

I’m late to join this conversation, so I’ll just say that one night at a traditional milonga (Los Consagrados) in Buenos Aires, a milonguero returned from the tanda to chat with Ruben, and he said, Omigod, why was her arm so low? Her hand was almost touching my ass! Why didn’t she embrace me “normally?” It felt FEO!

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:25:11 +0000

Cherie blogged about various embraces last year…
http://tangocherie.blogspot.com/2008/05/hold-me-hug-me-now-that-mans-left-hand.html

By: Simba

Simba — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:41:42 +0000

@Janis: I’m sure many are stiff and look somewhat affected when they copy their favorite dancers, as you point out it takes some time for it to become natural. And in copying what one sees, there is always the possibility that how you perceive things may not be what is really going on. But we all have to start somewhere, and copying the ones who know is the oldest proven way to learn how to dance, I think.

@Claudita: Thanks!

By: Claudita

Claudita — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:40:19 +0000

Where? Mmmmm, I’ve seen it mainly in places where teachers who use this embrace in their performances teach.

I’m sure in most places it’s just a temporary thing and after the Festival teachers have moved on, the girls stop trying to pick the guys’ pockets.

I’ve seen this kind of embrace in London, Berlin and Istanbul and, I guess at Villa Malcolm and La Viruta.

By: Janis

Janis — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:58:23 +0000

I have been observing the wide variety of hand and arm positions used by women in the milongas of Buenos Aires over the past ten years. Now that I have a digital camera, I’m considering taking photos with permission. I believe that many women change to follow what they see others do. I see so much energy go into spreading fingers apart or lifting a finger. Perhaps many are unaware of it. It shows that they are not relaxed and in the moment with their partners. The more seasoned dancers are natural in the embrace; new dancers appear to be more concerned with the look of tango. There are women who place their arm across the man’s shoulder as if it were an arm rest. His neck has to bear the weight.

I read something today in an e-newsletter about the difference between a dancer and a milonguero. A milonguero wants to be close and have contact, to embrace his partner and be embraced by her because it’s one of the pleasures in dance. A dancer enjoys the movement; the embrace is to enjoy the dance, but not an end to it.

By: Simba

Simba — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:58:11 +0000

@Claudita: Now that would be a pickpocket…

@E: After all, there is a long history of, well, suggestive movements in tango, so maybe it’s time for a revival…

Can’t say it appeals to me, and from your comments you don’t seem too enthusiastic, either. If anyone knows what are the virtues of this kind of grip–embrace seems to me to be stretching it– I’d love to hear about it. Also I am very curious as to where exactly it has been encountered on the dance floor. I know, I’m a curious guy.

By: Elizabeth Brinton

Elizabeth Brinton — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:31:21 +0000

Yes, Claudita’s example is what I was thinking of, and no it is not at all typical here, but I’ve seen in it some performance style dancers, but also on the social floor at times…usually young dancers being all dramatic, or else trying to pick his wallet!
Or maybe they are getting back at those touchy feely guys. Or maybe they just want to, um, never mind….

By: Claudita

Claudita — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:56:20 +0000

Not sure this is the best example (it is a performannce and one that’s pretty far away from what happens on the social dance floor) but I have seen girls do this in Milongas…and yea, she IS reaching for his back pocket…