[Tango-L] Evolution of the Embrace

[John Ward]

Gladys Beattie Crozier, in "The Tango and how to dance it" (1913) says:

"The partners stand facing one another . . . in the ordinary position, as
for waltzing, but as far apart as is compatible with grace"

And Vernon Castle, in "Modern Dancing" (1914) says:

"Don't stand to close together or too far apart; be comfortable, and you
stand a good chance of looking graceful."

Both books contain photographs of couples with up to a foot of space between
them. Of course, they are preparing their readers for the genteel ballrooms
of London and New York, not low dives in Buenos Aries; but the tango didn't
become acceptable in polite Argentine society until it had been refined in
Europe. At least, that is what modern histories say: I suspect Caroline
Polack will want a contemporary source.

Philip Richardson says very little about the hold in his "History of English
Ballroom Dancing" (1946) but he mentions a teachers' conference which took
place in 1920 and he chaired:

"[M. Maurice] suggested we should adopt a standard hold. He took exception
to the habit indulged in by some men at the time of placing the right hand
on the lady's side, on the grounds that it ruined the balance of the
couple." This does not refer to the tango in particular, and it is not said
if the hold was in fact standardised at this time. It would be interesting
to know when the modern "thumb in armpit" ballroom tango hold came into use.
There is a photograph showing a packed Blackpool ballroom in 1937. A couple
near the front seem to be in a sort of modern close embrace.

Irving Berlin wrote "Cheek to Cheek" in 1935, so the concept was presumably
known then.

John Ward
Bristol, UK