[Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

[Sandhill Crane]

--- On Thu, 9/16/10, meaning of life <kushi_bushi at hotmail.com> wrote:

> have you all ever considered that some people enjoy dancing
> a more open embrace? enjoy seeing each others faces as they
> dance? enjoy sliding their bodies past each other? enjoy the
> larger figures? enjoy the more dramatic dance permited by a
> more open embrace? enjoy the athletiscm that a more open
> embrace permits, even encourages?
>  
> have you ever considered that starting slowly and allowing
> a more open embrace,  larger figures and a more
> dramatic dance might improve your recruitment and retention?
> especially among younger dancers?

I agree that boundaries, wherever you set them, are a
serious issue, and it's true that close embrace is just
too close for some people. I don't have any problem
with dancing in an open embrace. Maybe I usually prefer
a close embrace but I don't have anything to gain by
imposing on my partner. As long as we have good
communication in the embrace, which is possible with
open or close embrace, we have a good dance, from my
point of view.

I have to take issue with your suggestions about bigger
figures, though. One can approach the essence of tango
through figures, but that's definitely the slow way to
do it. If you start out doing figures, you might never
get beyond that, and I do believe there is much more to
tango than just the steps.

Perhaps open versus close embrace is a misleading way
to characterize the situation. The things that seem
important are the music, your partner, the pista, and
the social experience of the milonga. Showing off at
a milonga isn't really consistent with that.
I can't really think of a catch-phrase to sum it up.