[Tango-L] the fear of close embrace

[Steve Littler]

  I would agree this is very correct. I would also add that in addition 
to the possibility of emotional fear that beginners may have, there is 
also the fear of getting stepped on by the man or stepping on the man by 
the beginner who is untrained in Close Embrace. Trained leaders who 
respect the dance and respect women will recognize that fact nearly 
immediately and not just grab a lady tight to him.

In beginner group classes or practicas, if I go to dance with a lady who 
is new, I respect that and don't just grab her close to me. Close 
embrace must be taught and learned and if she hasn't had training in 
that and become comfortable in it yet, I respect that and just dance 
open and give her a clear lead so she can have success learning her role 
in the dance for that lesson.

At a milonga, I usually wouldn't dance with a lady until she is advanced 
enough to dance well in close embrace and has a nice walk. (Exception 
would be if the milonga is VERY lightly attended and she is getting few 
or no dances but seems eager to try. And then I still wouldn't be just 
grabbing her close against her will.)

El Stevito de Gainesville

On 9/17/2010 9:38 AM, macfroggy at aol.com wrote:
> The tango embrace is the same as the embrace of someone you love, even though you may not know or care about the person. It is the dance position. In my experience as a tango dancer and teacher, many "foreign" dancers, especially those from Anglo-Saxon traditions, are indeed afraid of the embrace. They are not used to being that close to someone who is not their sweetheart or close relative, and sometimes their emotions get all confused after a tanda of moving together as one hugged so close by a stranger.