Tango Embrace

Tango can be danced in a variety of ways. For example, it can be danced in a virtual embrace, where the two partners move in sync without physical contact. The man leads with visual signals to indicate movements, while the women interprets these cues to execute each step. A visual lead is difficult to perceive because it relies solely on sight rather than touch. The differences between signals are often so subtle that they become hard to discern with the eye. It's quite a challenge for the man to send a clear visual signal and for the woman to apprehend it. Also, a virtual embrace lacks the physicality, sensation, and comfort of a physical embrace, limiting movements that require physical support. Despite these constraints, the virtual embrace highlights a fundamental distinction between leading and following: one is ploting the dance, and the other is beautifying the dance. It also underscores that leading and following are not purely physical but deeply psychological, requiring mental focus and understanding. This awareness is crucial, as we cannot dance well with our feet unless we can dance with our hearts.

Tango can also be danced in an open dance hold similar to that in ballroom dancing, where the dancers connect only through their arms and hands. Since arms and hands are extensions of the body, so even without direct torso contact, dancers can still perceive each other’s intentions through them. The open dance hold, also known by its fine-sounding name “open embrace,” provides greater freedom of movement, making it a favorite among action-oriented dancers who enjoy performing elaborate figures. It is arguable, however, that in an open embrace dancers still lead and follow with their torsos as they theoretically should. In reality, the absence of torso contact often leads dancers to rely on their arms and hands for signaling, which is not as seamless as leading and following with torsos. Also, the open embrace lacks the intimacy, comfort, and soulful quality of the close embrace.

Tango can also be danced using only torso connection, without relying on the arms or hands. Direct torso communication is a distinctive and essential aspect of Argentine tango, making it an intimate, deeply felt, and soulful dance. However, beginners often shy about intimacy and default to using their arms and hands to send and receive signals. To help students overcome this hurdle, tango teachers may instruct them to dance solely with torso contact, avoiding the use of their arms and hands. Some even place a sheet of paper between their chests, challenging them to keep it from falling as they move. While this exercise does not reflect how tango is typically danced, the skills it develops provide students with a strong foundation for their tango.

The most comfortable and communicative embrace is the close embrace, where partners lean into each other, chest against chest, with their cheeks touching. His left hand and her right hand meet at shoulder height, his right arm encircles her body, and her left arm drapes over his right shoulder. This close embrace provides the most intimate connection and effective communication, making it favored by feeling-oriented dancers who enjoy the intimate, cozy, and soulful interactions between the partners more than gymnastic movements. This close embrace is the most common embrace used in social dancing.

Beginners may find close embrace restrictive, but this is simply due to inexperience. Dancing in close embrace requires a different skill set from that used in the open embrace style. This includes dancing in a compact way, using small, simple, rhythmic, and synchronized steps, the command on dissociation, the mastery of cadencia, the ability to do spot dancing, the knack in floorcraft on a crowded dance floor, the focus on feelings rather than steps, and the emphasis on the elegance rather than flaunt of the movements, ect.

Experienced dancers may also adapt the close embrace to allow for greater movement. One is the V-shaped embrace, where only one side of the torso remains in contact, allowing more freedom on the open side. Another is increasing the body’s forward lean to create space between the legs. A combination of both offers yet another option. These variations serve as a compromise between intimacy and mobility, though they demand greater stamina and offer less comfort than the classic close embrace.

Dancers often transition between different embraces as needed. For example, during an ocho, the woman may shift between a chest-to-chest embrace and a V-shaped embrace. The choice of embrace depends on several factors, including physical attributes (flexibility and stamina), dance style (movement-oriented or feeling-oriented), purpose (social dancing or performance), environment (floor density and milonga codes), music (fast or slow tempo), movements (complex or simple, large or small steps), experience (age and skill level), and genre (tango, vals, or milonga).

Each embrace offers distinct advantages and limitations. In the milonguero style, a close embrace enhances emotional communication. In Villa Urquiza, a slightly looser hold allows for refined legwork. In stage tango, an open embrace enables intricate and theatrical movement (see Three Theories on Leading).

Historically, the close embrace contributed to tango’s reputation as the “dance of the brothel,” leading to its rejection by polite society. The emergence of the open embrace style helped tango gain wider acceptance, particularly among younger dancers who embraced its potential for performance, sparking the tango nuevo movement. This evolution flourished outside Argentina—often in cultures less accustomed to physical intimacy.

As tango shifted in this direction, it began to lose its original essence. Acrobatic displays, fragmented connection, adoption of non-tango elements, alternative music, shifts in gender roles, same-sex partnering, and other experimental approaches gave rise to a hybridized form. In contrast, the old guard—Argentine milongueros—remain steadfast in preserving tango’s roots. Their style, known as tango milonguero, danced in close embrace, continues to dominate Buenos Aires’ social dance scene. Yet, the debate between traditionalists and reformers remains.