3237  How close is "close embrace"

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:09:56 -0500
From: Miguel Canals <elpibemc1961@YAHOO.CA>
Subject: Re: How close is "close embrace"

--- Michael wrote:

> I do my best to watch followers and dance with
> those who dance closely.

Observation is very important, especially when I go to
a new place and don't know the dancers. I would sit
out for a while until I've had a chance to look around
a little.

> When a woman pushes
> hard on her right hand, we can't dance close. She
> pushes me away from her center, away from the
> central alignment that is needed for the dance.
> ... When women tell me to stop
> holding them so tightly, I say "Sure, just as soon
> as you stop pushing me off my axis with your right
> arm."

> If you want to dance closely, you first have to
> relax!!

One way to make her relax is to "seduce" her with your
dancing. She will become a lot more relaxed once you
have earned her trust.

However, there IS one thing that you can do with a
stiff right arm. (Not that, you dirty old man. ;-)

My response to a stiff right arm, is to relax my left
arm. She cannot push against something that isn't
there. When she keeps pushing harder, her center will
naturally move left (relative to you), thus aligning
your bodies for the dance. This technique works as
well with those who dance in a V embrace or align
themselves on your right side.

The caveat of this is that you have to be able to make
them feel comfortable dancing with you, no matter
which kind of embrace you started the dance with. You
have to earn their trust before they will relax and
let you dictate the embrace.

I usually remain in the initial embrace indicated by
the women for the first part of the song. Once we are
in sync, then I start adjusting the embrace by
changing the position and/or resistance of my left
arm.

When this does not work, I have another trick. I
would switch to walking on her left side from time to
time. This naturally necesitates the adjustment of
the embrace, aligning the bodies.

When I cannot convince her to "give in", I will just
continue dancing until the end of the tanda in her
embrace. And then, maybe next time; maybe never.

I like to hear from women on their thoughts on how
they decide to "give in". Any takers?