探戈的拥抱

探戈舞能以多种方式来跳。例如，它可以使用虚拟拥抱，其中两个舞伴互相对舞却没有任何接触。男人从胸部发出信号，告诉女人他想要她如何运动，而女人跟着男人胸部的信号动作。这信号非常不容易辨认，因为它只能靠观察而不能被感知。不同信号之间的差别往往非常微妙，难以用肉眼识别。无论领舞者发一个明确的信号，或者跟随者辨认这个信号，都很具有挑战性。虚拟拥抱缺乏实际拥抱的肉体感和舒适感，也不能用来做需要身体支持的动作。尽管有这些局限，它却揭示出一个事实：带领和跟随不只是个物理过程，也是个心理过程，需要集中注意和互相理解。意识到这一点非常重要，因为舞者不可能以脚跳好舞，除非他/她能够以心跳舞。

探戈也可以使用开式拥抱，其中两个舞伴只靠双臂和双手连接，而没有身体的接触。手臂和手是身体的延伸。即使没有直接的身体接触，舞者仍然可以通过手臂和手的接触感受到对方的意图和体动。开式拥抱提供一个支撑的框架而又为身体运动留有余地，因而为喜欢花哨舞步和戏剧性表演的运动型舞者所青睐。然而，在开式拥抱中舞者是否如理论上所说用躯干来带领和跟随是值得商榷的。在实际舞蹈中，运用开式拥抱的舞者往往依靠双臂和双手来带领和跟随，远不如贴身拥抱舒服。此外，开式拥抱缺少贴身拥抱的亲密感，肉体感和心灵交流。

跳探戈舞也可以只用上身连接而无手臂和手的帮助。这种方法可以增强舞者直接运用躯干来进行沟通的能力。用躯干来带领和跟随是阿根廷探戈的独特之处，也是探戈舞的关键技巧之一。习惯于舞厅舞和开式拥抱而不习惯用躯干交流的舞者特别需要这种训练。他们马上会发现他们习惯性地使用双手对跳探戈是一种妨碍。他们也会发现臂和手的重要性。没有双臂和双手的接触，就象没有躯干的接触一样，两个人很难舞动得象一个身体。人们实际跳探戈舞时不是只用躯干接触而无双臂和双手的帮助。但是，这个练习能增强用躯干进行交流的能力，为跳好探戈奠定坚实的基础。

最便于交流也最舒服的拥抱是闭式拥抱，其中两个舞伴不仅双臂相搂，他们的上身也彼此贴靠，就象实际生活中的拥抱一样。身体是个表达和接受力非常强的器官，也是个非常感性，抱在怀里十分舒服的物体。在闭式拥抱中，两个舞伴胸贴着胸，脸靠着脸，一个的头枕着另一个的肩，一个的手搂着另一个的腰，一个的臂弯着另一个的脖子。两个人都感觉到对方柔软，有弹性，温暖和敏感的身体。在这样亲密的拥抱中，双方能直接感受到对方的意图，感情，乐感，和身体的运动，并得以在舞蹈中互相交流，互相抚慰，互相支持。贴身拥抱的亲密，舒适和心灵贴近，使它深受具有内向性，感觉型，和情感型倾向的舞者，而不是外向型，运动型和表演型舞者的青睐。

初学者可能会发现，在闭式拥抱中，由于舞伴之间空间颇小，跳舞时行动不方便。不过，这只因为他们是新手。以紧凑方式跳舞需要一定的经验。随着经验的增长，这种局促的感觉会逐渐消失，而越来越变得游刃有余。熟练的舞者在运用闭式拥抱时常采用一些变形来增加运动的可能性。一种变形是V形拥抱，其中两个舞伴将其身体的一侧连接，而让另一侧处于打开状态。另一种是增加身体的梯度，让两人的下身有更多的空间。第三个选择是将两种变形综合起来。这些变形对身体的柔韧和力度要求高一些。在实际舞蹈中，舞者经常交替从一种拥抱转成另一种拥抱。例如，在跳8字步时，女人可以从一侧的V形接触转成胸对胸接触，再转成另一侧的V形接触。

选择采用哪种拥抱可能受许多因素的影响，如身体状况（柔韧和力度），个人风格（运动型或感觉型），目的（社交或表演），环境（人口密度和舞厅规则），音乐（快节奏或慢节奏），跳法（花式动作或简单动作，大步或小步），成熟度（年龄和经验）等。每种拥抱都有长处和短处。许多舞者在跳舞时不时从一种拥抱转成另一种拥抱。混合使用不同的拥抱可以使舞者的技能得到充分的发挥，从而增加舞蹈的表现力。

闭式拥抱曾使探戈获得“妓院舞蹈”的美誉而被上流社会所禁止。开式拥抱的出现对探戈的普及和传播作出了贡献。一些年轻一代的舞者看到了用开式拥抱做花动作的可能性，发起了新式探戈运动。该运动尤其在阿根廷以外形成势头。当探戈转到这个方向后，它失去了原有的风味。作秀，体操倾向，反社交行为，另类音乐，开放拥抱，非探戈元素的纳入，性别角色的互换，和其他改革尝试接踵而至，使探戈变成一种不伦不类的混合舞蹈。在探戈的故乡阿根廷，老探戈卫士们——布宜诺斯艾利斯的老舞棍们，坚决捍卫传统探戈。他们的跳法，即老舞棍式探戈，今天在布宜诺斯艾利斯的舞会上仍然是主导风格。但传统主义者和改革者之间的战斗仍在继续。

Tango Embrace

Tango can be danced in many different ways. For example, it can be danced in a virtual embrace where the two partners dance around each other without any physical contact. The man leads the woman by sending a visual signal from his torso, showing her how he wants her to move, and the woman follows the visual lead to make the movement. A visual lead is difficult to perceive because it cannot be felt and must be seen. The difference between different signals often is so subtle that it is hard to discern. It is quite challenging for the leader to send a clear visual signal and for the follower to apprehend it. Also, a virtual embrace lacks the physicality, comfort and sensation of a physical embrace. It disables movements that require physical support. Despite these limits, virtual embrace reveals the fact that lead/follow is not just a physical process but also a psychological one, which requires mental concentration and perception. The awareness of this fact is important because one cannot dance well with feet unless one can dance with heart.

Tango can also be danced in an open embrace where the two partners are connected only by arms and hands without any body contact. Arms and hands are extensions of the body. Even in the absence of direct body contact the dancers can still sense each other’s intentions and body movements through arm and hand contact. The open embrace provides a frame of support while leaving room for body maneuvering, and therefore is favored by movement-oriented dancers who like fancy steps and dramatic acts. It is arguable, however, that open-embrace dancers still use the torso to lead and follow, as they theoretically should. In reality, due to the lack of body contact, they tend to rely on arms and hands, which is less comfortable in comparison to the torso-to-torso connection of the close embrace. Also, the open embrace lacks the intimacy, sensuality and soulfulness of the close embrace.

Tango can also be danced only with the connection of the torsos, free from arm and hand contact. Dancing this way can sharpen the dancer’s ability of using the torso to communicate without the help of arms and hands. Using the torso to lead and follow is essential in tango, which is a unique feature of Argentine tango. Ballroom dancers and open-embrace dancers who are not used to torso communication particularly need this exercise. They will quickly discover how their habitual using of arms and hands impedes their dance. They will also discover the importance of the arm and hand contact, without which, just as without the torso contact, it is difficult to dance as one seamless body. People do not actually dance tango only using the torso connection without the support of arms and hands, but the experience gained from this exercise will lay a solid foundation for their tango dancing, regardless of the embrace they choose.

The most communicative and comfortable embrace is the close embrace, where the two partners are connected not only by arms and hands but also by the direct contact of the torsos. The body is a very expressive and receptive organ. It is also a very sensual and comfortable object to be held in the arms. In a close embrace, the two partners lean into each other chest against chest. Her head rests on his shoulder. His arm holds her back, and hers around his neck. The two partners feel each other’s soft, springy, sensitive, flexible and responsive body, communicating through it the feelings stirred by the music while dancing, in the support of their arms around each other. The intimacy, soulfulness, physicality and comfort of the embrace make it the favorite style for feeling-oriented dancers who incline to the romanticism, sentiment and sensuality of the dance more than the gymnastic acts.

Beginners may find that close embrace hinders the movement due to the lack of space between the partners. But that is only because they are novices. Dancing in a compact fashion requires experience. More skilled dancers also use some variations of the embrace to increase movement possibilities. One variation is the V-shape embrace where the two partners are connected by one side of their torsos and leave the other side open. Another is to increase the gradient of their bodies to allow more space between the legs. The combination of the two is a third choice. These variations require flexibility and stamina. In reality, dancers often switch from one variation to another in their dancing. For example, in the process of a front ocho, the woman may change from one side V-shape contact to a chest-to-chest contact to another side V-shape contact.

The choice of embrace may be affected by many factors, such as the physical condition (flexibility and stamina), personal style (movement inclination or feeling inclination), purpose (social dancing or performance), environment (population density on the floor and milonga codes), music (fast or slow tempo), movement (fancy or simple, large or small steps) and maturity (age and experience), etc. Every embrace has its merits and limits. Many dancers alternate from one embrace to another back and forth in their performance. Mixing different embraces can bring the dancer’s skills into full play, thus increase the expressiveness of the dance.

Close embrace gained tango a reputation of “the dance of the brothel” and caused its ban by the polite society. The emergence of the open embrace style contributed to the acceptance and spread of tango. Some dancers of the younger generation saw a new vein for fancy footwork in the new style and launched the Nuevo movement, which gained momentums especially outside of Argentina. As tango moved into this direction, it lost its original flavor. Gymnastic tendency, antisocial behavior, alternative music, the break of embrace, the adoption of non-tango steps, the swap of gender roles, and other attempts to reform the dance came in succession, changing tango to a hybrid dance. The old guards in the home country of tango, the Argentine milongueros, strongly defend its root. Their way of dancing tango, known as the milonguero style, is still the dominant style in the milongas of Buenos Aires today. But the battle between the traditionalists and the reformers continues.