Within a Sky Full of Earth

The dancers' chests are closer to each other than are their hips, and often there is contact at about the level of the sternums. In close embrace, the sternums of both the leader and the follower are in complete contact and they are dancing cheek to cheek. In open embrace, there can be as much space as desired between the partners, but there should always be complete contact along the embracing arms to give optimum communication. Since Argentine tango is almost entirely improvisational, there needs to be clear communication between partners. Even when dancing in a very open embrace, Argentine Tango dancers do not hold their upper bodies arched away from each other; each partner is over his own axis. Whether open or closed, a Tango embrace is not rigid, but relaxed, like a hug.
Photo thanks to here, art by Jan Rae.