How parallel is parallel?

[bookish]

I've been told to use a "parallel" close embrace in tango and a number of people here have posted about it as well. But how literally are we meant to take the word? I've watched a lot of videos of tango in various contexts and I can't say I've seen a close embrace (yet) that looked literally parallel. Mostly the follower seems to be off to the leader's right and angled a bit so that the follower's center is toward the leader's right side. This is the same embrace I use in balboa and blues as well. It seems quite comfortable. Do people dance literally parallel, or does parallel just mean "not a V"?

 

[Steve Pastor]

This is the same embrace I use in balboa

I won't comment on blues...

It seems quite comfortable.

AT is not a dance where everything is spelled out in great detail. So, how you hold your partner (I rarely "embrace" someone with my left hand up in the air.) and how she moves within that "embrace" determines exactly where you are in relation to each other.
I have found that my partners most often drift to my right. And that is probably due to the open on the left side nature of the embrace. And there you can end up with a slight v shape.

 

[sixela]

"Strictly parallel" does exist. But it entails a lot of things (like ocho milongueros) if you leave yourself absolutely no wiggle room, and that is at one end of the dialect continuum.

 

[dchester]

I've been told to use a "parallel" close embrace in tango and a number of people here have posted about it as well. But how literally are we meant to take the word? I've watched a lot of videos of tango in various contexts and I can't say I've seen a close embrace (yet) that looked literally parallel. Mostly the follower seems to be off to the leader's right and angled a bit so that the follower's center is toward the leader's right side. This is the same embrace I use in balboa and blues as well. It seems quite comfortable. Do people dance literally parallel, or does parallel just mean "not a V"?

IMO, parallel means not a V. However, there are a lot of preferences masquerading as rules.

The main "variables" in an embrace are:

• How open or close (to include how much pressure)
• How much offset
• How much V

In addition to that, the embrace can change during a dance (example: one embrace for walking, and another for certain figures).

It's really more about possibilities and preferences, than right and wrong, as different people like different things (i.e. an embrace that one follower may describe as heavenly, might be called too restrictive by another follower).

 

[Gssh]

Well, as with a lot of things in tango, the word "parallel" is wide open to interpretation, and mostly means "the way i like it" (or, in some cases "the way i don't like it").

That said, yes, one can dance literally parallel, though to make this a satisfying dance requires (imo) a specifc technical framework that facilitates free and energetic movement in that space
1) both the leader and follower need a strong forward+upward presence - the follower is moving diagonally up through the leader, the leader is moving diagonally up through the follower
2) both move by stabilizing their core and moving the legs, but this is different than the ballet conceptualization of the same words (ballet stabilizes the pelvis, and moves by spiralling within the thigh - this technique frees the pelvis, stabilizes the spine, and opens and closes the pelvis by using the diagonal muscles of the back)
3) the pattern of movement and relaxation is reversed - the couple is most energized when standing still and the forward presence creates a coiled energy, and movement is about relaxing the resistance to that coiled energy , i.e. the leader does not "push", but the follower relaxes her resistance and decides to carry the energy somewhere else (this is a interesting concept to play with - and a lot of traditional tango vocabulary makes a lot more sense when powered this way).

The easiest way to figure out if a follower enjoys dancing this way is to start walking in the cross system on the right side (from the leaders perspective). If this works smoothly and powerfully using this framework will work for the whole dance. If not it is much better to switch to a different technical framework.

 

[tangomaniac]

My partner and I are parallel if our sternums line up like door and wall hinges. This is impossible if the woman has poor frame and pushes herself into my armpit.

 

[guysanddolls]

This is the same embrace I use in balboa and blues as well. It seems quite comfortable. Do people dance literally parallel, or does parallel just mean "not a V"?

from one bal dancer to another, not the offset in bal that we're comfortable with. One school of thought in tango is that parallel means "buttons to buttons" - where buttons would align if both leader and follower are wearing buttoned down shirt. This is the intended alignment, but visibly not so (because asymmetry in embrace, head position, etc). In bal, we intend to create an offset for other functional purposes. the offset/v shape in bal maybe regarded as _dancing in leader's armpit_ by some tango dancers, and not favored.

I agree with tangomania, this is when sternums line up. For functional purposes, this allows follower to roll through rotations and not be _stuck_ on one particular side. In pure bal, the follower is pretty much always at the closed side.

recap, I do not find the embrace in bal analogous to tango (unless someone is really pressing for an offset embrace....)

 

[twnkltoz]

I prefer a slight offset with the follower turned slightly to the right toward the leader.

 

[Zoopsia59]

I don't know who this couple is, but they are fairly parallel. The video came up when I did a search for Daniel Trenner and Rebecca Shulman (this is not D&R BTW) It does illustrate nicely the way ochos need to be executed by the follower to maintain the parallel embrace. Typically in this style the embrace is not considered "flexible" or "variable". The two bodies are joined at the chest and they stay that way throughout the dance. Her head's facing past his right ear and not to her own right at all


They could be even more parallel if he held his left hand more in line with his shoulder. This is the key element to allowing the follower to connect this way. If the leader's hand is forward of his shoulder, the follower can't maintain a "flat-on" parallel embrace for a whole tanda because her right hand will be behind her own shoulder and it will become uncomfortable rather quickly.

If you are hoping for parallel and the follower keeps going into a V, it may be that she doesn't know how to dance totally parallel (it seems not many do, at least in my part of the US) or it may be that she can't because of the position of your left hand. I would normally default to a flat on parallel embrace and I rarely can, even with the leaders who claim to want to dance "milonguero" because they hold their left hand too far forward of their torso. Or else they rotate their hand so that their palm is facing inward, which requires me to open my right shoulder to relieve the twist in my wrist. (or they do both, which is especially awkward) Some go so far as to turn their hand to the point where their palm is almost facing back towards them! I don't know where that comes from, but it's not an isolated thing.

The more you hold your chest diagonally up (as mention by a poster above), your arm in line with your chest, and your palm facing forward (not towards your right) the more likely the follower will go parallel.