Body contact (dance)
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Body contact is a style of closed position in partner dancing.
Body contact as dance technique
In some partner dances, the connection between the lead and follow is made by direct body contact, instead of a more open frame made with the arms. Body contact may be achieved with the thighs, hips, chest, cheek and/or forehead, depending on the style of dance, the connection needed for a particular move, or to fit the mood of the music.
Body contact is often employed in ballroom dancing with advanced dancers or between dancers who are comfortable with each other. It is generally employed to enhance connection. Competition ballroom dancers often connect at the thighs and hips and then arch their backs to achieve the distinctive ballroom frame.
When connecting across the inner thighs, the partners would be in an offset position to the left of each other. The inside of the right thigh would then touch the inside of the partner's right thigh. The inside of the follow's left thigh may also touch the outside of the partner's right.
Some swing dances use body contact. In Balboa and Collegiate Shag, dancers are chest to chest. The hips are tilted away. Balboa generally employs thigh contact, but Shag usually doesn't. Forehead may be used in certain styles. Charleston employs contact between the outer thighs when danced side-by-side.
Blues dancing may be done with all or none of the above types of body contact. If you're "dancing cheek to cheek", you're doing the blues (or it could be the Tango).
Argentine Tango is usually danced with body contact. In tango, this is called dancing "on the body." The dancers are connected at the chest. They make continous connections across the thighs and with the feet.
Body contact in dance can be intimate and erotic. It lends these traits to ballroom, street dances, and modern club dance.