Advanced
Open Hold
Advanced Level
Full mastery — nuance, personal expression, and artistry
A partner position connected only through the hands, creating space for turns, shines, and independent movement.
Tips
- •The key to open-hold turns: keep your leading hand at a consistent height and trace small circles. Your partner will orbit around that point naturally.
- •When in doubt, connect with just one hand. Two-handed open hold is harder to manage and offers less freedom for both partners.
- •Practice your open-hold tension by holding a rubber band between your hands and your partner's. It should stay taut but never snap — that's the right amount of connection.
Common mistakes
- •The 'arm crank' — yanking your partner's arm to initiate a turn instead of using a smooth, circular guide.
- •Limp hands — without frame tone in your arms, leads evaporate before they reach your partner.
- •Pulling your partner toward you instead of guiding them around you — open-hold turns are circular, not linear.
- •Holding too tight — your partner needs to be able to spin their hand inside your grip during turns.
Practice drill
Face your partner in single-hand open hold. Leader: do nothing but basic steps and gentle circular hand guides for an entire song. No turns, no patterns — just explore how your hand movement translates through the connection to your partner's movement. Follower: respond only to what you feel in the hand. This builds the sensitivity you need for complex open-hold patterns.