Closed position

Unlike the ballroom style, in social fast turning (or Viennese-style tempos) waltz, the follower's left hand usually is completely around the leader's right shoulder in a firm mutually supporting close or contact embrace.

A similar close embrace position but with both hands around each other can be seen in smooth turning polka and other folk dances.

In the international standard ballroom dances the joined hands are held at or just above shoulder height, with the arms outstretched and the elbows bent at obtuse angles.

In the latter style the leader's right hand stays on the left side of the follower's back and (except in the tango) is placed on the shoulder blade, while the follower's left hand is placed on the leader's right upper arm (or, in the tango, underneath the upper arm).

In Scandinavian folk dance (e.g. the polska, pols, and hambo) there are variations on shoulder-waist position in which the leader's left hand is on the follower's shoulder, upper arm, or elbow, and in the latter case the follower's right arm is outstretched with the hand just above the leader's sharply bent elbow.