New guy, here.

I want to first say thank you for a great website! I have been studying in China for the past couple months away from my home in America. So this website has been great for me to continue my hobby far away from home and checking the proper technique on all these dances.

So I was recently corrected on my hand position by a Chinese dancer. She insists on the man's right hand been held either on top of the girl's left shoulder or on her left shoulder blade. I did some research and see that she is correct about this. But, I have been doing it different for my past two years of dancing. I first learned closed position in a blues class from swing dancers. They taught that the man's right hand is placed on the center of the girl's back between the shoulder blades. The rule of thumb is that if we feel the girl's bra strap then we are correct.

This is the hand position that I have always used since and my professional ballroom and folk instructor has never had a problem with it. When I questioned her about it once (noticing the hand position the other ballroom dancers used) she just said my way was a different way of doing things. I greatly enjoy my way as I feel like I have greater control as a lead. I can perform zig zag motions very easily and my hand is already in the right place for dips. I can dip the girl very fast with this hand position.

My question is, in this long post, has anyone else ever been taught that the lead's right hand goes between the girl's shoulder blades?