Exercise: The Finger Dance

Intro

The finger dance is a distillation of mutually following points of contact, a central organizing principle in contact improv. By following each other's small movements some movements are amplified, and together you explore the dynamics of mutual following.

Recipe

1. After demonstrating the exercise with someone, have everyone circulate to find a partner.
2. Ask partners to stand facing each other, about an arm's length apart. Invite them to raise one of their arms so their index finger is in front of them not touching anything, pointed towards their partner, with their arms not resting on anything.
3. Ask them to take a moment to notice the tiny background movements happening in their finger. Suggest that closing their eyes can help focus their attention. Allow several breaths for them to explore this.
• I typically mention that I don't expect what's happening to particularly change, except for the way their attention is engaged. (After many years of sharing this exercise I have noticed that this preliminary step helps people to be more fully present.)
4. Now ask them to briefly open their eyes in order to touch the tips of their extended index finger to the tip of their partner's index finger. Ask them to follow the movements of their partner's finger, resisting the temptation to lead and yielding to the temptation to follow.
5. As leader sense what is happening in the room. If you feel like it would be useful, mention that nothing big needs to happen other than tuning in. Maybe eventually fingers will move through space, maybe they won't. Suggest that though they are not leading the motion they still should respect their own limits and ease.
6. Give a minute or three for them to gradually feel what happens in continuing to tune in and follow the movements of their partner's finger while the partner is following their movements.
7. After a few minutes for exploration ask the partners to let their fingers settle at a point in space, continuing to notice the little movements, and then move their finger apart from their partner's just a little bit and take a moment to notice how their finger feels. Then invite them to let their arms settle and thank their partners.
8. It's valuable to have the partners repeat the exercise after circulating again to find a different partner, and see how the experience varies from partner to partner and moment to moment.
• (Becoming aware of how things can vary with different partners helps surface how much of a factor their partner contributes to their experience.)
9. Gather in a circle and invite observations and questions.

Following Through

The finger dance can convey how just following the point of contact can yield engaging activity without someone leading. It is part of a set of basic exercises that foster a particular way of tuning in to what's happening. Bringing the experience of mutual following to whole-body involvement is a big step. Slight Counterbalance provides an gradual progression towards this full-body involvement, leading towards Rising and Descending Together for moving together in all directions - in spherical space. See What Contact Improvisation Does for context.

Attribution

This exercise is adapted from something that Nancy Stark Smith, a central contact improvisation proponent and developer, suggested in the early days when asked about contact improvisation in a conversation at a museum art opening. (Nancy relates the story here in a pretty thorough telling of CI's development.)