These gestures do not tell stories, but create patterns in space. While gestures are associated with meaning, we played with and changed those associations. We used those gestures to create new dance forms. The class took on the role of Gesture Detective. We tried to find gestures that communicate feelings, nervousness, work gestures, and daily gestures in a social context.
Students work in groups.
Each group chooses 4 different gestures. Students express those gestures in the same way using different parts of the body in a variety of ways. Every group performs its four gestures in unison and then in a canon. The gestures have been dissociated from any story and original meaning. They are set to music and are performed as dance.