The underscore is something which was and is continually developed by Nancy Stark Smith. It is a structure which is used all over the world for contact improvisation. It begins as soon as the dancers enter the room and goes all the way up to the reflection at the end of the jam. It gives a basis for the dancers to follow, grazing through different areas, first getting in touch with your own body and the ground below you. When these connections have been established, connections between individuals slowly begin to form. The dancers graze, looking for opportunities which interest and attract them, choosing where they want to engage in a duet or add to an existing dance.

My practice of Contact Improvisation over these 11 weeks has revealed to me that when I lead I tend to move quite slowly and calmly, however I enjoy the elements of play which are found when the movement is quicker, such as avoiding touching someone, instead dancing around them, offering a surface for contact and quickly moving it away. As I am still not overly confident with contact improvisation, I am however more comfortable with the idea of improvisation than in the module last semester, I prefer to dance with someone who is more confident, not afraid to guide me in moments where I feel stuck wondering what to do. When dancing in a jam, I find that I often get lost in the moment. I find myself closing my eyes in order to feel a deeper connection. This may not always the best or safest idea when large groups of people are involved. I feel this sense of being lost is the state in which I enjoy contact the most. This is because I am not over thinking what I am doing, I just let it happen. In that moment nothing else matters except for the movement.

Through engaging in Contact Improvisation I have discovered that contrary to what I thought at the beginning of the semester, you do not have to be in physical contact in order for there to be a sense of contact present. I find that as I am a very visual person, for example in relaxation exercises I see colours swirling and dancing around. During contact without touch, I see the connections between people, like strips of coloured light which connect the people, or a force which is pulling them together, but also separating them at the same time. I have also come to realise that people are often much stronger than you originally think. As I am much taller, I was worried about trusting people to lift me, or fully take my weight. However through pushing myself to relax in these situations, people can take my weight and a trust has been built up between the members of the group. In connection with this, I have also found that being taller is not always so much of a big issue. It has both its advantages and disadvantages. Two very contrasting heights definitely comes with its challenges, however it also opens up opportunities for discovery. You have to find ways to make it work and through this also discover what does not work.

From these sessions one of the questions which I now have is how can you maintain and sustain a duet with a person without it becoming tedious and boring for both the dancers and the audience? I wonder whether this is something which improves with experience? It may be that the more you play with different ideas, new movements are discovered which can be introduced in order to keep the dance interesting.