ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the innate sense of animate time in movement - without this there is no dance, no music, no narrative, and no teaching and learning of cultural skills. It defines a unit gesture as expression of intention by a single movement. The chapter discusses the measured 'musicality' of infants' movements and their willing engagement with musical elements of other persons' expressive gestures. Human hands are also gifted with mimetic ability to accompany these vocal images of action, richly illustrating the messages of voice in chains of action that may be sounded as melodies on musical instruments to accompany song, or take its place. Every gesture in music feels with whole Self of a performer, an imaginary actor or dancer, whether the stepping body with its full weight and strong attitudes, or only the subtle flexions of a hand, or the lifts and falls that link tones of voice in melody with expressive movements of the eyes and face.
