ABSTRACT

This chapter develops a concept of touch as a rhythmic encounter. Building on the notion of touch as movement and the body as “becoming in movement” (Manning), the notion of rhythms allows to analyze the multiple dynamics at work in these processes. By examining the two moving and touching bodies in Jared Gradinger and Angela Schubot’s What they are instead of, the chapter argues that in the movement of touch a relational rhythm occurs that relates the dancer in mutual attunement. Rather than being individually performed by each dancer, rhythm marks the dynamic and intensity of the bodily relations on stage.