ABSTRACT
The first chapter explores in detail the assumption that touch is more than just the moment of mere bodily contact. Starting with a close analysis of the opening scene of Meg Stuart and Philipp Gehmacher’s The Fault Lines, the chapter argues that touch is a configuration of movements. The dancers’ movements of reaching towards and withdrawing from each other are analyzed with the concepts of “potentiality” (Manning, Deleuze) and the trace (Derrida). Inserted in this chapter is the “Second Tangent” that examines the act of withdrawal in the noli-me-tangere-scene from the Bible. Here the withdrawing causes a transformation of Christ’s body that can only happen without any direct contact. In this scene, touch must remain in the mode of the reaching-toward and is not allowed to lead to actual contact.
