10D. Pusher/Comeback

• In pairs. One of you is the Pusher. The other is the Comeback. Pusher, with your hands, apply force to different locations on the body of the Comeback. Vary the amount of force from feather light to the maximum power you think your partner can receive.

• Comeback, stand in an aligned posture, relaxed. Drop down into the ankle, knee and thigh joints as if you are somewhat sitting. This posture allows for a free and immediate response. Move with the pushes as you get them. Respond with the same amount of energy that you receive. The part of you that receives the contact is the first part to respond. The rest of your body follows through. For instance, if you get pushed on the back of the left shoulder, the back of your left shoulder is the first thing to move. If the touch is light enough, it may be the only thing to move. If the contact has more force to it, then the whole body accommodates the response. Whatever amount of force you move with, use it to bring you back to your original stable and relaxed posture. From there, you are ready to receive your next contact. If the contacts are coming fast and furiously, and they certainly may, always use whatever energy you are given to come back to a loose, neutral stance.

• There is a flow of energy between the Pusher and the Comeback. The Pusher initiates and the Comeback plays it out. One stream of energy.

• The Comeback uses only the momentum that is given, no more or no less. Don't resist. Don't anticipate. If the Pusher feels the Comeback's resistance, or anticipation, they let them know: "I feel that you're resisting," or, "I feel that you're anticipating."

• Both of you will have a turn playing out each role. After each of you have had a turn, we do another set. This time the Pusher uses different parts of her body to make the contacts. No hands.

In the third and last set of this sequence, contacts are made with feeling. Tender, affectionate caresses, playful pokes, aggressive shoves. The Come­back "realizes" contacts as a series of "shifts," each one following on the previous one, in an unpredictable, yet cohesive, manner.

Another covenant comes into play here. Students agree that regardless of how they address one another during these exercises, it's not personal. They offer themselves as targets for the others expressive practice. Everyone knows that everyone is practicing on everyone.

This exercise addresses physical and psychic skills. Alignment and balance result in responsive and graceful movement. A hard push can result in a face to the floor or a series of graceful turns, depending on the relaxed control of the Comeback. The body moves as a unit, beginning with the area of impact. As a dropped pebble creates consecutive ripples on the surface of a pond, so the movement gradually builds and, then diminishes as it travels through the body. Eventually, the body returns to stillness. By trial and error, the Comeback discovers how to maintain a graceful balance while receiving any amount of energy the Pusher sends her way.

In many of the previous exercises, students have the opportunity to examine emotions as they arise. The roles of Pusher and Comeback are particularly loaded and offer, yet, another go at it. Since the action involves touch, all kinds of touch, it may invoke sensuality, anger, terror, hurtful-ness, victimization, desire, aggression, and playfulness. Hopefully, these emotions won't overwhelm the players and inhibit their movement. It can happen, though. This is where the hardest lessons lie: energy is simply energy, empty of meaning. With the touch, images and memories may trigger and accompanying emotions surface. These can be noticed. But the students should move on and not become absorbed in these images. They are encouraged to remain focused on the energetic experience.

Pusher/Comeback is a collaboration. Energy is passed from one to another, each player creating one half of the choreography. Each response, whether thought, feeling, emotion or image, is grist for the mill of awareness; to be looked at, breathed through, and played with. They fill physical shapes and actions with liveliness.