The Secret Weapon of Dance? Hands!

New York Times

14-08-2025

Hands probably aren't the first thing you think about when you watch a dance. What about the feet, the legs, the face? But hands are essential.
The hand not only guides the eye but is the body's finishing touch. When the hands are unintentional and artificial, they become soulless, dragging a dancer down and interrupting the flow of the dance.
There is an alertness to the hands that unlocks the mysteries of a moving body. Hands make what could be a static position come to life. But they also offer a way into how to look at a dancer — and how to look at a dance. A dance isn't just about what you see on the surface. It's what you internalize: emotionally, intellectually, sonically, spiritually. As for those hands? They lead the way.
The choreographer George Balanchine compared the hand to a flower. In order for it to bloom, there needed to be five fingers moving individually, five fingers floating above a beautifully rounded palm. They separate like petals. The pinkie is lifted. The thumb curves gently below.
'God gave us four fingers and a thumb,' Balanchine said, 'and I want to see them all.'
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