ABSTRACT
T hree middle-aged people were ta lk ing to each other on my street corner. O n e w o m a n moved langorously and spoke intermittently. A second w o m a n spoke to the first rapidly, her speech and movement abrupt, reaching high intensity. The th ird person, a man, stood between the two w o m e n , but a little closer to the second woman, w h o was do ing most of the ta lking. I could see that he and she were both look ing directly at the first w o m a n , whose gaze was d o w n except w h e n she raised her head slowly w i t h a slight increase i n strength as she responded br ie f ly The m a i n speaker repeatedly thrust her head forward toward the l istening w o m a n and lifted her hands to the sides of her head, w i t h a p u n c h i n the air as she d i d so. The man echoed her by standing up straighter and shifting his weight f rom one leg to the other as she gestured i n the air. H i s gaze moved from the speaker to the listener and back to the speaker. A s she was spoken to, the l istening w o m a n at first looked d o w n , then briefly turned her face straight up , before t i l t ing her head back d o w n . W h e n she brought her face d o w n again, she twisted her body left, leaving her right shoulder forward toward the other w o m a n . In a pause i n the speaking woman's action, the l i s tening w o m a n stretched up somewhat and nodded "yes," but then resumed her twisted posture downward to the left.
