Abstract

Abstract This paper intends to contribute to the multimodal turn-taking literature by presenting data collected in an improvisation session in the context of the performing arts and its qualiquantitative analysis, where the focus is on how gaze and the full body participate in the interaction. Five expert performers joined Portuguese contemporary choreographer, João Fiadeiro, in practicing his Real Time Composition Method during an improvisation session, which was recorded and annotated for this study. A micro-analysis of portions of the session was conducted using ELAN. We found that intersubjectivity was avoided during this performance, both in the performers' bodily movements and mutual gaze; we extrapolate that peripheral vision was chiefly deployed as a regulating strategy by these experts to coordinate turn-taking. A macro-analysis comparing the data with an analogous one obtained from NonPerformers provides the context for a discussion on multimodality and decision-making.