How real is our phantom partner, and what can we learn from them?

It's alive!
–Baron Victor von Frankenstein

In another sport, we call this shadow boxing. Even when we have regular practice partners, practicing solo is some of the most valuable explorations we can do for ourselves (and our future partners). But only when we make it real.

Let's not waste time and opportunity just because we have no live partner to practice with.

There are (at least) two types of solo practice: technique and “partner”.

In technique practice, we don’t concern ourself with a partner. You are working purely on posture, quality of stepping, pivoting, use of body spirals, alignment, lines, balance, and specific moves (boleos to front and back, enrosques, etc.).

In “partner” practice solo, we are practicing dancing — without music if we are working strictly on the quality of movement, with music if we are working on musicality, creativity, and quality of movement. In this work, we want to “visualize” and “feel” an imaginary—but as real as our senses can make it—partner. Our phantom partner should be so real that an onlooking person of imagination and empathy can also visualize the imaginary partner in our embrace. We will treat this partner just as we would a real one, with the difference that we can idealize their dancing qualities.

That idealizing does not, however, mean that we can disregard how our dancing affects them. Paradoxically, we may find ourself even more aware of our movement as we expand our awareness of how our partner needs to move. For example, did we just lead that step around, into, or away from us? Did we dissociate to give our partner room to move?

Make the phantom partner real to ourself and to onlookers. Our phantom partner is wonderful. They are always ready to work when we are, and they can keep up with us and go as long as we can. Treat them well.

We write this during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic social-distancing. Too many have lost partners. Many are no longer able to dance with their usual and favorite partners.

Being without a partner could be a sad time of inaction. Where our skills and our interests dwindle. It can also be a wonderful time for focus, work, and play, where we discover more about how to bring our best to partners when we can rejoin them. We will improve old skills and develop new ones to bring to our real partners when we can rejoin them.

Even when we have a real partner readily available, we feel that solo practice and solo dancing with our phantom partner can be some of the best work we can do to bring our best to real partners.

Our minds constantly create phantoms out of nothing. Our experience of the world is a phantom of how our senses—peculiar to us individually—interpret the energy that acts upon them.

Our bodymind has powerful abilities to conjure rich (or miserable) reality from the illusions of our experience and imagination. Let's learn how to use this powerful tool well.

The benefits of solo practice increase in proportion to the “reality” of our phantom partners and the power of the awareness we bring to them.

Begin with standing in front of our partner. Does their gender, sexual orientation, race, political affiliation, or any of the ways we categorize people – does that mean anything for dance or practice?

What can we sense of your partner's alertness, energy, and interest? Is this partner short or tall? Small or large? Do they invite us in for a close embrace or prefer to stay apart?

Now begin moving with this partner. Simple weight changes to begin, then sidestep, then begin walking. Do you have a sense of this partner's experience level?

As we learn more about our partner's capabilities, we can begin carefully and thoughtfully expanding the range of movement vocabulary and dynamics. As our awareness and trust of our partner expand, we may begin testing them and ourself. What are we able to do together? How much can we learn together?

Notice that we use this same technique in the Move videos in the Game. We want to be sure that viewers follow our moves as if they are our phantom partners and we are their phantom partners.

“Solo” practice with our phantom partners has benefits over couple practice.

1. We have immediately available partners in a wide variety of size, shape, and experience-level.
2. Our partners are always available in our preferred practice time and place.
3. Our partners happily dance with us for as long or short a time as we wish.
4. Our partners happily work on whatever we want to work on.
5. We don't rely on our partners for support or balance.
6. We can take as much time as we want to work on something.

By keeping our phantom partner in our embrace throughout our practice, we:

• Keep our partner always in mind.
• Improve mobility and strength in our torso.
• Ensure that our moves can be done without breaking the partner embrace.