Follow the Follower

The principle of Follow the Follower describes a group of players carrying out the same action at the same moment without any designated initiator. Unlike most exercises, there is no clear split between leading and following: everyone simply "follows the follower".

It only works when each player pays full attention to the others and is ready to react to the shared impulse the instant they notice it, simultaneously with everyone else. Ideally, no one can say afterwards where the impulse came from, which player (or outside event, such as a sound) "lit the fuse".

There are several exercises built on this idea.

Walking and Standing

The group is split into two teams that mingle across the room. Team A stands still while Team B walks around. At some point a shared impulse makes Team B stop and Team A start moving at the very same moment. After a while Team A freezes again and Team B starts walking, and so on. All members of one team hand their movement impulse over to all members of the other team in a single beat.

See also Walking and Standing.

Clapping Together

The players stand in a circle and close their eyes. At some point the shared impulse to clap arrives. After a while another clap impulse follows. The players try to clap as simultaneously as possible. After a short time this works surprisingly well.

The end of the exercise takes care of itself: the gaps between claps grow shorter on their own until the rhythm finally escalates. This is a sort of "natural law" and shows up every single time you run the exercise with any group.