Agreement and listening
Mirror
Two players move in perfect unison with neither leading, so an observer cannot tell who initiates.
Also known as: Mirroring, Follow the Follower
How to run it
- Face a partner about a metre apart.
- Begin with one designated leader and one follower, moving slowly.
- After a minute, remove the designation — neither leads.
- Keep movements slow enough that unison is genuinely possible.
- A third party watches and tries to identify the leader. If they can, keep going.
What it teaches
Shared initiation and sustained physical attention. It is the clearest available demonstration of what supporting a partner actually feels like.
Coaching notes
A Viola Spolin staple. Sidecoach it — "slower", "softer", "stop trying to be interesting" — rather than stopping to give notes.
Where it usually goes wrong. Speed. Players go fast to make it impressive, which makes true unison impossible.
Related reading: a short history.
See it played
We do not link individual videos we have not watched end to end, so this is a search rather than a recommendation: Mirror on YouTube. Quality varies enormously — prefer recordings from working theatres over tutorial channels.