An explanatory performance where I present the insights emerged throughout my research practice.

Script

The ritual of the handshake is ruled by a specific set of codes. Intentionally or unintentionally the way we enact the handshake according to different situations conveys a variety of meanings. A cubic structure will serve us as a guide for the handshake and to interpret those meanings.

Most people shake hands with their right hand. The right arm is raised in the middle of the imaginary cube with the fingertips pointing ahead. The angle the palm traces with the horizontal axis of the cube is the most important variable to determinates one’s intention. The palm perpendicular to the ground is the neutral form of handshake. It is professional and respectful. After grasping the other person’s hand it usually follows a brief up-and down-movement along the vertical axis. The up -and-down movement might sometimes evolve in a back-and-forth movement, which consists of pulling the other person’s hand several times along the frontal axis. The back-and-forth movement has the effect of making the other person unstable. It is considered an aggressive way to assert control.

Again regarding the frontal axis, two possible handshakes can be identified:

the close handshake, when the hand is close to the bust, aligned with the face of the cube nearest to the body.

The far handshake, when the arm is fully extended, and the hand is aligned with the face of the cube furthest away from the body.

This distinction has to do with the laws of proxemics, which is the study of human use of space while interacting and communicating.

The close handshake regards the intimate space. It conveys either inclusion or possess. The far handshake set the boundary between the social space and the personal space. It is a more detached way to shake hands and has the purpose to limit and to stop.

Going back to the perpendicular handshake, its neutrality can be shifted by rotating the wrist. If the angle between the palm and the horizontal axis is acute the intention is to prevail on the other person. The smaller the angle, the stronger the will is to appear dominant, so the most authoritative handshake is when there is zero angle, and the palm is fully facing downwards

On the contrary if the angle between the palm and the horizontal axis is obtuse, then approach towards the handshake is deferential and it is considered submissive.

The palm facing downwards conveys control and supremacy whereas the palm facing upwards communicates support.

Another case where the power dynamics of the handshake can be defined by a dominant-submissive relationship regards the ascending or descending ideal line which connects the elbow to the hand. If the direction is top-down, drawing a diagonal line in the lateral cube’s face, the gesture manifests dominance. If the direction is bottom-up the resulting message is about subordination. This differentiation mostly depends on the height and position of the two people shaking hands.

Finally, in the ritual of the handshake a relevant role might be played by the left hand as well. The latter can eventually double clasp the handshake, overpowering the other person’s hand, or it can also be placed and press the other person’s upper arm or even the shoulder. The sequence of these three options is a progressive climax where touching the shoulder represents the most confidential but also most assertive way of interacting.