A visiting conductor sat in on one of my college orchestra director's student conducting training classes. He asked Mr. D., "Have you done the hands-in-pockets exercise yet?" In other words, had he directed the student to put his hands in his pockets and conduct with his face or eyes?
"Not so much with him yet," Mr. D. responded.
I pitied the student conductor. He must have been thinking, "Mr. D. has moved me around like a mannequin when he was dissatisfied with my conducting, chastised me for having an opinion about how to interpret a piece, and yelled at me to smile when conducting happy music. Now, sometime soon, he'll probably order me to put my hands in my pockets and conduct the orchestra by blinking. Thanks, visiting conductor, for reminding Mr. D. of another way to compromise my command of the orchestra!"
On the plus side, perhaps the student conductor's skin became extra thick--and so well-insulated that he didn't need to wear a coat that Winter.
