Once the rain left off, as one of the party later described, Melville "bestrode a peaked rock, which ran out like a bowsprit, and pulled and hauled imaginary ropes" like a sailor.

'Heeeeave ho'," he mimicked, drawing on an imaginary rope.

Curly haired and wearing a black tank suit, he keeps up the acrobat persona by walking on an imaginary rope.

In Skipping Rope (2005, Musée ďArt Moderne de la Ville de Paris/ARC) Rhode interacted with the audience, engaging them into playing with an imaginary rope.

After an improbable match point, the 24-year-old Capriati exploded with emotion, jumping around as if she were leaping an imaginary rope.

Talut acted out his explanation, striding through the paces and tying an imaginary rope to a nonexistent stick.

He demonstrated, grasping an imaginary rope over his left shoulder.

This is a dance about theater, ending as it does with a striking image of three lifted figures, in three couples scattered across the stage, pulling on imaginary ropes to close the real curtain and finish the dance.

He tugged on an imaginary rope, somewhere on the level of his ear, and then jerked his neck to one side, tongue protruding, eyes bulging.

The homeyness impulse is so strong that not even imaginary ropes across living rooms can stop its encroachment.