Nancy Stark Smith began developing the Underscore in the early nineties. The score observes states that occur in the practice of contact improvisation and improvisational dance practices and follows the stages of arrival, development, and resolution that naturally tend to occur at contact improvisation jams as well as other improvisational contexts, hence the name suggests the underpinnings of our practice. After the initial "Pow-wow" of verbal check-ins, the score is done generally without speaking until the "Thanksgiving" time of sharing reflections of individual experience.

The Global Underscore is a simultaneous practice of the Underscore around the world. The Global Underscore practice is a slightly modified Underscore. A special "small dance" stand happens during the "Skinesphere" phase, in which each site faces the next site on the path of Underscores happening around the world. A closing small dance stand, facing the other direction, concludes the Global Underscore.