This could be Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys, published in 1960.
The story concerns an alien labyrinth on the Moon. In order to progress through it, an explorer has to performs sets of completely arbitrary signs and gestures. For example:
It is, for example, fatal to kneel on one knee while facing Lunar
north. It is fatal to raise the left hand above shoulder height while
in any position whatsoever. It is fatal past a certain point to wear
armor whose airhoses loop over the shoulders. It is fatal past another
point to wear armor whose air tanks feed directly into the suit
without the use of hoses at all. It is crippling to wear armor whose
dimensions vary greatly from the ones we are using now. It is fatal to
use the arm motions required to write the English word ‘yes/ either
with the left or right hand.
If they fail to follow the actions precisely, the structure kills them. In order to make progress, the explorers are sent to the Moon via a matter transporter, while remaining on Earth in a state of sensory deprivation that allows them to share the experiences of their doppelganger and so assemble the list of actions required to unlock each trap. When the transported version dies, however, it is very disturbing for the original, and only one explorer, Barker, was able to retain his sanity after his double was killed.
In particular, one of the traps is dealt with by making a set of moves that Barker describes as:
"I dodge, and duck, and twist, and inch, and spring, and wait for
the—the—...
which resembles the description given by the OP.
As noted by DavidW in comments, a shortened version of the novel was published in F&SF in December 1960. This is available from the Internet Archive here, and was also published in Bova's Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume IIB in 1973.
