MESH: The Ensemble City – Public rituals of togetherness

Abstract

This artist contribution article gives an insight into some of the somatic, choreographic and theoretical enquiry that underpins MESH project, through a combination of journal entries and reflective writing. MESH is an open-ended research and a participatory choreographic work for public spaces. It is a response to our divisive global political climate and it is concerned with the ecology of relational experiences and the somatic preconditions of our social relations. The group choreographic investigation invites people to join in the making of rituals of togetherness in different public urban spaces. A group of dancers and local residents weave through streets, indoor and outdoor public spaces, creating cooperative and self-organizing formations responding to sites and passers-by. These urban gatherings ask how a participatory choreography for a large group can bring people together to offer an experience of interdependence and cooperation through a shared physical experience. It explores the choreographic-social potential of a collaborative, responsive and self-organizing open group, whilst reimagining new forms of public collective presence.