Site-specific performance on the streets: (In)visible Dancing

Abstract

According to Patrice Pavis(1998, pp. 337-8), "The key to a site-specific performance is the search for a venue that is often unconventional but has a historical significance and characteristic atmosphere, such as: a freight yard, an abandoned factory, a city block, a courtyard or a suite", in which a classical or contemporary text is incorporated and where the new framework will give the performance with a special charm and unexpected energy." In 2019 I participated as a dancer in a site-specific performance project—— (in)visible Dancing on a street in the city of London, which took place in London's Woolwich Town Centre, in the form of performers bursting onto the high street, crossroads and squares in seemingly improvised, site-specific dance, culminating in a performance by the performers, live musicians. The performance ends with a massive finale featuring the performers, live musicians and passers-by who have learned the steps. The aim of the project was to bring together different sections of the community, from apprentices to local performers and ordinary people, reconnecting them with their shopping streets and each other. This essay may use (in)visible Dancing as an example to analyze the relationship between site-specific performance and society and the city, and also the potential engagement of theatre with geography in the context of the expansion of site-specific performance.