How Social Choreographies Re-Figure the Urban Space

Urban spaces are choreographed orders. This is evident not only in the architecture and infrastructure but also in the organisation of people’s movements. The article explores the question of how public spaces are re-figured through choreographic orders and movement practices. To this end, the concept of social choreography in urban space is outlined. Social choreography describes the relationship between macro- and microstructure, order and practice. On the one hand, it shows social spaces as choreographed spaces. Choreography is understood here as normative and representative. Its order regulates the flow of movement and thus also controls the patterns of social perception and experience. On the other hand, social choreography addresses an emergent order, which develops in social situations. This perspective focuses on the movements and physical interactions that conventionalise or undermine and disrupt the established order. The relationship between macro- and microstructure is illustrated using the example of artistic interventions and choreographed protest cultures.