Dancing through the Smooth City

Join 'SWARM Rehearsal' with words by René Boer and music by DJ Cheb Runner.

Public space is not a neutral ground but a program: coded, zoned, and governed. Its materials, infrastructures, and laws choreograph how we move, and who belongs. In today’s cities, every movement is studied and predicted, every pause subject to suspicion. Governance operates through rhythm: through the tempo of surveillance, the timing of access, and the repetition of exclusions.

In a time when urban environments are increasingly designed to appear seamless SWARM invites you to reintroduce instability as a form of care.

We begin with René Boer, writer of Smooth City, who shares insights into how urban design, architecture, and legislation quietly script our movements and restrict possibilities for collective presence. With these ideas in mind, we step outside.

Then the swarm begins.

Together, we dance through the streets with music by DJ Cheb Runner, as an embodied exploration of collective agency. After the Swarm we cool down, with actual stretching as well as a conversation facilitated by Sylvie de Kubber to reflect on what we experienced.