Focusing on three dance works and an autoethnographic account of a site-specific performance in Manchester, UK, this paper explores how contemporary site-specific dance can alter the meaning, practice, and feeling of urban spaces. Philippe Saire's Cartographies (2012) reveals the ludic and sensual potentialities of the city, Wayne Sables's Traffic (2004) foregrounds urban rhythms of place, and a piece by the Guerilla Dance Project (2010) highlights overlooked habitual practices in familiar space. To draw out these themes, we discuss a performance devised by Caitlan in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens.
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