What part of your life is choreographed? When are you freestyle? Do you like to lie back and go with the flow or are you more of the lean-in-to-it type?

Think about the last time you were hanging out in nature with no real plans or schedule. The natural world has a way of effortlessly inviting you along in a rhythm of intuition and present moment awareness. You might have a mosquito to swat or a sudden rain shower, but nature has a way of unfolding itself according to its own wisdom. When we immerse ourselves in it, we become part of it, and open ourselves up to the pleasures and risks it offers.

Now think back to the last time you were in a large city. When you walk among the wonders of modern civilization, you are participating in a dense symphony of human activity that created the environment in which you pass. Untold acts of planning and building and creating have gone into every square inch of the urban environment. The city hums and moves beneath your feet while above you every sort of human activity is taking place.

Cities are where you go to do things, buy things, sell things, learn things. You go to marvel at the collections of special objects and artifacts that have been carefully curated in collections. You go there to connect with colleagues in your profession and collaborate (or compete) with others in your field. You go there to find services or eat foods or hear sounds that aren’t available elsewhere. You go there for art, culture, music, sport, architecture—the pinnacles of human expression. Cities are where human stuff happens.

What does every inhabitant or visitor to a city have in common? Some sort of an agenda. Even the most laid-back long-time urbanites have to know the in-and-outs of their little corner of metropolis in order to enact their daily routine. Most folks are busy doing whatever it is that they intend to do, and primarily focused on getting it done. Some people are just there to soak up the vibe. And yes, some folks are stuck.

Regardless of intent, trajectory, or vision, every one of those myriad millions of myopically focused people in every urban center is rubbing shoulders with millions of other folks doing whatever it is they happen to be doing. When you put that together with the sheer volume of infrastructure, transportation, and communication that’s required, you start to see the city as a vast choreography of civilization.

For while every individual is aiming themself at something, they have to operate in a constant state of course correction. To function in the city you have to constantly balance your intentions with your reactions. One moment you’re the one in motion, the next you’re in someone’s way. And yet, somehow, it all manages to work.

Every aspect of the urban environment and the humanity that inhabits it somehow synchronizes in such a way that allows for individual intent and expression to happen through an elaborate dance of action and reaction that plays out in millions of ways every moment. It’s as if civilization is the choreographer and cities are the score. No one person knows all the moves, but every participant knows their mission and enough guidelines to get by.

That cities function at all is a marvel. We’ve been in Paris this past week and despite some disruptions due to the recent uprisings for justice I’ve been in a constant state of astonishment at how well the masses of people manage to make this metropolis sing. It’s a symphony of motion underpinned by layer upon layer of finely-tuned systems. The fact that there is water in every tap is enough to boggle the mind, let alone pondering the marvel of the Metro.

The unconscious choreography of the citizens somehow imbues every city with its own personality or vibe. The structure of the society in which it resides leaves an indelible imprint. The built and inhabited hives of humanity invite a different sort of score than the tranquility of nature—our lot as people living on this green and growing earth is to appreciate the essence of each and dance accordingly.

Au revoir à Lundi prochain!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine