A Bunch Of People Are Cramming Themselves Into Random Spaces Around Toronto & Here’s Why

A travelling art exhibit is taking up space in Toronto's streets, literally.

If you've walked by a bunch of colourfully-clothed bodies crammed into some tight nooks and crannies throughout the city, you've just stumbled upon Willi Dorner's Bodies in Urban Spaces.

As of Thursday, May 26, and going on until Saturday, May 28, Torontonians can watch dancers tangle their bodies within the city's architecture in some pretty head-scratching, gravity-defying ways.

Those who are interested in seeing where and how all of the performers will interact with Toronto's streets can grab free tickets to the event, where they will be guided on an hour-long walking tour. Where the tour will take place will only be revealed to ticketholders 24 hours before the walk is expected to start.

Anyone who wants to check it out might want to act fast because there are only four different times that the tour will run with the first setting off at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.

"Bodies in Urban Spaces also points to the ways our movement and behaviours are restricted in public space. By playfully misusing public space, the performance invites us to reflect on our relationship to public space, and who and what it is for," the event description reads.

This roaming performance marks the beginning of The Bentway's STREET programming, which lasts until August 21.

"The street has long been a place for creative exploration. Throughout the pandemic this innovation accelerated and we saw cities everywhere reconsider these familiar routes as sites of improvisation and renewed action," Ilana Altman, co-executive director of The Bentway, said in a news release.

There will be a variety of art installations, performances and workshops that will pop up under the expressway and on neighbouring roads, sidewalks and public spaces.