Corpi in transito. Tra spazio urbano e scuola di danza

In the course of history body laboratories such as gyms, dance academies, or prisons took a wide range of forms, yet they never lost their importance for social order and everyday life’s social organization. What are the characteristics, role and meaning of such places in contemporary societies? What are their relationships with the urban public space? The article deals with these issues by analysing the case of dance schools, where I conducted extensive (self-)ethnography. In particular, it follows a sort of three-step circular path. First, it focuses on the dance school and the surrounding urban space, and considers which bodies transit - and how so - from the latter to the former. Second, it looks inside the dance practice room, in the attempt to show what one learns and embodies by practicing, and how (if so) such an objective comes (collectively) achieved. Third, on the way back from school to public space, the outcomes of such practicing and embodying are considered. Concluding remarks stress the role of the knowledge on and in the body as a powerful instrument of (construction and expression of) identity and belonging, and make the case for the existence of an homology relationship among a practice, the practicing bodies, the place for practicing and the surrounding urban space.