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This paper considers the question how choreographies and performances of swarms and of swarming show neighborhood-effects. Are the relations between swarm-participants induced more by media and/or by body-techniques? Within the conceptual framework of performing arts and choreography, the dynamics of collectives and the movements of swarms can be categorized in different patterns. In the following, I concentrate on two modes of neighborhood-effects in swarm-movement: The mode of coherence on the one hand, and the mode of dispersal (Zerstreuung) of bodies on the other. I will give evidence to both of theses modes of relating bodies – the dynamics of cohesion and the techniques of remaining related within the movement of dispersal – by some seminal examples of swarm-choreography.

Before that, I give a short outline of theories of participation and body-synchronisation in the field of performance, and discuss how they take advantage of or question swarm concepts.

My first example is the well-known phenomenon of a flash mob, a public happening which oscillates between political, media and art performance. One of the first flash mobs dates from July 2003, when about 250 people gathered at New York’s Grand Central Station before proceeding to the nearby Grand Hyatt Hotel. There, they assembled in the gallery in a calm and decorous manner. At exactly 7.12 pm, they burst into thunderous applause, which lasted for 15 seconds. After that, the crowd quickly dispersed, while police cars drew up outside with wailing sirens.

The intriguing aspect about flash mobs or smart mobs in comparison to more traditional forms of gatherings lies in their utilization of media-based applications or websites for synchronization. Referring to Howard Rheingold’s theses on smart mobs1, one could ask whether and in what ways the sudden emergence of temporary, dynamic communities can be conceived of in terms of a swarm model. What conclusions can be drawn from such forms of synchronizing human gatherings for modes of participation, if one sees the organizational form of the swarm – the non-hierarchical, self-regulating order, the temporal, rhythmical and collective spatial formation, the coherence and dissolution of the association – as a model of collective action?

The above example still refers to traditional notions of participation since the flash mob constitutes a network of participants in real-life activity. This collective activity produces an assembly which seems to behave like an audience. However, the applause is not directed to a...