Make music with your feet, 6 feet apart. Created during and for the pandemic, Walk Walk Dance is an interactive pathway of lines that trigger different musical patterns, transforming the act of walking (or waiting in line) into a collaborative performance. Play with physical distancing rules, one, two, three steps at a time. Because every city needs a dance strategy.

All the equipment is enclosed in a chain of boxes and planters, weighted down with local plants. Lines are simply drawn, painted or taped, not containing any technology. Their color represents different sets of instruments and invites you to move with the music they trigger. They can also be designed to encourage different types of circulation. A plug & play installation for temporary displays, the project adapts to all pathways and streets, making it easy to deploy in diverse urban settings.

If COVID has proven anything, it's that cities need to become more pedestrian friendly. Walk Walk Dance was designed to promote walking and encourage people to engage freely: some walk next to the lines, intrigued by the music; others step on them without stopping; most take a minute or two to explore the melodies; and the most fearless start to dance, channeling the missing street parties for a moment.

Daily tous les jours creates collective experiences for public spaces.

We believe strangers need to bump up against one another. When lockdown started, most of our projects were illegal. Were we doomed to never be together again? In the COVID city, where physical distancing has become the norm, could we give pedestrians a new perspective on their environment? How can we stimulate collective motion, collaboration and self-expression?

Daily started an internal research project, reading and interviewing peers and collaborators. Titled "Better Together: Reflections for Pandemic Times", this work reaffirmed our knowledge that walking can be less of a commodity and more of a journey. As Enrique Penalosa said, "We are walking animals… like a bird needs to fly, we need to walk not to survive, but to be happy!"

Furthermore, if walking makes us happy, dancing makes us happier. As Gia Kourlas said in an interview with the New-York Times: "Your partner is a stranger, and the sidewalk is a stage… social distancing isn't just about honoring space; it's also about celebrating it."

HOW IT WORKS

Step on a single line and trigger notes that play either:

-once, stimulating moving, traversing, re-triggering;

-on a loop, encouraging stopping, keeping one foot on a line.

HIGHLIGHTS

-Touchless

-6 feet between play sections

-All tech components are in a protective cases spaced by a series of planters

-Lines are simply drawn, painted or taped, not containing any technology.

-Chained modules adapts easily to slope variations

-Quick installation, anchoring with local plants

ACCESSIBILITY

This project was designed to be accessible to everyone, on foot or on wheels. And for struggling cities that need to quickly revive their public spaces despite COVID. As a plug & play installation for temporary displays, the project adapts to all pathways and streets, making it easy to deploy in diverse urban settings.

IMPACT

If COVID has proven anything, it's that cities need to become more pedestrian friendly. Walk Walk Dance was designed to promote walking and encourage people to engage freely: some walk next to the lines, intrigued by the music; others step on them without stopping; most take a minute or two to explore the melodies; and the most fearless start to dance, channeling the missing street parties for a moment.

PROCESS

Daily tous les jours has been exploring the art of walking for many years. We designed an early prototype in San Francisco in 2016, featuring simple tape on the ground with a single instruction: "Walk the lines". Various prototypes ensued, from urban catwalk ideas to light-based playfields. Walk Walk Dance is the latest expression of this work. In June of 2020 we installed a cardboard prototype on a Montreal street to test live interaction with the public. Powder-coated aluminum enclosures are now in production and a touring kit will be available soon for cities everywhere.