Last December, Dance Ōtepoti asked local choreographers to submit an application for City Moves, a choreographic commission to bring dance to public places in a format that allowed an "accidental audience" of people to enjoy dance in the streets.
Two choreographers — Swaroopa Prameela Unni and Xzenia Kutia — were commissioned to create pop-up performances.
Kutia recently co-ordinated a mob of dancers from a range of groups and styles who emerged in the food court of the Meridian Mall and then danced out to the newly pedestrianised areas of George St.
"My aim for this flash mob was to offer a performance opportunity to my fellow dancers, to unite different dance communities together, showcase what talent we have in Dunedin and spread joy," she said.
Another recent event saw Unni lead students from her Natyaloka School of Indian Dance out on the street at the Otago Farmer's Market and later in the day along George St.
This was possibly the first time traditional Indian dance was performed on the streets of Dunedin, she said.
"It highlighted the fact that we are all part of the Dunedin crowd, we are not separate.
"We are different identities, different ethnicities, different ideologies, all of us are part of the Ōtepoti crowd."
Dance Ōtepoti founder Anna Noonan said the organisation arose from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Manatū Taonga cultural sector innovation fund.
Over the past year she had conducted research into how best to support the Ōtepoti dance community.
She had started a monthly newsletter and was developing a database of all the dance classes available in the city.
One of the challenges from her research was being able to afford to see performances, so during the Dunedin Arts Festival a "Go and See" fund was established so people could apply to help cover the costs of tickets.
"We discovered that it's actually really expensive to go to a show.
"When cost of living is so high, spending $50 or $60 on a ticket, sometimes this is out of reach," Ms Noonan said.
Other initiatives included a warm-up fund to help support safe dance practice.
