Most of Manhattan’s Financial District is deserted on weekends, populated only in pockets by tourists exploring Wall Street, the Southstreet Seaport, and the Brooklyn Bridge, and the handful of residents who have moved into high-rise luxury condos in recent years. Yesterday morning, though, just before sunrise, a band of perhaps 100 people assembled in Coenties Slip Park. They were there to see "Bodies in Urban Spaces," a dance performance organized by choreographer Willi Dorner in connection with the French Institute Alliance Françaises "Crossing the Line" art festival. Many carried cups of coffee, though a smaller, savvier number had arrived with thermoses from which they drank vigorously.

A few moments after the sun eclipsed the horizon, about 20 people in neon-bright clothing sprinted past the crowd, cutting down various streets. The crowd stood for a moment, a bit stunned, and then set off after them. They found that one of the sprinters had somehow wedged himself between the awnings of a pizzeria and a Chinese restaurant. A group of three others were in crouching positions, fitted inside a cubbyhole alongside another restaurant. They were motionless. People snapped photographs, shot mobile phone pictures, and then rushed on, eager to discover the next amalgam of bodies. As the crowd moved, other performers could be seen dashing down side streets and back alleys.

There were two people — back-to-back and upside-down — placed snugly between mailboxes, and a group of about 10 laid out on the roof of the Dubliner restaurant. One woman had sprawled out, face first, into a corner outside the lobby of an office tower. Though the event was billed as a dance, it was not quite that: the performers stood perfectly still when in their positions, as the crowd wandered through the labyrinthine district, led on by guides from FIAF. The streets were still largely deserted except for police officers and security. The police had apparently been informed of the show, as they snapped photos of performers stacking themselves behind a column of the New York Stock Exchange, within the fences that surround the building.

Though the piece had, of course, been carefully constructed, it was still exhilarating to watch people moving freely through an area that has become increasingly surveilled and restricted over the past nine years. Bomb-proof barricades, heavy fences, and metal walls have been built throughout the neighborhood, and there are security cameras hovering above the streets throughout the district.

The piece has been performed around the world: in Austin, Paris, and Philadelphia, among other places, but it felt uniquely suited to New York. For the 50 minutes of the performance, the Financial District felt more open and expansive — warmer — than it has since the September 11th terrorist attacks. The meandering show also hearkened back the creative roots that were once so firmly planted in the area: Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, James Rosenquist, Robert Indiana, and numerous other artists once lived on Coenties Slip, mere yards from the park where the performance began.

On Sunday, the roving audience was made up mostly of art and dance aficionados, enthusiasts willing to brave the early start time. Tonight, though, at 5:46 p.m., Dorner’s dancers will stage their performance again. This time, the Financial District will be filled with people, its streets lined with many of the tens of thousands that commute to the neighborhood every day, as well as more tourists, eager to see Wall Street in action. Will they attract the attention of passerby? Will some strollers join the mass of people being led through the neighborhood? This evening’s performance is the one that counts.