New York, NY
The City Speaks
A man in many costumes is going to teach you how New Yawkahs tawk.
A participatory piece of street theater—disguised as a walking tour—explores New York language and slang. Set in the historically linguistic melting pot of the Lower East Side, this two hour exploration of words and accents is led by a man in a jumpsuit known as “The Tour”—but all guests participate. Together everyone explores more than the origin of local phrases or how New Yawkers tawk; we also communicate across the city’s diverse cultures to see how they form a new one.
Audience Role
The audience will interact with each other through creative art projects, a scavenger hunt, and a dance session. Additionally, the audience interacts with the performer ("The Tour") as he creates mini improvised scenes of New Yorkers in conversation with various people from the group—whether or not they're actually from New York. Audience will never be coerced into doing anything they feel uncomfortable with, though the more interaction among them and the performer, the more enriching the experience is.
Ages: 13 +
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Years on EI
About Studio Dérive
Pronounced “day-rEEv”* [de.ʁiv], is a creative performance and art studio that uses maps as a means to discover, experience, and reorient our perspectives. Dérive explores our life geography—defined as our personal narratives and how we relate to both community and the physical world. The project aims to reimagine how we use public and natural spaces so that we can better understand our place in the world. The studio is centered on two main projects, a series of street performances, realized as walking tours, as well as a bundle of one-on-one collaborative projects known as Life Maps.