Day 1 in NYC

This trip has been long in the making. It all started two years ago, in a street near my home in Edinburgh during the 2014 Fringe. While waiting in a cue to see a clown show I struck a conversation with a very colourful lady who struck me as very different from the crowd. She had a broad smile and a open energy about her as well as a congenial dress sense.

I wouldn't have made much of it if it weren't for the fact that I kept bumping into her at shows and finally at my house, as it turned out she had made friends with my then troubador musician flatmate Danny Mullins.

It was friendship at first sight, and very soon I found myself skyping Yana, who turned out was part of a NY art collective as well as a NY director and lovely person extraordinnaire. Soon I also learned that we shared similar asthetics as well as ethics and artistic vision. It didnt take long to figure we wanted to work together, but it did take a while to figure out doing what.

Back in 2014 I was doing a show with my then band "Elyssa Vulpes and The Betes Noires". The idea was to merge theatre and music and I ventured to write a play which it turned out, was just not up to the mark. The first day of the fringe I decided to scrap it and improvise instead. It was an arrowing experience that effectively split the band and almost put me off the fringe for life. But I decided to learn from the experience and it turned out the valuable lesson was that I needed help, specifically, I needed the help of an expert outside eye: Yana.

Despite this when Yana asked me to write something for her during the summer of 2015 I didn't really think of recycling my attempt at merging genres from 2014. I began writing a play set in NYC and was halfway through when it struck me that although this was a project worth doing there was something else I needed to do first: finish what I started and this time pull it off well.

So I started putting it all together while visiting friends and family in New Zealand during the Xmas season and six drafts later here I am, in NYC, finally rehearsing it in person with Yana.

DAY 1 : I arrived in Newark after a 7 hour trip from Edinburgh.Her apartment struck me as beautifully bohemian and colourful, just like her personality. Vintage clothes, Tarot cards, healthy foods and drinks, obscure music in the heart of a West Indian and Hasidic Jews neighbourhood in Brooklyn. The writing on the building I could see from my window said: Gates of Righteousness...

The first thing I noticed was the loudness of everything: police and ambulance sirens, music from getto blasters just like in the movies as well as gospel singing from the church nearby.

After a good night sleep on a vintage sofa and some morning Yoga in the kind of heat we dream of in Edinburgh even during summer (20+ degrees) I found out that all the things Id seen in movies about this city are actually true.

First of all I ventured out and got cat called several times by strange men who called me baby and commented on my apparently extraordinary beauty (I wonder if it ever works out for them, though I must say in some strange way it made me feel good, but that might be my Italian heritage)

Then I went down the subway and saw two Anti-terrorist-squad cops escorting out a mentally ill homeless man while people watched with disapproval. I doubted this man could be capable of any terrorist act but there you go.

After navigating a rather complicated subway system where you are bound to get lost without careful instructions by locals (thanks Yana) I got out at Bowling Green and given the day's gorgeousness I went to Battery Park where I decided against taking a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty given the awfully overpriced ticket and the sheer tackiness of the organized trip. I contented myself with seeing statue from afar and got reassured a better way to see it is to take the free Staten island ferry just like a New Yorker would.

The plus side of being there was the opportunity to witness a street performance by some break dancers who really surprised me with their extreme strentght and agility. Just like in the movies...

After watching them I proceeded to the American Indian Museum where Yana suggested I go to get introduced to the history of this country. Unfortunately though I got stuck with a guide who told me all about the building for an hour and a half and by the end of it I was too tired to really pay much attention to the actual exhibition, and given that the day was still beautiful I decided to get onto Broadway in Manhattan where I could explore the financial district, where economic history gets crafted for better or worse...

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Grand Central

I didnt know this, but apparently Wall Street was called that way because there used to be a wall there that separated the "civilized" part of town (the south, downtown) from the north. That is why the financial district has such narrow streets and is overdeveloped vertically. Another reason is that the soil is rock based and can handle skyscrapers while further up the island this would be impossible. Broadway is the street that cuts this lower part of Manhattan in half and it is a bit peculiar in that it is not part of the grid that makes up the rest of this part of town, with avenues going up and down and streets cutting the city across horizontally.

I could feel the vibe here being quite different from the part of Brooklyn Yana lives, very much about money, work and status, with golden writing marking the different buildings and people dressed to impress. Her neighbourhood is instead very down to earth working class and we were the only white people to be seen except for some hasidic Jews.

Since I had an appointment with Yana at Grand Central I took the subway again and found myself in a very grand station covered in marble and fancy lights and sporting a very cool but overpriced underground market.

From here we proceeded to another part of town of which I frankly cannot recall the name, where Yana had us volunteer for International Women's day. A friend of hers had organized a very cool event sporting various organizations from around the world who help women and advocate for women's rights.

this a a beautiful skylight at the America Indian Museum once Custom House

A Staircase at the Museum

As part of the celebrations we witnessed a beautiful violinist performing with a sequin dress and an amazing violin made of light, various models getting photographed with pro-choice signs, a tissue dancer who hung upside down in all sorts of formations from the ceiling, a crew of all female accordionists that made me feel like we were back in Austria, a crew of all female drummers who reminded me of the Beltane Beasties in Edinburgh and finally a cool DJ who rocked the dance floor till the wee hours of the night.

straining my neck...

I wished that I could have had a whole photoshoot in this place because it was just as glam as you can get. Check out the decor ! I was also given a memento of this day, a flower from Colombia, made by women who (surprise surprise) are underpaid.

The day was topped by two hilarious comedians (women of course) who saved the day when things got a bit messy during the variety show and reminded me of the stupidity of those who say women cant be funny!