Overview
How much of the way that other people perceive the words you say depends on way you look and sound as you say them? What if you could change your race, your sex, and your age to be heard differently? We’re doing that tonight using a new blend of theater and tech called Second Body, with audience volunteers paired with performers for a unique chance to express themselves through someone else and explore all the emotions the experience can provide.
Sign up early to take part in a Second Body experience yourself from 6 to 7pm by clicking here! Or be there at 7pm for live demonstration and performance, followed by discussion of identity and the body with NYU’s Chanel Ward, Chief‘s Leah Fessler, and other academics, artists and thought leaders to be announced.
“Like an unexpected opening in my life… I’ve never had a more personal or more emotionally freeing theatrical experience.”- DCMetroTheaterArts
Sightline Arts builds hybrid, original work across different formats (film, performance, music, stand up, audio, digital, installation, etc). Every project originates out of the impulse to investigate an idea. Our work is interdisciplinary, idea-driven, narrative, science-themed, form-bending, rigorous, active, and accessible. We are experimental in that we experiment – testing hypotheses against imaginary circumstances and imaginary circumstances against audiences. Ours is an attempt to illuminate the unknown, and to embrace the uncertainty of not knowing.
Arlo Hill is an actor, singer, and the creator of Second Body. A member of Sightline Arts, Arlo is currently a Resident Founder at the startup generator Antler in Brooklyn’s New Lab. As an actor, he has performed on and off Broadway, and in such venues as Carnegie Hall, City Center, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. He received his MFA from NYU Grad Acting.
Chanel Ward is a person-centered, results driven, social justice educator and culture consultant with approximately 10-years of higher education experience as both a student affairs and academic affairs professional. This foundation coupled with a certification as a Professional Coach (CPC), has allowed Chanel to partner with numerous institutions, across industries, to develop equity-forward communities. Named a “Diversity Champion” (December 2016), by the Fairfield and Westchester Business Journal, Chanel has a clear passion to support community engagement and guide institutions to greater systems of equity. Chanel is the inaugural Assistant Dean of Diversity within Tisch working in partnership with the Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation.
Leah Fessler is an investor, journalist, and writer. Presently, she is Head of Editorial and Brand Voice at Chief, the professional development network for women in the C-Suite and VP-level. Leah started her career in management at Bridgewater Associates, then spent three years working as a reporter at Quartz, covering gender, work, and relationships through a feminist lens. She’s the creator of How We’ll Win, Quartz’s now-annual special project on the fight for gender equality at work. Leah left journalism in 2018 to pursue early-stage venture capital, working for Slow Ventures, Maveron, and Jane VC, leading diligence and narrative investment development. Leah also advises early-stage startups on growth, editorial, and management strategies, and is an investor and board observer at Ethel’s Club, the first social membership club for people of color in NYC.
Leah graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College, and her work has been published in The New York Times, Quartz, Medium, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and more. In 2018, she was honored as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Tech, and one of Folio’s Top Women in Media. Leah’s LinkedIn is here, Twitter is here, and personal website is here.