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‘City Stories 2018,’ an annual gala benefiting University Settlement, is happening this year on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, at 6 p.m. at the Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St, New York. The theme of this year is the narratives of the people of New York City and leading community artists are set to perform at the performance event.

At the gala, the 2018-19 Artists-In-Residence will perform their latest pieces from their time with The Performance Project. Creative Traffic Flow (Jeesun Choi, Kristin Rose Kelly, Dawn Crandell), Culinary Theater (Brandon Woolf, Ben Gassman), Sophia Dawson and Jesca Prudencio will present alongside Soul Inscribed and Gotham Dance Theater. The experimental performances, which include community members, on-site creation and more, will happen throughout the evening in different parts of the renown New York City landmark.

Creative Traffic Flow is set to present ‘Duets of Difference,’ a performance that addresses how people find unity and equity despite conflict and difference. Jeesun Choi, the founding member of the collective, is bringing her expertise as a playwright and director to explore the body as an instrument for personal and political change.

“For the last few months, we have been working with different members of the University Settlement community to start a conversation and create art around personal narratives,” Choi says. “We hope to show through our performance just how rich, diverse and complex the stories that arise from the community of University Settlement are.”

Sophia Dawson will share ‘The Visit,’ which creates a dialogue around a subject that is often considered taboo.

Jesca Prudencio will present ‘Nohing,’ a piece intersecting testimony, media, and Noh dance to explore the mask women wear to survive harassment.

University Settlement provides support services to residents of the Lower East Side, and now offers programs in 31 locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Through the programs, it impacts 40,000 New Yorkers every year.

Get your tickets here: https://www.universitysettlement.org/us/news/events/city-stories-2018/