Accent Sisters Dialect Corner "日落过早：Breakfast After Dusk"

With Chiarina Chen, John Tsung, Siyi Chen, Jiaoyang Li

Guòzǎo (过早), a morning ritual from Hubei, traditionally takes place between 6–9 AM. You rise early, visit bustling breakfast stalls and noisy street corners, and become part of the city’s most vibrant soundscape. Here in New York—12 hours behind Wuhan—we gather from 6–9 PM for a surrealist dialect salon after dusk. A breakfast that haunts the night.

Join us for an evening where food, accent, and noise become language. We’re transforming Creative Time’s East Village office into a sonic archive, a late-night food stall, and an open-mouth choir.

Through the forgotten edges of the Hubei dialect, we gather not to translate, but to tremble—to mispronounce, to echo, to slip. Dialect here is not a code but a diasporic glitch. Expect dialect lessons from Wuhan-born writer and researcher Chiarina Chen; a live sound ritual by John Tsung, Siyi Chen, and Jiaoyang Li, with mic’d tables and poems interwoven from Yu Xiuhua and Qu Yuan. Bowls of 热干面, 蛋酒, and 豆皮 will be served, alongside the clatter of chopsticks transformed into sonic landscapes. The kitchen becomes an orchestra. Breakfast after dusk becomes resistance.

You’ll eat, speak, and listen. Fugitivity lives in the voice that breaks (Fred Moten).

So let it break. Let it boil over. Let it become a song only ghosts can hum.

Accent Dialect Corner is an ongoing program inviting participants to speak in their own dialects and explore subcultures and local restaurants.

Free & open to all. Come hungry. Come noisy.

Accessibility

CTHQ is located on the 7th Floor of 59 East 4th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. The building entrance has no steps and elevator access is provided directly to CTHQ. Service animals are welcome.

A variety of seating options are available including: plastic chairs with backs and wooden benches and stools. This event begins at 6:00 pm and ends at 8:00 pm.

Accessibility Requests

If you have any questions regarding accessibility or to request specific accommodations, please email: Y3VyYXRvcmlhbCB8IGNyZWF0aXZldGltZSAhIG9yZw==.

Covid Guidelines

While masks are not required, they are available to all guests at CTHQ and mask-wearing is encouraged. If you are feeling sick or have tested positive for Covid-19, we ask that you please refrain from participating in CTHQ programs in order to care for fellow community members.

Transportation

The closest MTA subway stations are: Astor Place on the 6 line, 2nd Avenue on the F line, and 8th Street-NYU on the R Line. These stations are not wheelchair accessible. The closest wheelchair accessible stations are: Bleecker Street on the 6 line and Broadway-Lafayette on the B/D/F/M line, with an elevator on the north side of Houston St. between Lafayette St. and Crosby St. Parking in the vicinity is free after 6 PM.

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