Tonye Ekine

Business Class©

a journey through difference 

for professional teams, community groups + students

Business Class© has been called a “mind-bending social and cultural experience” and “a hilarious, thought-provoking adventure everyone should have."

Taking the form of a training, intercultural dialogue, creative experience, and workshop* all in one, Business Class© is set up like an airplane with an inherent class system, seats laid out in tight rows of business and tighter rows of economy. We explore envy, class and connection through an embodied and joyous (if simulated) airplane flight experience, plastic cutlery and all. ‘Passengers’ are randomly assigned seats and participate in a short-haul journey drawing on life experience, art & history, and the painful truths and absurdities that confront us at 37,000 feet. On 'landing', our Passengers report deepened connections, newfound trust across difference, and a reworking of their moral compasses, the behaviours and “needs” that may be harming our planet and each other.

*2hrs 15min depending on turbulence. Flights take place in person.  Long-haul flights available. Seat 1A not guaranteed.

"What a dynamic way to get to know your colleagues and some of the most pressing issues underlying our society and workplaces. 

Through a mix of theatre (comic), performance art, play, dialogue and social reckoning, Business Class flight attendants make it easy for you to do the hard work. 

LAURA BEILES COPPOLA. DEPARTMENT CHAIR. POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL. BROOKLYN

"I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. People are flying in and out of the country daily and a lot of times we don’t get to stop and sit and really understand the daily actions and class systems that have become normalized. We are creating distance between ourselves and others...

We are in this world together and we need to figure out this world together.”

TONYE EKINE. ARTIST + BRITISH COUNCIL VENICE FELLOW. www.wherestonye.com