street performance
1
3.1
- noun
- /strit pərˈfɔrməns/
:
actuación callejera
- The members do incur certain expenses; however, in an attempt to defray these costs, one person associated with the group is designated the postulante (the postulant), whose job during street performances is to go among the crowd, hat in hand, gathering donations for the group.
Examples
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The annual festival featured a variety of street performances, attracting crowds from all over the city.
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The "sexy dancer" in a Caribbean street performance seems to invoke the first type of militancy (socially unbounded).
Academic text (1998) -
I used to do street performance; soon I will do that again.
Blog text (6) -
"The first dance I ever saw was a street performance in my hometown, and it opened up a new world for me," she says.
Blog text (10) -
After that little street performance, we've wandered into look at the size of that tree.
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In their ability to move through and experience the market setting, strollers frequently marvel at the merchants' dress and street performances.
Academic text (1999) -
Berlin street performer Johan Lorbeer has an unusual approach to street performance.
Blog text (2) -
See, that's 'cause I've seen these two fellers.. doing some sort of karate street performance.
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Ritual dances sometimes turn into street performances of drunkards (parrandas).
Academic text (1996) -
Yesterday, the three of us went at noon to watch a street performance on a midtown corner of Madison, where there's a proper archway.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
539
2.7
A live show of a play, concert, or dance for an audience
2
4.4
A live play performed outdoors to show social or political problems
Antonyms
How Professional
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'street' (public road/outdoor urban space) + 'performance' (a staged presentation) yields a public outdoor performance, so a B1 learner who knows both words can derive the MWE meaning. This noun + noun construction is a common, transparent pattern across languages and the idea of performing in a street for passers-by is predictable from the constituents.
Etymology
Street performance comes from the simple image of artists standing in the street doing a performance, playing music, juggling, or acting while people drop coins into a hat or an open case. So, street performance now means 'a public show outside where people walking by often give tips or donations'.