Dance Nation
In October of 2023, I was chosen to direct a show for the Yale Dramatic Association. I decided to put up Dance Nation, written by Clare Barron. When I first read Barron’s script, I was rattled and alarmed. “Pussy” appeared more than I was anticipating, and there was an unfathomable number of ellipses. But somehow, I was enthralled. I felt drawn to Sofia’s period incident – I have had plenty of menstruation horror stories – and was compelled by Ashlee’s unspeakable desire to see herself as strong. Connie is obsessed with model horses just as I was obsessed with too large pom pom hats. Wearing them brought comfort and safety. This show held me and watched me. It is undeniably real.
I think of my role as a theater director as the creator of a moving painting. I am as interested in the acting as I am in the stage picture created through both production design and the placement of bodies on stage. For me, Dance Nation is a meditation on bodies. Bodies as consumers of space. Bodies as transient beings. Bodies as representations of adolescent angst. How do we remember ourselves when we feel trapped in ambition? What elements of the thirteen-year-old transfer into adulthood? How much of our souls do we show others?
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