Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Department of Drama Presents ‘Dance Nation’

Friday, March 24, 2023, By Joanna Penalva
Share
College of Visual and Performing ArtsDepartment of DramaSyracuse Stage

Silhouette of individual back lit with red and yellow lights The Department of Drama continues the 2022/2023 season with the 2017 Susan Blackburn Prize-winning play “Dance Nation” by Clare Barron. Directed by Katherine McGerr and choreographed by Felipe Panamá, the play takes audiences on an emotional and powerful journey of one team’s quest to a national dance competition. Performances will be held Friday, March 24, through Sunday, April 2, in the Storch Theater at the Syracuse Stage / SU Drama Complex, 820 East Genesee St. Tickets are available through the Syracuse Stage Box Office at www.syracusestage.org/drama or by phone at 315.443.3275.

“This is a play about 13-year-old girls. It’s also a play about women, ambition and desire,” says Barron. Set in the pressure cooker milieu of an impending competition, Barron uses the comedic drama of a Liverpool, Ohio dance team to expose their rivalries, competitiveness, support and joy, and to reveal not only their sensitivities and insecurities but their fierce undeniable power. “Dance Nation” has been called a refreshingly unorthodox play that conveys the joy and abandon of dancing, while addressing the changes to the body and mind of its characters as they peer over the precipice toward adulthood.

McGerr, alongside the production team and various consultants, wanted to channel the energy and spirit of the play into the rehearsal room and cultivated a space that encouraged collaboration and throws a “yay party!” whenever a mistake is made — a mistake that will inevitably lead to growth. Much like this play whose enemy is self-judgment, those in the rehearsal room are encouraged to grow, play and embrace their individuality.

Above all else, “Dance Nation” poses the question, “What am I going to do with all this power?” encouraging adolescents and adults alike to take the stage and use their microphones as conduits for the cosmos. 

“Dance Nation” By Clare Barron

  • Directed by Katherine McGerr
  • Choreographed by Felipe Panamá
  • Scenic design by Angel Lam
  • Costume design by Sofia Pizer
  • Lighting design by Mairead Cummins
  • Sound design by Kevin O’Connor
  • Fight choreography by Alec Barbour
  • Intimacy choreography by Yvonne Perry
  • Voice/Verse coaching by Holly Thuma
  • Dramaturgy by Wesley Tipton
  • Stage manager: Jess DeLucia

Cast

  • Kailee Brandt Amina
  • Olivia Busche Zuzu
  • Emily Castillo-Langley Vanessa/Moms
  • Avaana Harvey Connie
  • Sofia Leche Ashlee
  • Adelaide Lobenthal Sofia
  • Rachel Mondschein Minda
  • Kobi Oliver God Mic
  • Alex Russ Luke
  • Isaiah Tucker Dance Teacher Pat
  • Emma Waterhouse Maeve

Understudies

  • For Ashlee – Gwendalyn Rose Diaz
  • For Maeve – Paide Kenneally
  • For Connie – Lizzie Khan
  • For Vanessa / Moms – Julia Kolinski
  • For Sofia – Malvi Lucchini
  • For Zuzu – Gillian Stoltz
  • For Dance Teacher Pat – Truman Tinius
  • For Luke – Axel Vera
  • For Amina – Bella Zonderman

Performances

  • Friday, March 24, 8 p.m. (Preview)
  • Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m. (Opening)
  • Sunday, March 26, 2 p.m.
  • Wednesday, March 29, 8 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 30, 8 p.m.
  • Friday, March 31, 8 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 1, 2 p.m. (Open captioned)
  • Saturday, April 1, 8 p.m.
  • Sunday, April 2, 2 p.m. (ASL interpreted)

Additional Credits

  • Dance/Fight/Intimacy Captain: Truman Tinius
  • Assistant Directors: Stella Bunch, Anthony Islam
  • Assistant Scenic Designer: Evan Hoover
  • Assistant Costume Designer: Adeline Livingston
  • Assistant Lighting Designer: Maddy Clark
  • Assistant Sound Designer: Jay Korter
  • Assistant Stage Managers: Rachel Mondschein, Kobi Oliver
  • Casting Associate: Carrie DeGraw
  • Intimacy Shadow: Willow Funkhouser
  • Consultants: Kadesha Adelakun, L.C.S.W.; Adriana Galaván, Ph.D.; Emily K. Harrison, Ph.D.
  • Author

Joanna Penalva

  • Recent
  • Supporting, Advocating for Trans Youth Will Help Them Thrive As Adults
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By Daryl Lovell
  • 2023-24 Parking Rates Announced
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By News Staff
  • Lutheran Chaplain Announces Retirement
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Dara Harper
  • Dean J. Cole Smith Talks With FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam G’89 About Leadership and Advice for Current Students
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Alex Dunbar
  • From Generation to Generation: Doing Well by Doing Good
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Eileen Korey

More In Arts & Culture

From Print to the Big Screen, Works by Creative Writing Faculty and Alumni Receive International Acclaim

The renowned creative writing program in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English has a reputation for nurturing some of the top writers from diverse backgrounds, voices and interests. Faculty include widely recognized, award-winning writers, and many M.F.A….

Syracuse Stage Closing Season With Performance of the Ultimate Whodunnit, ‘CLUE’

Syracuse Stage Artistic Director Robert Hupp and Managing Director Jill Anderson announced they will close the 2022/2023 season with a production that celebrates the pure joy and simple fun of live theatre, the fan favorite and ultimate whodunnit, “CLUE.” The…

Syracuse University Art Museum Chosen for Helen Frankenthaler Foundation Prints Initiative Grant

The Syracuse University Art Museum is one of 10 university art museums nationwide chosen for inclusion in the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s 2023 Frankenthaler Prints Initiative. The award includes a gift of selected original prints by the renowned artist and $25,000…

Carrie Mae Weems H’17 Honored at 12th Annual Brooklyn Artists Ball

Internationally renowned artist Carrie Mae Weems H’17, Syracuse University’s first-ever artist in residence, was the guest of honor at the 12th Annual Brooklyn Artists Ball, presented by Dior, held April 25, at the Brooklyn Museum. Weems was honored for “her innumerable contributions…

‘My Poetry Is a Record of What Happened’ Says Palestinian MFA Student Mosab Abu Toha G’23

The title poem in the debut collection of Mosab Abu Toha G’23 begins with a plea that the surgeon repairing his punctured eardrum save the things he cherishes: his mother’s voice, songs in Arabic, poems in English, chirping birds. “When…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.