Dance Nation (Methuen Drama Modern Classics)

A play about a team of girls in competitive dance, exploring adolescent desire, rivalry, bodily unease, and self-discovery. Funny and painful at once, it shows both the violence and liberation of youth.

dramaadolescencecompetitionthe body

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Work Information

Inside the heat of a dance team chasing victory, the girls' ambition and fear are laid bare.

Dance Nation is a play about girls competing in dance somewhere in America. Team hierarchy, the hunger to win, bodily change, desire, and friendship emerge through a sequence of heightened, energetic scenes. Its force lies in refusing to treat girls as simply innocent; they are ambitious, angry, and hungry to claim the world.

Review Summaries

The play is valued for portraying girls' anxiety and ambition with heightened yet vivid force. By holding together the freedom of dance and the pressure of competition, it makes the bodies on stage feel charged and memorable.

Book Information

Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama
Published: 2021-09-23
Pages: 139 pages
Language: 英語
Size: 12.83 x 0.89 x 19.69 cm
ISBN-13: 9781350200739
ISBN-10: 1350200735
Price: 3374 JPY
Category: 洋書/Arts & Photography/Performing Arts/Theater/Playwriting

"Barron paints a wholly plausible picture of teenage insecurity and ambition... a play that wittily shows how dance can be a source of liberation without ever quelling the tremulous terrors of adolescence." - Guardian Somewhere in America, a revolution is coming. An army of competitive dancers is ready to take over the world, one routine at a time. With a pre-teen battle for power and perfection raging on and off stage, Dance Nation is a ferocious exploration of youth, ambition and self-discovery. Winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and The Relentless Award, Dance Nation is Clare Barron's explosive play about the challenges of being young, and competitive dancing. Published for the first time in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, this edition features a brand new introduction by Eboni Booth and Purva Bedi.

Clare Barron is a playwright and performer from Wenatchee, Washington. In addition to Dance Nation , her plays include You Got Older , which received its world premiere with Page 73 Productions and later appeared at Steppenwolf (Obie Award for Playwriting, Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Play, #1 most-recommended play on The Kilroy's List, and Susan Smith Blackburn finalist); I'll Never Love Again , which premiered at The Bushwick Starr in 2016 and was a New York Times Critics' Pick, and Baby Screams Miracle , which premiered at Clubbed Thumb and subsequently was produced at Woolly Mammoth. She won the James Tait Black Prize for Drama in 2019 and was a finalist for the Pulitizer.

Reviews

Great Monologues, Unique Storytelling & Fast Shipping!

I had this play recommended to me about a year ago from a professor I met at a college audition masterclass. It took me until now to get around to buying some of the ones he mentioned, and automatically, the plot of this one caught my eye! I’m leaving for college to pursue a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts in a month, so I wanted to double down on things to read and secure more monologues. I made sure to watch YouTube videos from rehearsals of the show while I waited for it, along with interviews from Clare Barron. While it uses a large handful of sexual language and imagery, it’s easy to understand that all of it is in correlation to young girls finding their sexuality but being sexualized by the adults around them simultaneously. The parallels, the writing— all of it speaks directly to people who grew up in the performance industry, craved to be the best and the pressure that comes along with being a young female. Monologues are all throughout the show and are great for college-age actors & older! A great plus was that my expected shipping date was July 6th, but it came in early on July 2nd. I couldn’t put it down after I got it this morning! Clare Barron is a playwriting genius. So thankful for this play!
Great

Great play, condition and speedy arrival.
Truly original

Clare Barron knows girls and women. This is a beautiful tribute and union of both. Told in an innovative and fascinating way. Should become a classic!
Great read but super sexual

I purchased this hoping to find new monologues for my students who are also dancers. It was a great read, but nothing I can use at school due to the language. Very sexual.
SO FUNNY

Dark comedy! Loved it.