Dance Nation
October 2025
IU Theatre + Dance
By Clare Barron
Directed by Kendrick Weingast
“They’re young. They’re ruthless. They’re covered in glitter and blood. A team of competitive dancers claw their way toward glory while their inner lives explode with ambition, shame, lust, and rage. In the cutthroat world of pre-teen dance, the feral beauty of adolescence and the cost of wanting to be extraordinary wage war. She will win. Or die.”
Lobby Display
The goal of this lobby display was to create an installation that mirrored the feral girlhood of the play. Inspired by the suspension of certain set elements, I composed hanging strands featuring “remnants of girlhood.” Traditionally juvenile horse toys and young adult novels were interspersed with pill bottles and period products, offering audiences the ability to begin acclimating themselves to the chaos they wre about to experience.
Presentation: Introductory Info and Personal Context
The subject matter of Dance Nation allowed for my first foray into autodramaturgy, citing my experience growing up in dance studios as a young dancer. In this introductory presentation, I interspersed facts about the play’s location, Dance Moms influence, and the etymology of the word “pussy” with anecdotes citing my past with studio culture and sharing where my dance friends are now after we grew apart.