Hey,
Producer Jadene here.
So, the Playbill pages needed to occupy a multiple of 4, and this brings us to 12…
But regardless of page count, I wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate this team of exceptional, heart-affirming, and miraculous individuals. If talent doesn’t exist, I don’t know how to explain you people.
I also wanted to thank you readers and viewers for coming out tonight and spending a weekend evening with us. That is very cool of you, and we appreciate all your support in making this dream possible. Many of you are friends, comrades, neighbors, cousins, (maybe fans heyy), or like, birthed us. Whatever you did to get here, you mean something to us is the point. Thank you for it.
Naturally, a play about gender is by-design provocative, but I urge you to have an open mind. What Dance Nation lacks in glittering convertibles and dream houses, it makes up for in its universality. It’s about the adolescent itch for conquering your soul, your body, and the world around you, all while feeling the weight of that call to power. It pits our rational minds against our animality. The voice within against the voice of the world. How are we to reconcile our aspirations with the humility of limited agency? It speaks to the contradiction that the gaze of the external eye engenders upon all of us.
This play is about ambition, comparison, and desire. There’s a peppering in about nationalism, a brush with the collective consciousness, and a reference or two that hints at heavenly proportions. It’s a monolith of a play, but it’s also really cute, I promise.
Girlhood is a constant negotiation of space and constriction, and this play strikes at that tragic irony. These thirteen-year-old girls exist in a time where their bodies are changing, sending new messages, and making monsters of themselves. The silver-lining is that somehow, they find reason to dance in the heat of it all.
Being an artist in a time like this, and in a place like this, is its own beast. I thank my peers for taking part in conquering this— you bring sanity to chaos. I have loved working with you, and I cannot wait to see all the places you will go.
And now *drum roll,* thank you Director Lola for, frankly, all of it. This girl is the heart of the play and make no mistake about it. Every meticulous detail is a reflection of her ability to articulate and piece together what others cannot see. Thank you for constantly sharing new possibilities. You are a true leader, a lifelong friend, and I am convinced there is nothing you cannot do.
This is what we have inside these tiny bodies of ours, and we don’t have to deny it. We don't have to disown it.
Love,
Jadene
