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Girlhood, Werewolves, Periods, and Glory: Dance Nation
- Niomi Dylan Sass
- 7 hours ago
- 10 min read
Written by Niomi Dylan Sass
I’m not sure what is more awkward: being a 13-year-old going through puberty, or, wait, actually, nothing is more awkward than that. That is the age when our body starts to go through their gnarliest stages. Hormones start to bring out a feral part that you didn’t know existed inside of you. Experiencing new aspects of life for the first time, like falling in love with someone, being cast as a lead in a production, friendships being ruined, learning about masturbation, and getting your period. I’m sure at the big age we find ourselves at right now, we may have forgotten about these experiences. However, in the UIC production of Dance Nation, written by Claire Baron and directed by Dado, we get to relive that awkwardness through a comedic lens.
A competitive dance team of 7 ferocious tweens has big dreams for their group from Ohio to make it to nationals in Florida. They battle all of those weird emotions young teenagers do, all while working together to claim the trophy and sweet, vicious victory. Well, some work together. In this play, it vividly materializes how ambition, pressure, guilt, and fear form people’s decisions without having time to consider the repercussions. These 6 girls and Luke (Cillian Halbleib) channel their inner beasts to give a performance of a lifetime, led by the strict guidance of Dance Teacher Pat.
Amina (Ariana Kamla) tends to be Dance Teacher Pat’s favorite, but this go around, he chooses Connie for the big part in their new “Gandhi dance” that’ll be sure to get them to Tampa. With every good production comes a twist; there is an additional role for someone to play. “Gandhi” is played by Connie (Mahitha Shridhar), and the new role is the “Spirit of Gandhi,” and Dance Teacher Pat chooses Zuzu. Will these two girls rise to the occasion or crack under the pressures of competition? Do the girls make it to Tampa Bay, Florida? Are they really werewolves? Do we end up growing up and becoming what we thought we’d be when we were that young?
I got the astounding opportunity to interview some of the performers about their experience in this production. I asked them all the same questions: What was your favorite scene to work on, and what made you have a connection with the character you were playing? These were their answers! Additionally, the Special Effects/Make Up Designer for this production was able to share some insights into her experience, too!
Zuzu played by Amijah Williams
“My favorite scene to perform would probably be scene 9 since it really just stands out as a turning point for Zuzu. I feel like she realizes certain things about herself that she didn’t know before and she’s verbalizing things that she hasn’t verbalized before in this scene in such an impactful and real way. It just really speaks to my inner 13 year old. A close second would definitely be scene 12. I think what I connect to most with ZuZu is the passion that she has for her love of dance. I’m not a dancer and have never been a dancer but I do understand completely the idea of loving to do something so much and wanting it so bad that it can become your whole world, in a way, and apart of your identity. ZuZu is also a total sweetheart. She has a heart of gold and I’d love to believe that me and her share the same lust for life.”
Sofia played by Sydney Horsman
“My favorite part of the show to perform is the Gandhi dance because it's like the biggest turning point in the plot of the show, and it's fun to act out and see the audience's reactions. I think the fact that she's pretty confident but scared to grow up, because I think we all experience that in our own way. Oh, yeah, the period. Yes, and performing it in front of the high school kids. It's so funny to see people's different faces. Some people start laughing, some people cover their mouths, some people look at each other, and I just love seeing what everybody does.”
Maeve played by Sloan Avery
“Oh, my favorite part of the show to perform is, I actually think it's scene 11, right before the girls get into doing the Gandhi dance, and everything is going wrong. Sofia just got their period, Maeve just found out that like the other team has boys that are like way better dancers than they are, and everybody's freaking out, and Ashley ends up like riling them up, and they get this sort of feral energy that comes over them that really like fuels their performance and their mindset going in, and it's just really fun to tap into that energy of these girls. I really like to get into the psychology of the characters. With Maeve, I find that she's a very selfless person, she's always looking to include every member of like the group in their own way, even if you barely hear them speak, even if other people think it might not be a substantial contribution, she's always like looking for that connection within the girls, and I find a lot of that within myself as well, where I tend to put others before myself in sorts of ways, so I guess I can relate to her in that sort of way. And with the flying thing, I don't know, it's just something so whimsical, and it's kind of spiritual, it's kind of supernatural in a way, and I think tapping into that aspect just really brings all these like vivid images that she has to life.”
Dance Teacher Pat played by Sean Stegall
“My favorite part of the show to perform at first it used to be Scene 10 is where I'm like getting the girls ready, and I'm saying like children are being abused. But now that was like during the process, but now with an audience, my favorite scene to perform is definitely scene 2. Which is the opening where you first get to meet Dance Teacher Pat, and it's like ‘BOOM BOOM BOOM’ and everyone's feeling the Sue of everything, and everybody's loving the costume. Mmm, it's kind of hard to connect with things for him because he's so mean, but one of the things that I found is that the biggest reason behind all of the stuff that he does is because his passion for his craft. And that's one of the biggest things that I love, like I have such a passion for acting and art. And I feel that I am an artist, and I have such a passion for that, and I think that's where all of his meanness and hardness comes from: it comes from like a pure love of the craft.”
Moms/Vanessa played by Lucy Harrison
“Okay, my favorite mom, even though she is like a villain, I would say it's Zuzu's mom because she was a dancer back in the day and so you get the backstory of her and obviously she's very tough on Zuzu and causes a lot of anxiety in Zuzu's life but it's really fun to get in the mind of someone who is living vicariously through their daughter and trying to make them do all those things that they couldn't. So it's really fun playing an older character and also one that I think a lot of people can unfortunately relate to. And my favorite character or scene that I connect with definitely has to be my scene as Luke's mom. The long car ride just reminds me of me and my mom when I was younger, getting home from practice or rehearsal. We would have quiet conversations, and those were the moments where I felt like I could finally wind down from my day and just listen to my mom talk and hear about her day. It's really nice to be the mom that I see my mom as. Just a really, really loving person who wants to hear about her child's day and wants to feel comfortable talking to her child about her day as well. So I really do feel the most calm in that scene, and I feel the most connection to the parent role in that scene.”
Special Effects/Make Up/Hair Designer Sophia Celeste Rangel
“I'm majoring in DPT, but focusing on special effects and makeup. Oh my god, I have- all the ones (scenes involving blood) that I work on, I love for all different reasons. I love doing Vanessa's leg just because I love doing a good gore effect. I also really had a fun time every night blooding up the bathroom. Yes. And I really had a fun time doing the whole effect where Zuzu bites off her arm. So fun. That one is super cool. I grew up watching a shit ton of horror movies. I love the Saw franchise. I love Chucky. I love Final Destination. And I wanted to always be a part of the crews that work on those things.”
I had the incredible chance to join the cast this semester, which is rare for a transferring junior since the auditions are held the semester prior. I got the opportunity to be the understudy for Lucy Harrison and a part in the ensemble. My personal favorite mom to play was Sofia’s Mom because she gives the vibes of a hippie who is trying to figure out how to be a mom as she goes. She most assuredly has some extra eucalyptus oil and the good snacks in her purse if you ever need some. The character Vanessa, the sailor who breaks her leg at the top of the show, is another character that was fun to explore. Having to put yourself in a state where not only is your bone sticking out of your shin, but your dreams are crushed right before you. This was a fun challenge; I had to channel my inner final girl to portray having a gruesome injury like that.
Being implemented as an ensemble member in addition to being an understudy was greatly appreciated, speaking for myself at least. This is a class that we, as student performers, technically have to pay for to be a part of the production. Being an understudy means you may or may not get to perform as the character you’ve been cast for. I was hesitant about accepting the offer because it’s a lot of money to pay for the possibility of getting to perform. However, Dado has been known to implement the understudies into the show as additional ensemble members. We get to perform in multiple dances, and make cameos in a few scenes. When I heard that, it definitely persuaded my choice into accepting the part.
Your ghoul moved from California to go to school here at UIC, and I took a year off to qualify as an in-state resident for cheaper tuition. That year of living out here, waiting to go to this school, felt like I was in the halls of purgatory. I was stuck dreaming about the next opportunity I’ll get to be a part of a production, being able to meet new people, and make friends. The cast of this show is filled with incredibly talented performers who use their passion and creativity to bring these characters to life. It was truly an honor to get to work with all the people involved in this show, from the actors, designers, tech, and crew.
Special Shout Outs - Dance Nation By Clare Barron
Directed by Dado
Choreography by Breon Arzell
Scenic Design by Eleanor Kahn
Costume Design by Stephanie Cluggish
Lighting Design by Conchita Avitia
Sound Design by Angela Joy Baldasare
Co-Projection Design by Andres Fiz and Eme Ospina-López
Prop Design by Lonnae Hickman
Makeup Design by Sophia Celeste Rangel
Voice and Text by Jason Martin
Intimacy Direction by Gaby Labotka
Stage Management by Lillianna Gonzalez
Also, Maria Carmen Volpato Stemper absolutely DEVOURED her role as Ashlee. She has a huge part in the show where she embodies what it's like to own the power of being a woman. I can't remember a performance where she didn't get a roaring applause after her monologue.
The best performance so far was the Tuesday morning matinee that started at ten o’clock in the morning. Our institution invited Taft High School to come watch the show, then have a Q&A afterwards with the cast and crew. This was an audience that was still going through that awkward stage of trying to grow up and hold on to their adolescence at the same time. This play must have really resonated with them because they were such a vocal audience. They laughed at the parts that were supposed to be funny, and attentively listened to the moments of the story that had the theme's integral messages.
The lovely Neal J. McCollam, the coordinator of Theatre Operations / Recruitment & Admissions, was the person who administered the talk-back with the high school students. He asked them what some of their favorite parts of the show and the responses were fantastic. One person said the line “Twenty years later we’ll be crying on the floor together” stood out because it put a part of their future into perspective that they never really thought about before. Another response that some said they noticed about the show was “people are hurting and people see that they're hurting but don’t help.” Which was something that I found so commendable that someone so young could pick up on the nuances that were unwritten between the lines.
The high schoolers asked the cast what they thought the theme of the show was, but Neal turned the question around and asked them instead. Tons of hands excitedly went up to answer this, and the themes they were able to identify were spectacular. One kid said, “What’s it like to be a girl?” The next student said, “holding in your feelings out of fear and judgment.” Another student chimed in and said the show was about how “competitive nature can ruin friendships.” Lastly, we had some common themes of growing up, puberty, and companionship. My favorite part was when the cast and crew got to take a picture with all of the students, and we all said one of the most quotable lines from the show, “PUSSY!”
If you happen to be reading this on Saturday, November 22, 2025, then there are still two chances to see it this day! There is a matinee at 2:30 PM and an evening show at 7:30 PM. You can get tickets on the UIC website; student tickets only cost five dollars!
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