Dance Nation - WAAPA

Reviewed by Jordan D'Arcy

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Dance Nation, written by Clare Barron, is the sort of production I would not have coped with at all as a teenager (my cringe tolerance was almost nonexistent), but, at the same time, desperately wish I had been exposed to. The many underlying stories in it are ones I think every person who grew up dancing can relate to,  particularly if they grew up female. I have a distinct memory of being told to make sure we brought cover-ups to wear after ballet to avoid cat-calling by men after class – an exact scene in this production that was handled with care. 

Alexandria Steffensen’s direction was thoughtful and powerful. The insight into the preteen years that the script provides could be so easily glossed over, but the content was handled with a great deal of care, and as a result, produced a really impressive ensemble piece. 

The overarching storyline follows a troupe of tween dancers preparing for the comp season. They all cope surprisingly well when Vanessa breaks her leg in front of them all (with a blood-curdling scream from BPA Honours student Natalia Myślińska, who also plays every other child’s mum), and continue to be berated by a very southern dance teacher, Pat (excellently portrayed by Nicolas Rose). The military-style visuals within the ballet class were not far off the mark of a real class, despite the tongue-in-cheek staging. 

The immense rage that only tween to teenage girls can feel was beautifully presented by Sofia Watts in an enormous monologue about the complex feelings surrounding puberty. Holly Samaneigo as Amina was another standout – her struggle between wanting to keep the peace between her and her friends and wanting to win was very believable. 

The feeling of being within the dressing room backstage at a dance comp was very real (clever moving set design by Ruby Trevor-Mills), it felt like I was sitting in the corner observing like I did as a teen dancer myself. There were many moments of clever juxtaposition where some girls had already become boy and sex obsessed, and others were still thinking about getting home to their toy horses. Although this was clearly also in the script, every single cast member made it very clear where on that spectrum their character existed. 

Christabel Joy Ellis’ choreography was perfectly pre-teen. It was easy to forget that the people in front of us were adults and not actual children. 

This production has sadly ended its season, but a big congratulations to the cast and crew on a really well presented show. 

Reviewer Note: Tickets for this review were provided by WAAPA.