Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 4:30pm – At the Barre by Yasmine Beverly Rana (presented as part of the Madison Mostly Dance Festival ’24). In partnership with their New Jersey Women Playwrights Program, internationally acclaimed playwright Yasmine Rana has created a play about the healing power of dance.
The women at the barre tell their stories and discover inspiration and empowerment in the sacred space of a ballet barre class in New York City. This beginner class is diverse in body size and age with the youngest being nineteen and the eldest, eighty. Their life experiences include sexual assault, breast cancer, an arranged marriage, the deportation of a spouse, and war in Syria. Their cultural identities include Russian, Indian, Pakistani, Syrian, and Central American. Despite their differences in age and life, they are unified by their desire and need to embrace and express themselves through their bodies. With the advent of movements including Me Too and DACA, the women at the barre share moments of warmth, humor, and encouragement at a most relevant time in history.
Originally posted on njstage.com – Read the full article here