Missouri State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance continues its 2025-26 season with “Dance Nation.” Show times are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23-25 and 27 and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 25-26 in the Credo Arts Center.

Theatre and dance Assistant Professor Nikki Ferry directs Clare Barron’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominee.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. Missouri State students can receive special advance purchase discounts with their student ID.

MATURE CONTENT. Not recommended for a younger audience. KNOW BEFORE YOU GO.

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Play’s empowering content sparks interest

Clare Barron was inspired to write “Dance Nation” by the show “Dance Moms,” according to Ferry. The play explores the experiences of prepubescent male and female dancers as they work toward competing in the “Legacy National Talent Competition.”

Ferry first encountered the play during the spring of 2020.

“A group of actor friends and I met on Zoom to read the play,” she said. “I distinctly remember getting to read the role of Dance Teacher Pat, and I found myself appreciating the play’s comedy, unease and unadulterated honesty.”

Ferry said the play blends nicely with this year’s “Awakening” production theme. The young dancers “are on the cusp of adolescence and growing into the humans they will become in the future,” she noted. “They not only awaken to their power as a team but also to their power within.”

Coincidentally, Ferry’s student, Caroline Johnson, had also enjoyed the play and hoped Missouri State would produce it.

“One of my good friends from home, in Richmond, Virginia, did the production at James Madison University,” Johnson said. She was impressed by the “empowering nature” of the play and approached Ferry during her Acting III class to see if she would be willing to pitch and direct it.

Ferry immediately agreed to support Johnson in her efforts, and the pair pitched the play together.

“I am always most excited about collaborating with my students,” Ferry said. “I’m also excited to work on a production that includes movement and dance as storytelling.”

Johnson gains professional experience as choreographer and assistant director

Now, Johnson doesn’t just get to enjoy seeing the play produced. She is gaining practical theatre experience by working as the play’s choreographer and assistant director.

“As the choreographer, I created all the movement and dance aspects of the show and taught it to the cast during the first week of rehearsal,” Johnson said.

Johnson is pursuing a BFA Acting for Stage and Screen degree with a dance minor and an acting on camera certificate.

Although she emphasizes acting in her studies, Johnson described dance as being a “tremendous part of her life.” Consequently, she is exploring choreography to enhance her career skills.

“One of the main things the professors in the program stress is making yourself as marketable as possible, so it’s necessary to home in on all the skills you could bring to the industry,” she said.

Still, Johnson admitted teaching choreography to her peers was a bit intimidating.

“Most of my experience with teaching my choreography has either been self-taught or to children ranging from 4-14,” she explained. “Whenever I choreograph, sometimes the movement I create in my head is impossible to translate on actual bodies. However, the cast handled it with such ease and grace.”

Through it all, Johnson has been most impressed by the work ethic of her peers.

“I don’t think I could be any more proud of them,” she said. “The development of the show from the first week until now has been nothing but exceptional, and I am so enamored by their work ethic and trust in the entirety of the process.”