Dance dance revolution

Written & Performed by Ethan Fuirst
Directed by Michael Herwitz
Lighting Design: Zack Lobel
Costume Design: Paris Alexander
Sound Design: Ryan Gamblin
Additional Sound Design: Jenny Lee
Produced by Lizzie Frieder & Sam Shanker

An examination of grief, belonging, sociality, and collective joy through ecstatic ritual (with a monologue preceding it), this project adopts the language of the dancefloor to the theater.

The sound design incorporated the rhythms of house, techno, footwork, jungle, and top 40 pop music while making space for Fuirst’s words and performance to shine through. To that end, we used the sounds of nightlife – from Roland 808 bass drums to the Shame Birds that sing in the morning to tell you it’s time to go home – using original compositions, recapitulations of dance classics, and direct samples to bring the audience along the ride, balancing the familiar and the unfamiliar as Fuirst journey progresses.