The Room We Carry is the first chapter of YOUTH, a dance-theatre duology.

Follow five teachers as they recount fragments of their youth, reconnecting with who they once were and the questions they still carry. Now they stand at the front of the room, the people we listen to, question, and learn from. There is power in holding that attention, and responsibility in what they choose to share. But what happens when the rules about what they can teach or say begin to change?

Between tenderness and play, they find ways to support one another as the space shifts around them. Through highly physical movement, text, and projections, the work weaves personal confessions with the quiet tensions of being surveilled. The familiar takes on another meaning.

The Room We Carry celebrates those who make space for others, while asking what it takes to keep that space safe.

Premiere: November 5th, 2026

Length: approximately 60 minutes

Choreography and Direction: Nicole von Arx (in collaboration with the cast)

Performance: Caitlin Taylor, Gabe Katz, Dareon Blowe, Juan Carlos Franquiz II, and Michael Greenberg

Understudies: Derek Lee, Thy-Lan Alcalay

Projection Design: Amanda Hameline

Lighting Design: Kyle Driggs

Support: La Jeunesse was co-commissioned by the Yale Schwarzman Center and TBD. This program has been made possible in part through the sponsorship of Counterpart, with funding provided by TBD, Developed through an artist residency at Green Box Arts, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.