YOUTH is a satiric, interdisciplinary, evening-length live performance that examines the slow erosion of personal freedom, with an emphasis on the right to speak and express without fear of censorship or distortion. It is a dance-theater work that blends movement, text, and multimedia projections, performed by six dancers and two actors. Designed for a proscenium stage with an audience of 150-250. 

The performance draws inspiration from true events that took place in the German educational system between 1933 and 1939, during the rise of the fascist regime. These historical reference points are not dramatized literally. But they rather serve as a lens through which to view our present mirroring how state control, surveillance, fear, and the suppression of dissent can infiltrate everyday life. 

Audiences will enter a visually charged world where choreography, speech and dramatic lighting design and simple stage design are continuously intertwined, disrupted, echoed, and manipulated. 

My choreographic language blends classical ballet forms with contemporary dance and character-driven theatricality. In YOUTH, the body becomes both subject and storyteller, expressing dynamics of submission, manipulation, and resistance. 

The text for YOUTH will be created collaboratively by myself and the cast, using both fictional prompts and real-world insights. As part of our research, I will interview high school and university professors in both the US and Europe, two regions I’m connected to, as I’m based in New York City but have roots in central Europe. These conversations will inform both set and improvised dialogues. The point of conducting the interviews is to create a parallel of what happened almost 100 years ago in Europe with what might be happening today in the United States.

Through the use of advanced AI tools, all spoken text will be captured and projected in real-time on stage. At times, these projections will serve as a visual echo of the performers’ words or as a teleprompter that destabilizes the boundary between scripted and spontaneous speech. At other moments, the projections will deliver language independently of the performers, asserting their own presence. Over the course of the show, the projector will evolve into its own character: unpredictable, sometimes helpful, sometimes intrusive. Our research with these AI tools will be supported by a two and a half week residency at Sam Houston State University.

The central questions of YOUTH are: What happens when young people no longer trust the institutions that were built to protect them? Who teaches them how to critically think, participate in civic life, speak up, and take action? What are the consequences, both personal and collective, when self-expression is suppressed or reshaped by fear, misinformation, or performative politics? 

Through a blend of humor, vulnerability, and physical rigor, the piece offers a critique of the state of democracy in the world today. The goal is to generate dialogue across generations and cultures about what it means to live freely in a place like the United States of America.

YOUTH is currently in early development. We aim to premiere in early Summer 2027 in New York City. Support from PAC’s The Democracy Cycle would allow us to dive into our research, conduct interviews, and begin our rehearsal process.

Premiere: projected Summer 2027

Length: 60 minutes

Performance: 6 Dancers, 2 Actors

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

Music: TBD

Lighting Design: TBD

Set Design: TBD

Costume Design: TBD

Music: TBD

Support: TBD