Bankrupt City Ballad is a unique, collaborative dance-theater piece created by ARENA in conjunction with Peter Rothstein, Artistic Director of the musical theater company Theater Latte Da. Together, Rothstein and ARENA investigate the historical phenomenon of dance marathons, which became a popular form of entertainment in Depression-era America.
The piece juxtaposes the desperation of poverty with the gaiety and spectacle of musical theater in the 1930s and 1940s. Bankrupt City Ballad investigates the fantasy world of entertainment, demonstrating how it functioned as an escape from the reality of people’s lives in troubled economic times.