Jack and Diane uses improvisational dance tactics to illuminate the allure, the futility, and the impossibility of the mythical American dream. In the solo performance, Emadian calls on the ghosts of dance, music, and family, to excavate their cultural hardwiring.
With intricately constructed costuming by Larissa Almanza, Jack and Diane ruminates on the question of what it means to be American. The performance draws rhythmic inspiration from the classic John Cougar Mellencamp song while interrogating how cultural producers contribute to the narrative a society tells itself about itself.
The piece premiered at the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery in 2022 as part of Split Buell.
Other performances: In the heartland, Links Hall (Chicago, IL 2024), McKinzie Salon Series, Rochester Institute of Technology College of Liberal Arts (Rochester, NY 2025)
Elliot Reza 