UNWRITTEN
Choreographer Morgan McEwen
Dancers Lindsay Joregensen, Laura Perich, Katarina Kendall, Jarred Bosch-Watford, David Hochberg, Joe LaLuzerne
Composers Act 1 Caroline Shaw - Act 2 Michael Wall and Angélica Negrón
Lighting Design - Matthew J. Weisgable
“A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands.”
— James Madison, Federalist No. 48 (1788)
“Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”
— Abigail Adams, Letter to John Adams, March 31, 1776
“To form a government by consent is to reserve to the people the right to abolish it, less by the violence of revolution than by the more peaceable path of amendment.”
— Jill Lepore, We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution
Morgan’s initial costume sketch
About the work
Unwritten is an original evening-length ballet by Morgan McEwen and MorDance that explores the United States Constitution as a living document, one shaped not only by those who first wrote it, but by generations of people who have challenged, expanded, and redefined its promises over time.
The research and development of Unwritten began more than two years ago, emerging from an extended period of study, fundraising, and artistic exploration. The rehearsal process itself began in the summer of 2025, launching a collaborative creative process that brought years of questions and ideas into movement. At its core, the work began with a central question: what does it mean for a nation founded on ideals of freedom and equality to continuously evolve toward a more inclusive vision of who belongs?
Rather than approaching the Constitution as a fixed historical artifact, the work examines it as an ongoing process, imperfect, unfinished, and continually rewritten through civic participation, amendment, and public discourse.
The project was deeply inspired by historian Jill Lepore’s We the People, along with extensive research into the Constitution itself, its amendments, and the historical tensions between democratic ideals and lived realities. The work reflects on questions of power, representation, voice, and belonging, asking not only whose stories were originally included, but whose voices continue shaping the future of the American experiment.
Through movement, theatrical design, and an original score, Unwritten explores what becomes possible when a group of people comes together to create something larger than themselves, something imperfect, evolving, and rooted in the belief that progress is not guaranteed, but built collectively.
Like the document at its center, Unwritten does not offer definitive answers. Instead, it invites audiences into reflection and dialogue, asking us to consider what remains unfinished and what responsibilities we share in shaping what comes next.
We are grateful for support from the following for the creation and performances of tonight’s work:
New York State Council on the Arts
Westchester County Board of Legislators
The Scarsdale Historical Society
If this work moves you, we invite you to help make future projects possible through a donation in support of MorDance and the creation of new work.