In Spring 2022, John and the other Theatre for Youth MFA candidates collaborated with Washington DC-based performer, playwright, and educator Sarah Pleydell to develop The Gift, a play for young audiences inspired by the childhood of revolutionary dancer Isadora Duncan. Each of the graduate students had two weeks to direct one third of the original draft. Through improvisations and explorations of Duncan-inspired dance, the directors met frequently with Pleydell to craft rewrites of the play as they worked toward a public sharing of a more finalized script with a forum for audience feedback following the performance.
John started the workshopping process of Section One of The Gift by introducing the ensemble to Isadora Duncan and her lasting impression on modern dance. He presented the following images and sample dances in the first rehearsal.