Tamar Rogoff’s Drop Dead…Gorgeous, a body-horror-esque dance set in a game show that gives contestants the chance to shed pounds, gain inches, and look younger, receives its World Premiere, Friday, October 17, 2025, 8:00 PM, at La MaMa in New York City. The evening-length multimedia work will have 11 performances through November 2. From the ballet world’s preoccupation with an ideal body type, to a mass culture with promises of consumer happiness, credit card in hand, Drop Dead…Gorgeous moves from humor to pathos to propose that all bodies are inherently beautiful and deserving of love.

In four acts, Drop Dead…Gorgeous brings the audience into the studio of a TV game show offering contestants the chance to win their dream body. Rogoff’s cast of four includes a curvy dancer, an older dancer, a performer portraying an underweight 17-year-old ballet dancer, and an actor as the charismatic yet troubled Game Master. As they compete to shed pounds, gain inches, and reverse the aging process, the host offers the audience the opportunity to buy their way to beauty. A video of 60 extras function as a Greek chorus and increasingly hysterical TV audience.