Works by Ying Ying Li:
DANCE MOMS
THIS COULD BE YOU
Synopses:
Dance Moms – It’s heady times for the Slotted Spoons, a dance troupe of four middle-aged moms. The mayor’s retirement celebration will be the biggest show of their lives, but the moms need a new choreographer, and they need one fast. Fortune upon fortunes, their fearless leader, Jenny Hu, has secured the services of an exquisitely, hauntingly, unconventional young woman named India (no relation to the country) who soon has the Spoons whipped up into some kind of a… a… well, it’s not a dance, exactly? There’s a lot of soul-baring. Maybe too much. And a huge bag of what they’re told is just sweet, sweet, candy.
This Could Be You – A trailblazing law firm partner has been assigned a mentee by her law firm’s diversity committee, but she would love to switch to someone else, anyone else. An aspiring comic just graduated from her Stand-up for Beginners class, and the sound guy for her graduation show is awfully keen to give her some good ol’ constructive criticism. What makes a good mentor? A good mentee? When does mentorship become dangerous? THIS COULD BE YOU grabs the warm and fuzzy idea of mentorship by the lapels, turns it upside down, and examines the questionable crumbs, tender tissue balls, and dirty change that falls out of its finely lined pockets.
Bio:
Ying Ying Li was born in Beijing and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is a 2025-2026 Artistic Resident at the cell, a Colt Coeur company member, a writer in the Parent/Caregiver Playwrights Group, and a member of the 2026 Relentless Award Subcommittee. She has been a Colt Coeur Resident Artist (2024-2025), a New York Theater Workshop 2050 Artistic Fellow (2023-2024), and a member of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group (2020-2023). Full-length plays include This Could Be You (Spotlight Series at The Public, NYTW workshop), Dance Moms (Premiere Play Festival semi-finalist, NEA grant recipient, Colt Coeur workshop), and the solo show But Today I am Fine (The Venturous Play List 2025-2027, ANPF 2026). Her work has been developed or seen at The Public, NYTW, TheatreSquared, Queens Theatre, the cell, The Tank, Project Y, Boomerang Theatre, The Brick, and on The Highline (so many helicopters, lesson learned). Her humor writing and videos have appeared in publications such as the NYT, Buzzfeed, Wired, MSN, Lifehacker, Men’s Health, and Mental Floss. She has two small delicious children.