SAN DIEGO — There’s plenty of drama in dance studios, especially when there are competitions coming up. It’s a lot of pressure to put on these kids and rivalries among friends complicate their relationships.
The characters are “tweeners,” children in their pre-teen years filled with rambunctious energy, insecurities and curiosities navigating the choppy waters of their developing minds and bodies. But the actors are adults, some with wrinkles and gray, navigating life’s latter transitions. The effect is both strange and amusing.
“Children live the in the world where not everyone gets a chance.”
Darren Scott is “Dance Teacher Pat” (that’s what they call him) a severe, drama queen taskmaster. To wow the judges at the next competition, he’s come up with “World On Fire” about the life of Gandhi …whom the kids have never heard of.
Sarah Karpicus plays The Moms, all of them. One mom wants Dance Teacher Pat to heap praises on her daughter and tell her that she’s special. While everyone is special to their mothers, few of us are special beyond that sphere.
Each character gets a monologue, taking the audience into their confidence like opening up a diary. Andréa Agosto is intense as Ashlee. At thirteen, she’s confident, loud, salty and ready to take on the world. Farah Dinga plays Connie, a shy little nerd who’s desperate for attention. She knows that she’s not the most graceful dancer, but she really wants a chance to shine. Sandra Ruiz -as Sofia- has a precocious fascination with reproductive parts and talks pretty candidly about what she thinks sex will be like. And Li-Anne Roswell was the most genuinely childlike as Maeve. She likes dancing well enough, but her real passion is saving the wolves, even howling when happy.
Wendy Maples plays Amina, who is supposed to be the fiercely competitive star dancer of the class, but she’s not the strongest dancer. That distinction goes to Joy Yvonne Jones whose well-trained body moves with grace and poise. Yet as Zuzu, she plays second fiddle. Under the strain of both the dance competition and her mother’s cancer, she starts to crack in disturbing ways.
Eddie Yaroch is fun to watch as Luke, the one boy in the class. Shy and eager to please, he has the sweetest crush on Zuzu. Yet he’s so used to being “one of the girls” that he turns when they call for the girls’ attention. So I was disappointed not to learn more of his story.
There were some other pretty surreal turns, but I don’t want to give too much away. The story focuses more on their personal drama than on the dancing, which frankly fell a little flat. Always one to push boundaries, Director Jennifer Even Thorn made so many daring choices that it was difficult to land.
Dance Nation is playing at the Moxie Theatre in the College/Rolando area through Sep 15, 2019. There’s a parental advisory for explicit content, mainly for words that your kids probably use anyway.
*
Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com