'Dance Nation' review: Awkward drama about teen angst

Eight dancers are tapping their hearts out as the curtain opens on "Dance Nation," Clare Barron's raw and intense new play now at Playwrights Horizons. And there is significant heart — along with serious teen angst — in the piece, which focuses on the workings of a competitive dance team fighting for a spot in the national championships.

But somewhere between that opening tap routine and the final competition piece about the legacy of Gandhi, things get lost in a confusing mix of flash forwards and weirdly reflective monologues.

Barron has made an interesting choice, depicting these 13-year-old dancers with actresses of varying ages, letting us see the women they will eventually become. And the performances are strong and heartfelt. But the crude language and obsession with the female body — including brief nudity in a locker room scene — are disquieting and at times uncomfortable. And the graphic visuals of a young woman getting her first period moments before she goes onstage amount to severe theatrical TMI. 

The play is yet another exploration of tortured adolescence (recall last year's "The Wolves" about a high school soccer team), and at its best it captures the humor and uncertainty of those days. We were all 13 once.