DANCE NATION By Clare Barron Comes to UCSB

The Department of Theater and Dance at UC Santa Barbara will present Dance Nation by Pulitzer Prize finalist Clare Barron, a funny and deeply moving play that captures the raw ambition and emotional complexity of adolescence. Directed by Theater & Dance faculty member, Pesha Rudnick, the production will run May 22-May 31 at UCSB's Performing Arts Theater.

Winner of the Relentless Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Dance Nation follows a troupe of 13-year-old competitive dancers as they prepare for a national championship. As they push their bodies and psyches to the limit, the girls (and one boy) grapple with questions of identity, desire, and power—laying bare the messiness and magnificence of growing up.

Director Pesha Rudnick and Choreographer Christina McCarthy bring their signature sensitivity and bold vision to the piece, highlighting the emotional intensity and unapologetic drive of young people, particularly in high-pressure environments like competitive dance.

“Dance Nation dares to take young people seriously—to honor their ambition, their contradictions, their hunger,” said Rudnick. “There is nothing cute or coy about wanting to win, despite the fact that often others may punish you for wanting to be the best. This play gives voice to the power, rage, vulnerability, and complexity of adolescence in a way that's rarely seen on stage.”

With an ensemble of UCSB's finest student performers and a design team committed to capturing the kinetic energy and surreal emotional landscape of the play, Dance Nation is a visceral theatrical experience that speaks to anyone who has ever fought to find their voice—or feared the cost of being heard.