In 1984 New Jersey, fifteen-year-old Beatriz Mendez dreams of becoming a professional dancer like her idol Debbie Allen. Then her gang-leader brother is murdered and the fierce Beatriz is forced to step into her brother's shoes to run the gang at a time when cocaine was the dominant force running the neighborhood. Her dreams of dancing are all but gone, and her mother, grieving over the loss of her son, has turned into a shell of her former self. Then a classmate asks Beatriz to join him in a dance competition and her passion for dance once again sneaks in.