Center Stage (2000) User Reviews

Guilty pleasure

[segacs · 8/10 · 5 February 2005]

Come on, I know it's not cool to admit to liking what is essentially a cheesy teen flick. But go ahead, say it aloud - this is a fun movie! Sappy, badly acted, full of exaggerated clichés and one-liner groaners, Center Stage nevertheless has a kind of charm to it. No, it's not an Oscar contender or a change-your-life kind of movie. This is pure escapism, plain and simple. But - say it together with me now - there's nothing wrong with that.

Amanda Schull plays Jody, a wannabe ballet dancer who gets accepted to the prestigious American Ballet Academy. The movie follows her life and that of her friends and fellow students, who fall into the predictable stereotypes. There's Eva (Zoe Saldana), the city kid with attitude. There's Maureen (Susan May Pratt), the teacher's pet. There's Erik (Shakiem Evans), the gay guy. There's Cooper (Ethan Stiefel), the bad-boy celebrity who's still in love with the director's wife ballerina. There's Charlie (Sascha Radetsky), the perfect good guy. One has the obnoxious stage mom. Another has the talent but not the drive. A third has the drive but not the talent. Etcetera. And the lives of the students take the typical high school romantic twists and turns, as the students compete for one of three spots in the company by the end of the year, and also in the various love triangles between the cast. There are few surprises here.

None of the cast is much of an actor - Schull is particularly uneven - and the plot has a sort of predictability to it that make eyes roll.

So why the 8/10? Well, because despite all this, Center Stage is a great amount of fun - mostly due to the dancing.

By casting real dancers in a lot of the roles, Center Stage lends an air of credibility to the lavishly filmed dance sequences, clearly done with love by such talents as world-leading dancers Julie Kent and Ethan Stiefel (widely considered to be one of the best ballet dancers in the world) as well as relatively new talents such as Amanda Schull. Some of the actors have body doubles dancing for them, such as Zoe Saldana - who had some dance training but not at the level required by the film. But overall, the dance scenes are the best part of the movie, especially Cooper's ballet at the end.

Some movies are great because they change your life or make you think. Center Stage is great because it's like candy - full of saccharine sugar and empty calories, but eminently watchable over and over again. Sometimes movies don't have to be socially relevant or intellectually stimulating to be good. Sometimes, escapism is OK too.

Cliché city, but I LOVED it!

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 12 June 2000]

Let's see--you've got a bunch of young hopefuls in a tough ballet school in NYC--you have the tough, but lovable, black girl; the token gay man; the sweet virginal heroine; the arrogant Russian guy; the sweet lovable guy who's perfect for the sweet heroine, but she doesn't know it; the b**** who's starving herself to death; the guy who loves her and wants to help her; the tyrannical (but lovable) ballet teachers--yep, they're all here! The script is utterly predictable, you know how it's going to end 10 minutes into the movie, but I loved it! The acting is surprisingly good, it's beautifully filmed, the whole cast is attractive and the dancing is simply superb. I wasn't bored once during the entire 2 hours. Well worth seeing.

A wonderful and innovative behind-the-scenes film about the competitive world of dance

[Shawn Stingel · 6/10 · 30 April 2000]

"Center Stage," a film about the lives of young modern dancers who want nothing more than to make a name for themselves, dazzles with some of the best on-screen dance performances since Patrick Swayze shook his hips in "Dirty Dancing" thirteen years ago. Starring some of the most talented modern dancers ever to hit the silver screen, "Stage" focuses its attention on the lives surrounding the young dancers and their struggles for stardom. The film is a revealing exploitation of the complexity associated with modern dance, diving into the realities of dance phenoms that sacrifice their social life for a role that will find them performing in front of a live audience.

Rating: 6

Incredible Dancing....the rest un-incredible

[willow_chick88 · 12 April 2003]

Ballet movies are incredibly rare. Some are good movies even without the dancing and some are bad with great dancing. This movie happens to be an ok movie with incredible dancing. The characters are really caricatures with exaggerated behaviors that come off feeling very afternoon teen special-ish. The plot is incredibly predictable. You can tell what's going to happen to Jody after the first 15 minutes. However, this movie is lucky enough to have no less than three ABT members in its cast. Ethan Steifel is of course arguably the greatest male dancer in the world right now and while I was watching him I was struck with how similar he is to Baryshnikov. His every move looks effortless and gravity-defying. Sascha Radetsky shows that if he was with any other company that he'd be a principal dancer. Julie Kent should prove to be a mixture of Leslie Browne and Gelsey Kirkland and be an inspiration to another generation of girls. Amanda Schull shows a great deal of promise which really shows in the last number. Zoe Saldana is very good and is perhaps the most complex character. She carries off this acting job adequately. Susan May Pratt is of course the only non-dancer who is also lacking in any dance experience. It's actually kind of ironic that her character has to be the most technically accomplished of the students. However, she looks as natural in the environment as do her fellow dancer co-stars. The final dance sequences are amazing. One includes Rachmaninov's "2nd Piano Concerto" and is a beautiful piece. The other ballet is one that illustrates where ballet is heading. Full of flashy colors, flashy costumes, and effects, the sequence also includes some fabulous dancing. As long as you watch it for the dancing, this movie will please you. If you watch it as a movie than you'll be disappointed.

Girl gets guy, girl loses guy, girl finds another guy, girl dances.

[RueMorgue · 6/10 · 9 May 2001]

Being of the male persuasion, this isn't a movie I would typically go to the theater to see. However, not being the stereotypical male, I decided to rent it on video and watch it together with my girlfriend.

This movie is your typical teenage gal film. All the elements are there... good girl, bad girl, holier-than-thou girl, homosexual friend, domineering mother, bad guy, good guy... the list goes on and on.

Jody Sawyer (played quite well by newcomer Amanda Schull) wants to be a ballet dancer. She is already good, but she wants to be the best. She joins on with a famous ballet school, and commences auditions for the all-out ballet blast at the end of the school year, where the dancers will be watched very closely, and some of them will be signed with major ballet companies.

Along the way, she runs into some problems with the other members of the school, as well as the company director. She finds that ballet schools aren't all they are cracked up to be. (Who knew?!) They are more about politics than they are about dancing.

She gets burned by one guy, encouraged by another, and tries to be the best she can. Eventually, she finds the way to her dreams, but not in the typical way, the one the viewer may expect.

Acting here is a tad hollow. However, for a cast of unknowns, it's pretty

fair. After all, this movie is about dancing, not about acting. As might be expected, everybody here is gorgeous. (Are they trying to tell us there are no visually unpleasant ballet dancers... anywhere?!) Aside from that, the storyline is rather unbelievable, and contrived. This leads to a loss of major points.

The best thing about this movie is the dancing. If you are a fan of ballet, be sure and rent this video. It has some of the best ballet dancing that can be seen in any other movie. In particular, the dance exhibition at the end is magnificent!

If you are male, watch this one with your female significant other. (It's good for points.) If you are a gay male, watch it with your male significant other. If you are female, just watch it, you'll love it, especially if you are into cotton candy type films. Overall, it it's no Oscar winner, but it isn't too bad, either. Did I mention the dancing was pretty good?

My Rating: 6/10

More focus on the feelings of people than the actual dancing

[siderite · 6/10 · 6 February 2011]

I understand that a movie must be about emotional expression, otherwise people would not like it, but a film about dancing should be, in my view, more about expression through dance. This film was not like that and, even if it had some nice dance scenes in it, the rest was sadly disappointing.

I may be biased, since I am watching the second movie in as many days about a self-obsessed blonde dancer who believes her feelings are more important than anything else, but I found the main character hard to sympathize with and the rest of them really cliché. The black girl with talent but lack of self control, the black gay guy, the blonde dance god and the nice muscular perfect boyfriend, the bitchy perfectionist and the overcontrolling mother, they are all in here, playing their cardboard parts in hard to believe scenes on the music of Michael Jackson and the like.

Bottom line: if you are passionate about dance and/or ballet, you might want to check it out, but bare in mind that the dancing here could have been replaced by sports or literature or automechanics and the script would have remained mostly untouched and the film very similar to something you've seen before on TV.

Unknown Cast in a Great Film

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 18 February 2018]

A group of young dancers arrives at the ABA (American Ballet Academy) in New York to an audition. Twelve are selected to dispute the opportunity to be chosen to a workshop to have a chance to become professional dancers. Among the female dancers, the gorgeous Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), the rebel Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldana) and the anorexic Maureen Cummings (Susan May Pratt) share a room and become friends. The lead dancer and choreographer Cooper Nielson (Ethan Stiefel) has a personal dispute with the director and choreographer Jonathan Reeves (Peter Gallagher) since he married his partner and girlfriend Kathleen Donahue (Julie Kent). Along the days, there are friendship, tension, romance, frustration and many training in the lives of the participants.

"Stage Center" is a film that impresses first because of the ballet dancers, most of them professionals. The screenplay with entwined storylines and the natural and powerful performances of these young and unknown actors and dancers are also highly attractive. It seems that they are indeed fighting for a chance to be recognized by Hollywood as great actors and actresses, trying to show their skills to the studios. It shows a splendid direction of the excellent Nycholas Hytner. The choreography and soundtrack are also great. Certainly it is a lovely and wonderful movie, highly indicated for fans of 'Fame', dance, ballet and good films. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Sob a Luz da Fama" ("Under the Spotlight of the Fame")

Teens in tights. Great dancing, unoriginal story.

[FlickJunkie-2 · 7/10 · 12 November 2000]

Wouldn't it be nice if someone produced a film about ballet with an interesting story? Unfortunately, `Center Stage' is not it. While charming at times with a very upbeat ending, the story is ultimately just another jejune and unoriginal teen flick. Instead of teens in jeans, we have teens in tights. Otherwise, the storylines are indistinguishable, lacking anything that approaches novelty, depth or substance.

That having been said, this likeable film was easy to watch and the dancing was exquisite. If only there had been more of it. The fact that the cast was filled with real dancers instead of actors pretending to be dancers improved its realism and delivered fantastic dancing scenes without the need for stunt dancers. Unfortunately, the flip side of this decision was the fact that the acting was generally mediocre.

Two standouts were Amanda Schull (Jody Sawyer) and Zoe Saldana (Eva Rodriguez). Schull was affable yet determined and was most credible in her portrayal of a struggling dancer. Saldana played the irreverent bad girl who was brilliantly talented but had trouble with authority. She emerged as the most complete of any of the cast members, being both a good dancer and an excellent actor.

On the terrible side, we have Susan May Pratt (Maureen), who has done a string of teen flicks (`Drive Me Crazy', `Ten Things I Hate About You'). As always, she was consistently puerile and abrasive. Peter Gallagher is not known for lighting up the screen, but he was flat even for him (if that is possible).

I rated this film a 7/10 because I love ballet and all kinds of dance. Subtract at least two points if you don't share that passion, unless you love teen flicks.

Discovering From the other side

[Freemheart · 9/10 · 2 January 2005]

What makes this something unique? What the difference with other movies about dancers?.

I just can tell I'm not a fan of the dance things, I mean I really hate those many pop singers who abuse of the dance to hide their bad work, so for year I was avoiding these movies.

But when I saw the music video of this film, something was different, there was not the same old story with the cast of pop stars trying to show they are more than a cute face. There was a cast of amazing dancers showing the best of them in just a few minutes.

So, finally I found myself watching this movie with the strange desire about an endless story. Weird, but for one who doesn't like the dance, this was a discover of whole new world were the dancers and the cast make an incredible work in a story who deserve to be with the classic of these themes.

This movie it's not shallow love story of a group of teenagers trying to become in big stars, it's about the crash of the passion and the reality, the time when the real love for something has to be tested to found the perfect place in the universe of the society, something that it's hard to find in a good film.

following the formula

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 September 2014]

Pretty Jodie Sawyer (Amanda Schull), rebellious Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldana) and Maureen Cummings (Susan May Pratt) are new roommates in the American Ballet Academy in NYC. Both Jodie and Eva are new to the program. Maureen has been there since 9 and has the best techniques. Jonathan (Peter Gallagher) runs the company and is choosing dancers for the final gala. Maureen is supposedly the top girl. Eva has the ability but her attitude clash with the teacher Juliette (Donna Murphy). Jodie seems to be the weakest but she has IT.

It's a lot of pretty people dancing. The story has been told many times before. I'm sure some are even about ballet schools. This one brings the big archetypes. I don't think Amanda Schull has a big enough presence to justify being the lead with the IT factor. There is a lot of dancing that doesn't actually add to the story drama. Unless this is only for ballet lovers, those scenes should be trimmed. This doesn't have the edginess or surprises. However it follows the formula quite well.

Entertaining dance scenes not enough to rescue trite script

[Tecocat · 4/10 · 13 May 2000]

I guess if you're a 12-16 year old girl (like most of the audience was), and this was the first movie of its type you'd ever seen, you might find it fresh and fascinating. As a 30-something woman however, I found nothing new or interesting in this film. All the stock characters/plot devices are there -- the bullemic overachiever, the Russian guy dancer, the naive good girl, the black girl with 'tude, the stage mother, the rescuing boyfriends...

On the plus side, I must admit the dance scenes were fun and some of the choreography refreshingly original. My recommendation is if you don't fit the target audience profile (female 12-16), you should save your money and wait for this movie to come to cable (to check out the dance scenes). In the meantime, if you want a better movie along a similar theme, rent The Turning Point.

Very fresh and great entertainment!

[isabelle121 · 10/10 · 8 May 2000]

What can you say about a movie that not only makes you want to get up and dance yourself, but one that keeps you hanging on every dance step and word? Perhaps fabulous. While everyone was running off to see the spring Block Buster Gladiator, I was watching the sneak preview of Center Stage, along with 300 to 400 others. The chemistry between these first time movie actors was just amazing. That dancing was breathtaking and the plot was wonderful. It was full of surprises and excitement. Had to be my favorite movie in the last couple of years. There was barely any language and a bit of sex, but it was appropriate for the story line. This is a movie for everyone young and old. It is a must see in the theater, and I promise you it will get your heart pumping!

Fun movie for entertainment

[alansabljakovic-39044 · 6/10 · 30 September 2019]

Yes it is full of cliches and bad writing but it is really enjoyable and you could call it a guilty pleasure. Also, it is Zoe's first movie. Who would have thought that 14 years from this movie she would star in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and be one of the best female characters.

Lame but fun!

[zasu-2 · 3/10 · 3 June 2001]

The writers who hammered together this script must have attended the school for cliche. There were lines throughout the movie where I was able to recite them moments before the actor had the opportunity of doing so. The kids in the film were talented and cute, but few of them were gifted actors. But all in all I would have to say a lot of the choreography was quite original and refreshing. This film does have its charm!

Shut Up and Dance

[nicardo · 3 June 2000]

Every now and then there's a new movie about dancers, or dancing, or one with a lot of dancing in it. From Astaire to Kelly to Hines, it's the poetry of motion. If you have any appreciation for the art form whatsoever, the one to see right now is Center Stage. It's about a school year in the life of three teenage girls who are roommates at a ballet academy in New York. They pass the auditions to get into the school, but then have to work as hard as possible to move on from there. At the end of the year is a workshop performance where they can be seen by most of the people in the industry who could hire them, including the resident company. They work toward and hope for a career in the most demanding pursuit imaginable, facing gifted competition, and placed on a limited schedule. "A dancer has ten years, maybe fifteen if they're not injured" in order to peak in their career and be the best they can ever be. A singer can sing most of their life. An actor can act all his life. A dancer's clock is ticking. It's only a matter of time before they can only teach and choreograph, so there's a unique sense of urgency to start young, study hard, and survive. All that might make a good movie. Might not.

Along with the good, you have to take the less than good. The characters are nothing new. There's the naive female ingŽnue (Amanda Schull), the bad girl (Zoe Saldana), the favorite girl (Susan May Pratt), the cocky lead boy (Ethan Stiefel, "hailed as the most advanced male dancer in the world"), the nice guy dancer (Sascha Radetsky), the nice guy non-dancer (Eion Bailey), the gay friend (Shakiem Evans), the pushy mother (Debra Monk), the demanding teacher (Donna Murphy), and the dictatorial company director (Peter Gallagher). How'd he get in there? There's even a Russian figure skater (Ilia Kulik) in the cast as a dancer. By the way, everybody is amazingly good-looking. Kind of like, Friends as done by George Ballanchine. Only in the movies, right? The story is nothing new either. Will everything work out? Will their dreams come true? Will they survive the heartbreaks of love, and the bodyaches of dance? Well, it's the movies, isn't it? Since the cast features some of the youngest and best dancers in the world, the acting comes second. Often a distant second. Or third. Don't expect any awards to be handed out in that area. Some parts are surprisingly weak, but then they move on and get back to letting their feet do the talking.

Did I mention that the only reason to see this is for the dancing? The way it's filmed here is excellent, without actually having to go to a ballet. The beauty of movement, the grace of the girls, and the strength and skill of the boys is captured as well as any other movie in the subject you're likely to see. The big dance numbers at the end are worth seeing by themselves, including more modern styles. Beforehand, there are a couple of dance scenes without ballet. The kids go to a club one night and salsa, and later we see a bunch of Broadway hoofers in a jazz class lead by Priscilla Lopez (original cast of A Chorus Line) that reminded me of scenes in All That Jazz. Those were the most fun. Other scenes will remind you of The Turning Point, White Nights, and even Dirty Dancing. The comparison to Fame is inevitable. That was then, this is a new century. The natural talent, dedication, motivation, support, and ass-busting hard work needed to succeed at this kind of life is touched on here, but also touched on is the sheer love of the game. For dance itself. That's the main thing. E-mail and comments are welcome.

A surprisingly good drama about the hardships of professional ballet dancing, but unfortunately brought down a bit by a routine romance between the main characters.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 7/10 · 16 June 2000]

Center Stage is a very well thought out film that follows a group of dancers through their trials in a prestigious dancing academy. The acting and directing are both very good, but the film as a whole suffers from the un-creative insertion of a done-to-death love story. The exact same love triangle seen in Center Stage can be seen in countless other films of all kinds, and this is an unfortunate problem with this film, which is otherwise extremely good.

Sure, there are plenty of dancing movies out there, but there really aren't that many that deal specifically with ballet. The way that the story is partially acted out while the characters are doing impressive dance scenes is excellent, but a bit of cheesy acting late in the film as well as a disappointingly predictable ending take a lot away from it. Despite its problems, however, Center Stage is a very enjoyable and watch-able film. Not the best, but definitely quality entertainment.

Great Dancing, who cares about the acting!

[chyde2003 · 7/10 · 21 October 2005]

There are not enough movies with dancing of this caliber in them. And compared to most, this one has fairly believable characters, good acting, and a great supporting cast. No one watches a movie full of dancers expecting an Oscar-caliber film. But to be entertained with dancing, to get to laugh, to see that stage mom you know you've met once before somewhere... this movie is all of that and more. It's pure fun. The final number is so good, my friends and i will put in the movie just to watch it (and the Broadway studio dance class scene too!). If you love to dance and want to see a group who can do it well, watch this!

Not the best acting, but the dancing is great!

[novagirl11 · 9/10 · 30 August 2018]

The best finale dance sequence ever - I could watch just that part over and over...Also, an amazing soundtrack and some classic quotes. I think I especially like it for nostalgia, but I enjoy it anyways!

Let's Dance

[Kat-174 · 6/10 · 4 January 2001]

Here's the thing, I went to this movie not caring about the plot, script, or any of the other things that goes into a good movie. In all honesty I didn't care if the actors spoke or not, I just wanted to see them dance, the plot and such was just extra and ended up being rather good. And the dancing was wonderful. I can watch this movie over and over just for the dancing, the end especially. I could watch Charlie dance forever. He is so god damned sexy. I mean, come on, how great is Jody spinning away from Cooper, shedding her Swan Lake tutu to reveal a sexy metalic one. Oh, and the next part, where they make love on the bed, is so well done. And the sexy red number in the end is so great.

Best finale dance ever

[KylieRempel · 8/10 · 13 January 2020]

The plot is basic and at least one of the actors, the one who plays Maureen can't act her way out of a box, but who cares. It doesn't matter.

The dancing is what we are here for and it is flawless! From the salsa club scene to the modern dance class to the unbeatable finale. This dancing is on pointe!

The end dance which involves love triangles, motorcycles, canned heat and simulated sex is the reason to watch this movie. Dance movie finales do not get better than this.

If you love dance watch it, rewatch it and love it forever! Dance movies done right. This is best dance movie ever! Ever!

The joys and heartaches in pursuit of a ballet career

[ruby_fff · 7/10 · 29 May 2000]

Thinking it's another teenage-fare, I was pleasantly surprised by CENTER STAGE. There is substance. It's not a mere drama catering to the taste of teenagers: the young people portrayed in this movie are no average teenagers -- they are hard working and passion driven, and there are lessons to be learned. Parents, too, can learn from this story: especially the single-minded parent type whose illusion of dedicated parenthood is to drive his/her daughter/son according to an assumed belief of what's good for the child's future. It's full of energetic rhythm, almost non-stop: teen life, teen talk, teen romantic notions and strife.

The youthful cast delivered: from Amanda Schull the self-conscious Jody, Zoe Saldana the self-defensive Eva, Susan May Pratt the self-denying Maureen, and Sascha Radetsky the self-confident Charlie, Shakiem Evans the easy-going Erik, Ilia Kulik the personable Sergei, to Ethan Stiefel the self-centered Cooper Nielsen, the star. We are given two terrific show-stopping performances, complete from beginning to end, by the young ballet dancers, back-to-back classical ballet and a modern dance treatment, thoroughly professional and enjoyable. It's a juicy plot with humorous, touching moments.

Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George 1994, The Crucible 1996, The Object of My Affection 1998) has directed a film for both teenagers and adults, showed us the other side of a career pursuit in ballet -- the strife and heartaches trying to gain recognition/inclusion by a renown ballet company. Blood, sweat, tears and guts certainly required. Entertaining, definitely!

Some Great Dancing

[Scottie-3 · 4/10 · 14 May 2000]

Center Stage cobbles together some of the best elements

of Fame, The Turning Point, Flashdance, and Dirty Dancing, so it feels very homogenized and predictable.

That's not to say it's bad. I appreciated that the film did not

gloss over the darker sides of the dance world (unhealthy

obsessions with body images, bulemia, the unnatural and

tortuous effects of ballet on the body), but neither does

Center Stage dwell on them. The tone is mostly upbeat, the

structure formulaic. Although cliched and familiar, this movie does not stint on

dance sequences, and the dancing in this film is pretty

phenomenal. Especially noteworthy is Ethan Stiefel, who

plays the ballet company's male star. He is easily the most

electrifying male dancer since Baryshnikov and may even

be better. Check out his performances here of MacMillan's

Romeo and Juliet and Balanchine's Stars and Stripes and

see if you disagree.

Wonderful. Stunning. If You Liked 'Fame', You Will Love This Movie.

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 13 August 2003]

A group of young dancers 'fight' against each other to be selected in a workshop promoted by ABA (American Ballet Academy). Only a few of them will have a chance to be professional dancers, but all of them love to dance.

The movie focuses the plot in Jody Sawyer (the delicious, gorgeous, graceful Amanda Schull - what a beautiful woman she is!); the rebel Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldana); and the anorexic Maureen Cummings (Susan May Pratt), in the female side, and Cooper Nielson (Ethan Stiefel) and Charlie Sims (Sascha Radetsky) in the male side. There are many other secondary characters that participate in the plot, like the mother of Maureen, the director of the company Jonathan Reeves (Peter Gallagher) and many others. The first point that impresses is the number of characters, all of them well defined in the plot having a major or a minor participation in the storyline. Second, the natural and powerful acting of these young and unknown actors and dancers. It seems that they are indeed fighting for a chance to be recognized by Hollywood as great actors and actresses, trying to show their skills to the studios. It shows a splendid direction of the excellent Nycholas Hytner. The choreography and soundtrack are also great. Certainly it is a lovely and wonderful film, highly indicated for fans of 'Fame', dance, ballet and good movies. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Sob a Luz da Fama" ("Under the Spotlight of the Fame")

Note: On 17 February 2018 I saw this film again.

The Vidiot Reviews...

[capone666 · 6/10 · 2 April 2011]

Center Stage

The main difference between attending ballet school and public school is that at ballet school they encourage you to sleep with your teacher to get ahead.

A fact at least one student in this drama proves.

With only a few openings for the prestigious ballet academy workshop, a group of aspiring dancers (Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Amanda Schull) compete against one another and themselves for the coveted positions.

Meanwhile, there is a power struggle between the troupe's current choreographer Jonathon (Peter Gallagher) and Cooper (Ethan Stiefel), the lead dancer looking to replace him.

Tackling the commonplace concerns facing ballet dancers, from eating disorders to complex love triangles that can only be explained through exaggerated movements, Center Stage is a realistic yet ridiculous look at the cutthroat art form.

Besides, wouldn't sex with a ballerina have to involve 5 additional ballerinas, just to make it feel like there's someone else there? (Yellow Light)

A weak film lacking the passion of it's subject.

[=G= · 5/10 · 27 October 2000]

"Center Stage", a film about young students of the ballet trying to succeed, is diluted by too many characters (most of them sophomoric stereotypes) and soapy subplots and plagued by bad acting, melodrama, juvenile music, and even mediocre choreography. The film lacks the verve and passion of the art it attempts to represent though it does showcase plenty of dancing. This flick will be appreciated most by young females and dance enthusiasts.