Main Cast: Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy, Debra Monk, Ethan Stiefel, Julie Kent, Eion Bailey
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 114 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this emotional drama, a team of young dancers are competing for places in a prestigious dance troupe. The dancers have to deal with the ups and downs of trying to find their place in the world, even as their profession also places an enormous physical and psychological challenge before them. They train with the rigor of championship athletes, and like most aspiring athletes, they know that only a tiny number of them will achieve the goal they've set for themselves. Director Nicholas Hytner) cast young dancers and athletes as his aspiring terpsichoreans, including Ilia Kulik, an Olympic gold medalist in figure skating; the cast also includes Peter Gallagher as the leader of the dance troupe, Susan May Pratt, Amanda Schull, Eion Bailey, Debra Monk, and Sascha Radetsky. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
What's fun, filled with buff bodies, and totally hardcore? Why, ballet, of course. This undeniably formulaic teen movie brings the competitive world of professional dance to center stage. While the ups and downs of ballet-school life (eating disorders, overbearing mothers, "bad feet") are portrayed with all the depth of an after school special, the en pointe posse gives the audience a surprisingly heartwarming sense of the bonds formed between fellow dancers. It's not that the acting is particularly good -- it isn't -- but it's the love of the craft that makes this movie charming. Perhaps it's due to the fact that the actors are largely professional ballerinas themselves (Amanda Schull, who plays Jody Sawyer, is an apprentice at the San Francisco Ballet; Ethan Stiefel, Cooper Nielson in the film, is famous in his own right within the American Ballet Theater). Dance fans and those with a soft spot for unlikely triumphs will cheer Jody in her end-of-term performance in the tradition of Flashdance and Fame. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Sascha Radetsky - Charlie; Ilia Kulik - Sergei; Shakiem Evans - Erik; Elizabeth Hubbard - Joan Miller; Victor Anthony - Thomas
Credit
Peter Rogness - Art Director, Daniel Swee - Casting, Susan Stroman - Choreography, Christopher Wheeldon - Choreography, Caroline Baron - Co-producer, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Sam Hoffman - First Assistant Director, Nicholas Hytner - Director, Tariq Anwar - Editor, George Fenton - Composer (Music Score), Ken Ross - Musical Direction/Supervision, David Gropman - Production Designer, Geoffrey Simpson - Cinematographer, Laurence Mark - Producer, Michael Barosky - Sound/Sound Designer, Carol Heikkinen - Screenwriter, Tim Hands - Supervising Sound Editor, Susan Bode-Tyson - Set Decorator
Center Stage (Baltimore). Founded in 1963 by a group of ambitious community theatre members, the company's first production was Schnitzler's La Ronde, and since then its schedule has included a wide, responsible selection of classics and new plays. When their original facility burned down in 1974, the troupe began performing in the partially renovated Pearlstone Theatre on the campus of Loyola College and High School. The Center Stage expanded significatly under artistic directors Peter Culman and Stan Wojewodski Jr. and is now headed by Irene Lewis. Among the original offerings afterward presented in New York were Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine, G. R. Point, Roza, On the Verge, and Miss Evers' Boys. In addition to the 541‐seat Pearlstone, the company also performs in the smaller, flexible Head Theatre. It is the official State Theatre of Maryland.
Center Stage, directed by Nicholas Hytner in 2000, is a drama film about a group of young dancers from various backgrounds who enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York City. The film explores the issues and difficulties in the world of professional dance, and how each individual copes with the stresses.
After a series of country-wide auditions, 12 young dancers gain entry to the American Ballet Academy (which is loosely based on the School of American Ballet). They work hard, attending classes every day for weeks to make them the best dancers they can possibly be, and in preparations for a final dance workshop which will determine the three boys and three girls who will be asked to join the American Ballet Company (which appears to be based on either the American Ballet Theatre or the New York City Ballet). The workshop will also provide an opportunity for the students to showcase their talent to other ballet companies across the country. Gaining a leading part in the workshop is therefore essential.
Tensions mount between Jonathan (Peter Gallagher), the company's aging choreographer and director, and Cooper Nielson (Ethan Stiefel), his best dancer, who also wants to choreograph. They also have issues because Kathleen, Cooper's ex-girlfriend and fellow ballet dancer, left him for Jonathan. Star student Maureen (Susan May Pratt), a closet bulimic who seems poised for success, discovers that life is passing her by when she meets a pre-med student who shows her life without ballet. Sweet Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), despite body type issues and bad feet, is determined to dance professionally but it appears less and less likely as the movie progresses that she will be good enough. The talented but smart-mouthed Eva (Zoë Saldaña) loves to dance but seems destined to be stuck in the back of the corps because of her attitude. Tensions also arise between Charlie (a naturally gifted fellow student) and Cooper. Charlie has a crush on Jody, who had a one-night stand with Cooper and remains infatuated with him.
Despite Jonathan's objections, Cooper choreographs a ballet for the workshop (there are three ballets being presented, Jonathan and another choreographer create the other two respectively) which mirrors the relationship between himself, Jonathan, and Kathleen (and also, though done unconsciously, Jody, Charlie and Cooper). Jody, Charlie, and Erik (Charlie's roommate) are set to dance the three lead roles when Erik sprains his ankle in a rehearsal. Cooper then steps in to fill the role, and the tensions between Jody, Charlie and Cooper play out on the stage.
After the final workshop, Cooper starts his own dance company - much to Jonathan's chagrin, as Cooper's financial backer is a woman that Jonathan was hoping would donate to his own company. Cooper asks Jody to be a principal dancer as her dance, though technically behind, is perfect for the kind of dance he wants in his company. He also asks to date her, but Jody turns him down in favor of Charlie. Maureen decides to give up ballet because she finally realizes that ballet is just something she does well, and not what she wants from life. She decides to attend regular university and also seek help for her eating disorder. Eva is picked by Jonathan to join the prestigious American Ballet Company after proving her worth in the workshop - secretly taking Maureen's place, who had the lead in Jonathan's ballet, unbeknown to anyone. Jody's boyfriend Charlie, and their friends Anna (a girl who was always favored by Jonathan) and Erik are also asked to join the American Ballet Company, and Sergei (a Russian dancer who also befriended them) joins his girlfriend in the San Francisco Ballet Company.
After being accepted into the ABA, Jody's mom says to her, "Indiana has a great dance program." Schull, who plays Jody, attended Indiana University for two years in real life.
Sergei (Kulik) is picked to join the San Francisco Ballet Company after performing in the workshop. Schull, who plays Jody, was a member of the SFB's corps de ballet for several seasons.
As Cooper, Stiefel makes a stage appearance astride a Harley. In real life, he is an avid motorbike rider and owns a Harley-Davidson Wide Glide.
There is a subplot in which Cooper attracts the financial support of a flirtatious wealthy female philanthropic (played by Elizabeth Hubbard). A 15 August2004New York Times article entitled "How Much Is That Dancer in the Program?" revealed that Stiefel has a very similar real-life sponsorship relationship with a philanthropist named Anka Palitz.
After the performance of Stars and Stripes, Cooper (Stiefel) shuns Jody and walks out of the theatre with another woman. This woman is played by Gillian Murphy, Stiefel's actual girlfriend and a prima-ballerina of American Ballet Theatre.
Center Stage: Turn It Up was first broadcast in the United States on November 1st, 2008, on the Oxygen Network. The DVD was released in January, 2009, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film was theatrically released in Australian cinemas in October, 2008. It stars newcomer Rachele Brooke Smith as dancer Kate Parker, who has only ever wanted to perform with the American Ballet Academy. When she doesn't make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than a little talent to succeed in the dance world. With a turn in a cutting-edge hip-hop club and the help of a good-looking hockey player-turned ballet dancer (played by Kenny Wormald), she may just find the passion she needs to make her dreams come true. Also featuring Sarah Jayne Jensen, Peter Gallagher and Ethan Stiefel.
