Center Stage [HD]

Absolutely magnificent dance performances
This is a movie about fresh-faced young ballet dancers who attend the American Ballet Academy and compete for a few coveted spots in the ballet company.

This is the first film for the stars, Amanda Schull, who in real life is an apprentice at the Corps de Ballet in San Francisco, and Ethan Steifel, who is the principal dancer for the American Ballet Theater and considered the best male dancer in the world. Their acting is good, but it overshadowed by their absolutely magnificent dance performances.

There's a good universal story here of the competition among the young dancers, their hopes and dreams, romances and mishaps. There's Zoe Saldana as the wisecracking rebel with an attitude who nevertheless loves to dance. There's Susan May Pratt as a bulimic who has been pressured into ballet by her mother. There are several love triangles and some surprises in the plot.

But most of all -- there is the dancing. Ah, the dancing! There's classical ballet and Latin dancing and a...

The ONLY film that ever made me want to get up and dance!
I saw Center Stage once in the theatre and bought it recently on DVD. It hasn't left my DVD player, and I've probably watched it upwards of seven or eight times since. The cast is energetic and amazingly talented, the soundtrack is an excellent match to the various types of dance numbers, and the dancing itself is sublime.

I loved the extra features on this DVD, most notably the isolated soundtrack, director's commentary, deleted scenes and the extended dance sequences. The video by Mandy Moore was also a nice touch seeing as it uses footage of the cast of Center Stage and is an excellent song on its own.

The isolated soundtrack works well with the workshop numbers as well as the club scene. The commentary by Nicholas Hytner was interesting as well--for example, the NY skyline in the dance studio was simply a very large transparency. He also addresses technical aspects of shooting dancers and the infamous dance studio mirrors. There are only two deleted scenes: one of Cooper at...

A Lot of Very Good Dancing
If you are thinking about watching "Center Stage", you should first read the plot summary and view the trailer. If neither impresses, you would be wise to give "Center Stage" a wide berth because they are very accurate representations of the film. The story is fairly simple, the focus is on three girls who aspire to a position with the fictional American Ballet Center in New York City. Well, they sort of aspire. The bulimic one (Maureen) is only doing it because her mother is pushing her, the girl next door one (Jody) is wondering if the company is too restrictive, and the angry one (Eva) is considering getting work as a Hooters waitress instead. Eva's seemingly bad attitude disguises the fact that she actually has the best attitude, she is there because she loves to dance.

There is a love triangle between Jody and two guys, she sleeps with the one she loves (Cooper), he does not love her but he gives her the female lead in a ballet he has choreographed. He gives the male...

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