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Center Stage was a 2000 comedy-drama that followed the lives of various teenagers as they audition for a spot in the American Ballet Company. The film opens as students audition for the company but we learn that they have only been chosen to study at the company and are not actually members of the company yet. There is a showcase at the end of the year at which time, only a handful of students are chosen as actual members of the company.
The primary characters focused on are Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), a young girl who has the passion for dance but doesn't really have the technique. Eva (Zoe Saldana) has the technique but doesn't have the attitude. Maureen (Susan May Pratt) was pretty much pushed into ballet by her mother (Debra Monk) who works for the company and though she has what it takes in terms of technique, learns that her heart isn't really in it. We are also are introduced to Jonathan (Peter Gallagher) the egomaniacal director of the company who constantly butts head with Cooper Nielsen (Ethan Stiefel), the principal male dancer of the company who longs to have his own company and finds himself attracted to Jody. Tony winner Donna Murphy is also featured as a teacher in the company whose battle of wills with Eva keep their working relationship very tense.
Yeah, it's pretty much a soap opera on pointe shoes, but the characters presented are pretty realistic for the most part, as dancers, for the most part, are not the nicest people in the world and that film makes this very clear. Jonathan and Cooper pretty much grate on the nerves throughout, only made worse because Ethan Stiefel, though a brilliant dancer, can't act his way out of paper bag.
On the other hand, Schull is charming as Jody and Saldana steals every scene she is in. There is also a cute cameo by original A CHORUS LINE cast member Priscilla Lopez as a dance instructor who is an old friend of Cooper's. There is some first-rate dancing though and Cooper's final ballet, featuring Schull and Stiefel, is spectacular. 6/10
Center Stage was a 2000 comedy-drama that followed the lives of various teenagers as they audition for a spot in the American Ballet Company. The film opens as students audition for the company but we learn that they have only been chosen to study at the company and are not actually members of the company yet. There is a showcase at the end of the year at which time, only a handful of students are chosen as actual members of the company.
The primary characters focused on are Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), a young girl who has the passion for dance but doesn't really have the technique. Eva (Zoe Saldana) has the technique but doesn't have the attitude. Maureen (Susan May Pratt) was pretty much pushed into ballet by her mother (Debra Monk) who works for the company and though she has what it takes in terms of technique, learns that her heart isn't really in it. We are also are introduced to Jonathan (Peter Gallagher) the egomaniacal director of the company who constantly butts head with Cooper Nielsen (Ethan Stiefel), the principal male dancer of the company who longs to have his own company and finds himself attracted to Jody. Tony winner Donna Murphy is also featured as a teacher in the company whose battle of wills with Eva keep their working relationship very tense.
Yeah, it's pretty much a soap opera on pointe shoes, but the characters presented are pretty realistic for the most part, as dancers, for the most part, are not the nicest people in the world and that film makes this very clear. Jonathan and Cooper pretty much grate on the nerves throughout, only made worse because Ethan Stiefel, though a brilliant dancer, can't act his way out of paper bag.
On the other hand, Schull is charming as Jody and Saldana steals every scene she is in. There is also a cute cameo by original A CHORUS LINE cast member Priscilla Lopez as a dance instructor who is an old friend of Cooper's. There is some first-rate dancing though and Cooper's final ballet, featuring Schull and Stiefel, is spectacular. 6/10