Center Stage (2000)

Director:

Nicholas Hytner

Writer (WGA):

Carol Heikkinen (written by)

Release Date:

12 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Life doesn't hold tryouts.

Plot:

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

Plot Keywords:

Ballet | Dancer | Dancing | Love | Dance

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Amanda Schull	...	Jody Sawyer
Zoe Saldana	...	Eva Rodriguez (as Zoë Saldana)
Susan May Pratt	...	Maureen Cummings
Peter Gallagher	...	Jonathan Reeves
Donna Murphy	...	Juliette Simone
Debra Monk	...	Nancy Cummings
Ethan Stiefel	...	Cooper Nielson
Sascha Radetsky	...	Charlie Sims
Julie Kent	...	Kathleen Donahue
Ilia Kulik	...	Sergei
Eion Bailey	...	Jim Gordon
Shakiem Evans	...	Erik Jones
Elizabeth Hubbard	...	Joan Miller
Victor Anthony	...	Thomas
Christine Dunham	...	Audition Teacher

Also Known As:

Centre Stage (Australia)
City Ballet (USA) (working title)
The Dance Movie (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some sensuality.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Brazil:12 | Malaysia:U | Finland:S | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:A | France:U | Germany:12 (original rating) | Germany:o.Al. (video rating) | New Zealand:M | Norway:A | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37228) | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Fordham University, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - Columbus Avenue & 61st Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The elephant/mouse joke told at the bowling alley, and subsequently over lunch, is described in detail in the book "Rules of Attraction" by Bret Easton Ellis.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Charlie and Jody are looking in the paper, Charlie has his arm behind Jody's head. When Jonathan gets onto them for talking, he moves it down, but when Cooper comes over and pulls the paper down, Charlie's arm is behind Jody's head again.

Quotes:

Eva Rodriguez: I screwed up any chance I had back in September. But I started dancing long before this stupid workshop, and I'm gonna keep on dancing long after it. So tomorrow is one more day I get to dance.

Movie Connections:

References 42nd Street (1933)

Soundtrack:

We're Dancing

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

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 impressed me was the number of characters, all of them well defined in the plot having a major or a minor participation in the story. 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")