Center Stage

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For the Hong Kong film, see Centre Stage.

Center Stage

Directed by	Nicholas Hytner
Produced by	Laurence Mark
Written by	Carol Heikkinen
Starring	Amanda Schull Peter Gallagher Ethan Stiefel Susan May Pratt Zoe Saldana
Distributed by	Columbia
Release date(s)	12 May 2000 (USA)
Running time	115 min
Language	English
Budget	US $18,000,000
IMDb profile

Center Stage, directed by Nicholas Hytner in 2000, is about a group young dancers from various backgrounds who enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York City to make it as professional dancers and how each one deals with the problems and stress of getting ahead in the world of dance.

1 Plot summary
2 Trivia
3 Cast
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

After auditions, 12 young dancers gain entry to the American Ballet Academy, which may be based on the School of American Ballet. They prepare for a final dance workshop to determine 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.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Tensions mount between Jonathan (played by Peter Gallagher), the company's aging choreographer, and Cooper Nielson (Ethan Stiefel), his best dancer, who also wants to choreograph. Star student Maureen (Susan May Pratt), who seems poised for success, discovers that life is passing her by. Sweet Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), despite body type issues and bad feet, is determined to dance professionally. The talented smart-mouthed Eva (Zoe Saldana) loves to dance but seems destined to be stuck in the back of the corps because of her attitude. The final workshop will decide their fates.

After the final workshop, Cooper starts his own dance company and asks Jody to be a principal dancer. Maureen decides to attend regular university and Eva is picked by Jonathan to join the prestigious American Ballet Company.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Film tagline: "Life doesn't hold tryouts."
Of the main characters who are dancers, four are professional ballet dancers (Schull, Stiefel, Sascha Radetsky and Julie Kent), one is a professional figure skater (Ilia Kulik), and two were actors with no ballet training (Pratt and Shakiem Evans). Body doubles were used for many of the major dance sequences.
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.
There is a subplot in which Cooper attracts the financial support of a flirtatious wealthy female philanthropic (played by Elizabeth Hubbard). A 15 August 2004 New 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 perforance of Stars and Stripes, Cooper (Ethan Steifal) walks out of the theatre with another woman. She is played by Gillian Murphy, his girl friend in real life!