Center Stage

Rating:
Summary: Great fun and inspiration
Review: Regardless of cliches, being labeled as teen-flick, etc. this movie is certainly very enjoyable. If nothing else, see it for Ethan Stiefel's amazing dancing. I've seen him live before, but never in hip-hop or jazz roles. Very exciting to see him show off his versatility in Center Stage! I've danced ballet for years and I don't care about the little discrepancies in the film; it's still great. I particularly enjoyed the portrayals of the daily drudge of class. The fact that Hytner used real dancers (except for Maureen's character, which is fine) was the real kicker for me. I'm still dancing and sometimes I watch this movie as reminder of what fun you can have when you dance for the love of it.

Rating:
Summary: Center Stage
Review: This movie is the best movie I've seen in a long time! The songs are great and dance is a sport. Just because baseball, basketball, and football dominate doesn't mean that dance should be ignored!

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring, surprising, exciting
Review: This film was awesome, especially to anybody who dances or who wants to dance. It shows that sometimes you have to let go of all the old strict and traditional rules, let yourself go and do what feels good. I thought the dance sequence at the end was thrilling. What a brilliant idea to dance ballet to music that makes you want to boogie! Not all ballet has to be danced to macabre, somber classical music to be considered beautiful and unique. It shows that dancing is whatever you want it to be. I felt that all the characters were well developed so that you really cared about their own situations and the paths they were taking. This film is fun and inspiring; a must see.

Rating:
Summary: awesome awesome!!!
Review: I LOVED it!! I have always wanted to be a ballet dancer, but I don't have to body type(no, I'm not fat, but I'm not a stick either). this movie has showed me the hardships of being a dancer and also showed me that I don't have to do ballet. infact this movie has inspired me to get jazz dance lessons. I feel that I really could connect with the characters and how they were feeling. this DVD is a MUST BUY!!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: I really loved this movie. I thought it was great. Made me want to get up and dance. Very inspiring!

Rating:
Summary: Center Stage
Review: This movie is excellent. It combines love and dance excitement into an action packed movie about life, love, and friendship. Definitely a must see movie!!!

Rating:
Summary: Dawsons Creek in tutus
Review: A self indulgent cornball bunch of cliches. If you can't see what's coming in this movie within the first ten minutes then you're either blind or never seen a movie before. This is a film that confirms my belief that there's a Hollywood word processing program that can churn out a storyline-by-mumbers script in seconds. And don't get me started on the excruciatingly embarrassing modern ballet at the end....

Rating:
Summary: A great dance movie!
Review: Center Stage was throughly entertaing! It's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again. It's such a fun movie. The dancing scenes were wonderfully choreographed, and exhilarating to watch! The only flaw I could see was that the characters were not incredibly developed, nor did they really need that whole Jody/Cooper involvement. Especially since that part of the story was not really well developed. Other than that, it did a great job depicting life at a competitive dance school. I especially liked the conflict between Maureen, the school's best dancer, and her overbearing mother. Her battle with bulemia was very beliveable. Overall this is a sexy, fun, movie that can be watched over and over again!

Rating:
Summary: Feel Good Film for Dance Lovers & Ilia Kulik Fans
Review: While ballet purists knowledgeable in dance and technique might be put off by this film, balletomanes and lovers of dance films will find this movie a real treat. The plot is very Hollywood and predictable, but it's a predictability that is enjoyable to watch. Yes, you have your stereotypical characters, but there's still a ring of truth to them. As a former ballet student, I can tell you I've met all of these characters and then some. Unfortunately the movie exaggerates a few of the characters to the point of absurdity, such as the ballet mother. When her daughter Maureen admits her eating disorder, the ballet mother justifies the bulimia by saying her daughter is simply watching her weight. I find it hard to believe that any mother would approve of her daughter's bulimia, no matter how ambitious. Eating disorders are apparent in this film--one only has to look at the cast members to see that. Julie Kent is painfully thin and an all too-realistic reminder of ballet's stringent body requirements for female ballet dancers which drives them to anorexia and bulimia. I absolutely adored Zoe Saldana's scene-stealing character of the sassy Eva, and I think many dancers secretly wish they had her moxie. I don't feel Eva exists in the ballet world. She would have been thrown out of such a prestigious ballet school a long time ago-only choreographers and premier danseurs/prima ballerinas can get by with such behavior. Indeed, Eva's sudden substitution for Maureen in the student ballet is pure Hollywood fantasy--no way would Eva go undetected behind the scenes in an actual performance. But it's things like that which makes the movie so likeable. My only disappointment was discovering from the Director's Commentary that Saldana had a dance double for that dance sequence (except for closeup shots). Amanda Schull (a former Hawaii girl) is softly radiant as Jody Sawyer and does do her own dancing. Julie Kent dances exquisitely and Ethan Stiefel is simply amazing.

Rating:
Summary: CENTER STAGE-MORE THAN JUST DANCE
Review: CENTER STAGE WAS MORE THAN A MOVIE ABOUT DANCE. IT WAS ALSO A STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH HER LIFE. IT ALSO HAD GREAT DANCING AND AN AWESOME SOUNDTRACK. THE MOVIE WAS ABOUT A GIRL NAMED JODI SAWIOR WHO WAS TRYING TO GET INTO ABA (AMERICAN BALLET ASSIATION). BUT ONE PROBLEM, SHE HAS BAD FEET. WELL IN THE MOVIE SHE FALLS FOR COOPER NEILSON, WHO SHE DOESN'T KNOW, BUT IS GOING TO START A NEW COMPANY AND SHE WILL BE A PRINCIPAL DANCER! IT IS AN AWESOME MOVIE AND I RECOMEND IT!~