Dancers take "Center Stage"

While I have yet to catch up with its predecessor--Center Stage (2000)--I can attest that Center Stage: Turn It Up is a diverting, even potentially inspiring 95 minutes. Directed by feature film newcomer Steven Jacobson, it packs a lot of fun for young, prospective ballet dancers and audiences alike.

You gotta want it. You gotta stick with your dream when the going gets tough. This film is all about the way passion powers talent and turns what could be a perfectly adequate dancer into an unforgettable star on the rise.

The story follows gorgeous, small-town Kate (Rachele Smith), a hip hop powerhouse--she's a maniac, maniac!--who has somehow managed to teach herself ballet through video courses. She takes leave of her beer-drinking, dance-disapproving dad and journeys to New York to try out for the prestigious American Ballet Academy. Needless to say, the parallel paths of career and love are paved with maddening complications.

The opening scene of black and white youngsters street dancing in a parking lot didn't leave me with high hopes for originality. The predictability index here is quite high. But Kate and eye-candy heartthrob Tommy (Kenny Wormald), a hockey player turned ballerino, make a gifted team with chemistry that combusts, onstage and off.

Choreographers Aakomon "AJ" Jones (street, club, hip hop) and Odessa Munroe (ballet) keep movement front and center, integral to the story. The always deft Peter Gallagher reprises his role as ABA's director and ABT star Ethan Stiefel returns as the insightful and supportive instructor, Cooper Nielsen, who, frankly, sucks at club dancing.

I don't know if I want or need to be convinced that ballet is hip and sexy; this film is surely not intended for the likes of me. But you might know a young dance student who would find it just the thing!

Available January 20th on DVD and Blue-ray High-Def from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment