Center Stage
Directed by	Nicholas Hytner
Produced by	Laurence Mark
Written by	Carol Heikkinen
Starring	Amanda Schull Peter Gallagher Ethan Stiefel Susan May Pratt Zoë Saldaña Sascha Radetsky
Distributed by	Columbia
Release date(s)	12 May 2000
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 Company 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. Center Stage can mean different things: Center Stage, a 2000 film directed by Nicholas Hytner about dancers at the American Ballet Academy in New York City Centre Stage, a Hong Kong film Center Stage (TV program), a WTTW and VH-1 Network co-production music show debuted in 1993 CenterStage... Image File history File links Center Stage movie poster This is a copyrighted poster. ... Nicholas Hytner (born May 7, 1956) is an award-winning British theatrical and opera producer and director. ... Laurence Mark (born in New York City) is an American film producer. ... Amanda Schull was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 26, 1978. ... Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is a Golden Globe award winning American actor. ... Ethan Stiefel (born 1973 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). ... Susan May Pratt (born February 8, 1974 in Lansing, Michigan) is an American actress. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sascha Radetsky is a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... Nicholas Hytner (born May 7, 1956) is an award-winning British theatrical and opera producer and director. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2000. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

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. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) generally refers to movement used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting. ... The School of American Ballet is located in New York City, in Lincoln Center. ... Angel Corella as Aminta in the 2006 production of Ashtons ballet Sylvia. ... Logo of the New York City Ballet The New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein originally known as the American Ballet. ...

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 (Zoë Saldaña) 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. Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is a Golden Globe award winning American actor. ... Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ... Ethan Stiefel (born 1973 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). ... A solo dance is danced by an individual dancing alone, as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner. ... Susan May Pratt (born February 8, 1974 in Lansing, Michigan) is an American actress. ... Amanda Schull was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 26, 1978. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Ballet company is group of dancers who perform ballets. ...

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. A principal dancer is similar to a soloist in dance. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ...

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.
• Sergei (Kulik) is picked to join the San Francisco Ballet Company after performing in the workshop. Schull, who plays Jody, was a member of the SFB's corps de ballet for several seasons.
• As Cooper, Stiefel makes a stage appearance astride a Harley. In real life he is an avid motorbike rider and owns a Harley-Davidson Wide Glide.
• 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 performance of Stars and Stripes, Cooper (Stiefel) shuns Jody and walks out of the theatre with another woman. This woman is played by Gillian Murphy, Stiefel's actual girl friend.

A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. ... Painting of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas, 1872. ... Sascha Radetsky is a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. ... Julie Kent(born July 11, 1969 in Bethesda, Maryland), birth name Julie Cox, is an American ballerina. ... Ilia Alexandrovich Kulik (born May 23, 1977 in Moscow, Russia) is an Olympic figure skating champion. ... Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. ... SF Ballet program book, April 2006 San Francisco Ballet, or SFB, is a San Francisco, USA based ballet company, founded in 1933 as part of San Francisco Opera Ballet. ... Logo on a 2003 Harley Davidson The Harley-Davidson Motor Company (NYSE: HDI) is a manufacturer of motorcycles based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ... Elizabeth Hubbard is an American soap opera actress, best known for her role as Dr. Althea Davis on The Doctors. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... In a 2005 performance as Odette with Angel Corella, in ABTs PBS production of the ballet Swan Lake Gillian Murphy (born 1979) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. ...

Cast

• Amanda Schull – Jody Sawyer
• Zoë Saldaña – Eva Rodríguez
• 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
• Mauricio Sanchez – Dancer at Salsa Club
• Shakiem Evans – Erik Jones
• Elizabeth Hubbard – Joan Miller
• Victor Anthony – Thomas

Amanda Schull was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 26, 1978. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Susan May Pratt (born February 8, 1974 in Lansing, Michigan) is an American actress. ... Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is a Golden Globe award winning American actor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Debra Monk (born February 27, 1949) is an actress and author. ... Ethan Stiefel (born 1973 in Tyrone, Pennsylvania) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). ... Sascha Radetsky is a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. ... Julie Kent(born July 11, 1969 in Bethesda, Maryland), birth name Julie Cox, is an American ballerina. ... Ilia Alexandrovich Kulik (born May 23, 1977 in Moscow, Russia) is an Olympic figure skating champion. ... Eion Bailey (born 1976 in California, USA) is a actor best known for starring in the films Mindhunters and Sexual Life (2004), and the television program Significant Others. ... Mauricio Sanchez is an actor. ... Elizabeth Hubbard is an American soap opera actress, best known for her role as Dr. Althea Davis on The Doctors. ...

External links

• Center Stage at the Internet Movie Database
• Center Stage at Rotten Tomatoes
• Film Review