Center Stage

Center Stage follows a group of young dancers who enrol at the American Ballet Academy in New York, each hoping to build a career in ballet. Twelve students are chosen for the programme, among them Jody Sawyer, her unconventional roommate Eva Rodríguez, the exacting Maureen, and the romantically involved Charly, Erik and Sergei. Training under the demanding Cooper and the company's directors, they face the strain of competition, discipline and the emotional cost of pursuing a place in a prestigious company. Only some of them will move forward.

The film was directed by Nicholas Hytner, the fourth of his feature films in the order listed, following The Madness of King George, The Crucible and The Object of My Affection. Carol Heikkinen wrote the screenplay and Laurence Mark produced. Amanda Schull plays Jody, with Zoe Saldaña as Eva, Peter Gallagher as Jonathan Reeves, Ethan Stiefel as Cooper, Donna Murphy as Juliette and Debra Monk as Nancy; the credited cast runs to 119 people.

Released in May 2000, Center Stage had a budget of 29 million US dollars and took about 26 million dollars worldwide, so it did not recover its costs at the box office. Audiences have been more favourable than critics: on IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.9 out of 10 from 370 votes, while on TMDB its critics' rating stands at 5.1 out of 10 from 80 reviews.