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Center Stage: Turn It Up
By Tracy Moore,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Entertaining dance-focused romance has some mature themes.
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Center Stage: Turn It Up
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What's the Story?
Kate Parker (Rachele Brooke Smith) is a self-taught ballerina who dreams of the big time. When she heads to New York City, she sets her sights on dancing at the prestigious Ballet Academy. But when her audition doesn't go as planned, she has to rethink her strategy and what it means to make it, including her relationship with the intriguing academy dancer Tommy (Kenny Wormald).
Is It Any Good?
CENTER STAGE: TURN IT UP works the dance romance genre with a surefootedness that's unexpected -- a family-friendly Black Swan for a younger crowd, with none of the macabre. There's great chemistry between the leads, great pop and hip-hop music selection, and a deft handling of mature themes among young adults that the film works hard to depict as ethical, driven, and ambitious, but still young enough to make mistakes.
But for kids aiming to make it as artists, it offers a lot of strong messages about the challenges of competing against the best, as opposed to being really good where you're from. It shows rivals and conflicts realistically, and, a plus for girls, especially, shows a headstrong, talented (and working class) woman who eschews the typical distractions of young adulthood (drinking, boys, loafing) to focus on her art. That said, it romanticizes big city living and ambition to a fault, and parents should be prepared to temper the movie's ending with a realistic discussion of the real odds of an untrained ballerina snagging a lead at a prestigious Broadway show with no formal training.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about drive. What is drive, and how do these characters show it? Do you feel driven toward a goal? What is it? What drives you?
How does the film portray the city of New York as a place to go to pursue your dreams?
Do you think the outcome of the movie is realistic? What are the odds that someone with no formal training could land the role in a prestigious Broadway ballet in New York City?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: January 20, 2009
- Cast: Kenny Wormald , Rachele Brooke Smith , Peter Gallagher
- Director: Steven Jacobson
- Studio: Sony Pictures
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Arts and Dance
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- MPAA explanation: Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
- Last updated: May 17, 2023
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