35 Best Dance Movies: List of Highly Rated Films

Many people know that movement is life, and beautiful movements, complemented by competent camerawork and directing – a cinematic art that will help to lift your spirits and pass the time. Don’t believe me? Then try it right now. Turn on your favorite music and start dancing to the beat. Lacking inspiration? No problem – watch the best dance movies that will help you get in the mood and learn a couple or three trendy pas.

Table of contents

Dirty Dancing

IMDB Rating – 7.0
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 1987
Budget: $6,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $213,446,382
Director: Emile Ardolino
Starring: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbak, Cynthia Rhodes, Jack Weston, Jane Brooker, Kelly Bishop, Lonnie Price, Max Cantor, Charles ‘Honi’ Coles.

The action of the movie takes place in 1963. The main character is 17-year-old Frances, nicknamed Baby. She is a sweet and innocent girl from a rich family, who during the summer vacation meets a professional dancer Johnny.

The young people start secret rehearsals so that Frances can perform in several numbers instead of Johnny’s pregnant partner. During this time, a spark slips between them, although they both realize that their relationship is impossible.

The filming of the picture, like the action of the movie, took place in the summer, but the supporting scene was shot in mid-fall. Since the trees changed their color, the crew had to dye the leaves green. If you look closely, you can see the missing yellow spots.

The famous soundtrack to the tape became platinum, and the composition won the prestigious Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy awards.

La La Land

IMDB Rating – 8.0
Genre: Musical, Drama, Melodrama, Comedy, Music
Production: USA, Hong Kong / 2016
Budget: $30,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $447,407,695
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, J.K. Simmons, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica Roth, Tom Everett Scott

Mia’s lifelong dream is to become a famous actress whose talent will be admired by the whole world. But for now she works part-time as a waitress in a café, and in her spare time she goes to auditions.

One day she meets Sebastian, a jazz musician, and feelings immediately flare up between them. Determined to pursue their goals together, they support each other, taking every opportunity to make a name for themselves. When one of them achieves tremendous success – fame and employment jeopardizes the love of heroes.

Actor Ryan Gosling took piano lessons to perform all the musical parts himself.

The picture received 14 Oscar nominations and was included in the list of the best dance and music movies. And during the awards ceremony in 2016, was wrongly announced as “Best Movie”.

Burlesque

IMDB Rating – 6.4
Genre: Musical, Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2010
Budget: $55,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $89,519,773
Director: Steve Entin
Starring: Christina Aguilera, Cher, Cam Gigandet, Kristen Bell, Eric Dane, Alan Cumming, Julianne Hough, Peter Gallagher, Stanley Tucci, Deanna Agron

Ali is a young talented girl with a beautiful voice. She was born in a small town and from childhood dreamed of becoming a singer. After losing her parents, the girl went to Los Angeles to conquer the big city. There Ali gets acquainted with the owner of the nightclub “Burlesque” named Tess.

This meeting becomes a landmark for her, because in a short period of time she finds her favorite job, friends, fans and the love of her life. But can the fairy tale of a provincial “cinderella” last forever, when everyone else dreams of taking her place?

Big letters in the final number, which add up to the word “Burlesque”, cost the creators of the picture in a record 400 thousand dollars.

Cher herself developed sketches for outfits for filming.

Black Swan

IMDB Rating – 8.0
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Production: USA / 2010
Budget: $13,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $329,398,046
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Benjamin Milpierre, Xenia Solo, Christina Anapau

Lincoln Center’s troupe is preparing for the premiere of Swan Lake. The acting prima ballerina is leaving the company because of her honorable age, so several young soloists, including Nina Sayers, are claiming her place.

The girl was brought up by a strict mother, who in her time never managed to become a soloist of the theater. So when French choreographer Tom Leroy chooses Nina for the lead role, the new appointment becomes a big test for the young ballerina, awakening dangerous inner demons.

The first version of the script was called “The Understudy” and was supposed to unfold around a New York theater. The director liked the idea, so he proposed to make a film about ballet in a Parisian theater. However, later, due to budgetary constraints, the action of the picture had to be moved to the United States.

Natalie Portman received an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for her role. For filming, she trained every day for 4-8 hours and lost weight by 9 kg.

Take the Lead

IMDB Rating – 6.6
Genre: Drama, Music
Production: USA / 2006
Budget: $30,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $65,742,066
Director: Liz Friedlander
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Elfrey Woodard, Yaya DaCosta, John Ortiz, Jenna Doan, Laura Benanti, Jonathan Malen, Jessica Nicole, Shawande McKenzie.

A professional dancer becomes a ballroom dance teacher for the kids from a New York school. The kids are not too keen on the new “teacher”, as they are more interested in modern trends like hip-hop.

Then the teacher shares with the teenagers their passion for trendy moves, gradually getting them interested in classical dance elements. At the end of the year, he suggests that the kids take part in a ballroom dance championship that could turn their lives around.

The movie is based on the real life events of Pierre Dulaine, played by Antonio Banderas. And Pierre even starred in a cameo as a judge in the competition.

Chicago

IMDB Rating – 7.2
Genre: Musical, Comedy, Crime
Production: USA, Germany, Canada, UK / 2002
Budget: $45,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $306,776,732
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Lucy Liu, Colm Feore

America, 1942. Young dancer Roxie Hart watches on television the performance of her idol – Chicago vaudeville star Velma Kelly. Wanting to become famous, the girl begins an affair with Fred, who claims to personally know the manager of the great diva. A month later, the man confesses his lies, so Roxy kills him in a fit of rage. At this time, seized by jealousy Velma, also sends to the other world her unfaithful husband with his mistress, and falls into the dock.

In prison, Roxy meets with her favorite, but having been denied her friendship, plays a play, which attracts increased attention of the press. The women begin to “fight” for fame, completely forgetting about the course of the investigation. If they can not quickly unite and get acquittal from the court – their theatrical performances will come to an end.

The film won six of the thirteen Academy Awards.

Catherine Zeta-Jones intentionally cut off her long hair so that the audience could see her face and not think that the complicated dance moves were performed by an understudy.

Center Stage (dilogy)

IMDB Rating – 6.7
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2000
Budget: $29,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $26,385,941
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Starring: Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallagher, Donna Murphy, Ethan Stiefel, Christine Dunham, Stephen Stout, Marianne Plunkett, Laura Hicks.

The movie tells the stories of several young and promising dancers who are ready to sacrifice a lot to achieve their cherished goal – to perform on the big stage. Their lives are full of difficulties, mysteries and obstacles, but the heroes go forward confidently, even if they have to prove their talents to the people around them.

The movie became a cult favorite years after its release, rallying non-professional ballet lovers around it.

Susan May Pratt, who played the best student at Maureen’s school, had no dance training before being approved for the role.

Stomp the Yard

IMDB Rating – 5.5
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2007
Budget: $13,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $75,511,123
Director: Sylvain White
Starring: Columbus Short, Meagan Goode, Ne-Yo, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Brian J. White, Las Alonso, Valarie Pettiford, Jermaine Williams, Allan Luis, Harry J. Lennix

D.J. and his younger brother Duron take part in a local tap dance battle and almost win it. Unfortunately they get into a fight with the opposing team and Duron is killed in the scuffle.

Devastated by his brother’s death, D.J. moves to Atlanta and enrolls in a community college. There he is introduced to the history of tap dancing by African Americans. Feeling united with the dance stars of the past, he organizes a team with which he intends to win a prestigious championship.

The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity involved in the movie boycotted the film because of the unauthorized use of their symbols. In the final edit, all the scenes with the fraternity members were cut out, but they can be seen in the trailer.

ABCD (Any Body Can Dance)

IMDB Rating – 6.3
Genre: Music, Melodrama
Production: India / 2013
US box office receipts: $222,098
Director: Remo
Starring: Prabhudeva, Ganesh Acharya, Kay Kay Menon, Lauren Gottlieb, Salman, Jayant Gadekar, Saroj Khan, Remo

After being fired as a choreographer, Vishnu gets discouraged and even considers leaving Mumbai. However, at a local festival he meets two dance teams competing against each other. The man decides to unite the guys to win a prestigious competition and prove his skills to his former boss and others.

The abbreviation of the title of the street dance movie looks like the beginning of the alphabet ABCD (AnyBody Can Dance).

Almost all the moves were performed by the actors themselves. For this purpose, they took dance lessons before filming began and spent several hours a day rehearsing.

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

IMDB Rating – 5.9
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2004
Budget: $25,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $27,685,016
Director: Guy Ferland
Starring: Diego Luna, Romola Garay, Sela Ward, John Slattery, Jonathan Jackson, January Jones, Mika Burem, Renee Lavan, Maya, Polly Cusumano.

Young Katie Miller moves with her parents from Chicago to Havana, where she plans to attend a local college. On the street she accidentally meets Javier, who works as a waiter, but dreams of a career as a dancer. The guy walks the girl home, for which he is fired from his job.

To help her friend get out of the debt hole, Katie offers Javier together to take part in a dance competition with a good cash prize. They begin rehearsals, while a revolution is brewing in the country.

The plot is based on the life of dancer Joan Fregalette Jansen, who moved with her parents to Cuba in the middle of the last century. She acted as one of the choreographers of the movie, who staged the dance numbers.

Before filming began, none of the actors had practiced dancing. Three months before the start of work, the performers of the main roles moved to Puerto Rico, where they practiced for 8 hours a day under the careful guidance of a group of choreographers.

You Got Served

IMDB Rating – 3.9
Genre: Drama, Music
Production: USA / 2004
Budget: $8,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $48,631,561
Director: Chris Stokes
Starring: Omarion, Marcus Houston, Jennifer Freeman, J-Boog, Lil Fizz, Raz B, Marty Dew, Jerome Jones, Tani McCall, Malcolm David Kelley

David and LJ are best friends and great dancers who rock the streets of Los Angeles. Their moves are not taught in schools, they are born out of the rhythm of life in the metropolis. Simple guys and girls from poor neighborhoods gather to make a musical revolution. And to reach the pinnacle of street dance, they will have to fight the champions.

The script was written under the participation in the tape singer Alia, but she, unfortunately, died in a car accident shortly before the start of filming.

Save the Last Dance

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2001
Budget: $13,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $131,706,809
Director: Thomas Carter
Starring: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr, Terry Kinney, Bianca Lawson, Vince Green, Garland Witt, Elizabeth Oas, Artel Cayaru.

Sarah dreamed of becoming a ballerina from childhood, but the tragic death of her mother changed the young dancer’s life. She had to move to Chicago to her father, who lives in a “black” neighborhood. In not the most prosperous school in the city, the girl gets acquainted with a local guy Derek and his charming sister. The guys together go to a disco, where Sarah’s ballet pas remain unnoticed. Then Derek undertakes to teach the talented girl popular among young people hip-hop.

The audition footage at the beginning of the movie was shot at Chicago’s Atheneaum Theatre.

The first rehearsal scene was a complete improvisation of the actors.

Shall We Dance?

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Comedy, Music
Production: USA / 2004
Budget: $50,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $170,128,460
Director: Peter Chelsom
Starring: Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Lisa Ann Walter, Stanley Tucci, Anita Gillette, Bobby Cannavale, Omar Benson Miller, Richard Jenkins, Nick Cannon.

John Clark is a Chicago lawyer whose life is slowly becoming routine. He has a beautiful family, job and home, but something is always missing. Every evening, coming home from work, he watches a beautiful dancer in the window of the building, and one day decides to get off at the bus stop to meet the mysterious girl.

The dancer turns out to be a lovely woman and offers him private lessons. After that, John’s life takes on new colors, although he hides his passion from his family and friends.

The tape is a remake of the 1995 Japanese film of the same name, which collected a record $10 million at the box office for its country.

Jewelry worth about 4 thousand dollars, which starred Susan Sarandon, was stolen from the set.

Step Up (film series)

IMDB Rating – 6.5
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Crime, Music
Production: USA / 2006
Budget: $12,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $114,194,847
Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dwan, Damain Radcliffe, D’Sean Washington, Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Henderson, Tim LaCatena, Alison Stoner.

The heroes of the film series are young and talented people who dream of gaining recognition from society. They are used to life on the streets, so they are ready to fight whatever it takes. Falling and failing, they gather courage to step forward towards their main dream – to win a dance tournament and become a professional choreographer.

The series was filmed in Baltimore, Maryland. The artwork adorning the walls of the school was painted by students of the prestigious Carver Center for the Arts and Technology.

During the preparation for filming, many of the actors actually participated in street dance battles.

Climax

IMDB Rating – 7.0
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Production: France, Belgium / 2018
Worldwide Box Office: $2,036,044
Director: Gaspar Noé
Starring: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermicq, Suheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Claude-Emmanuelle Gayant-Moll, Giselle Palmer, Taylor Castle, Thea Carla Schott, Sherlyn Temple, Lea Vlamos

Graduates of a modern dance academy in France throw a farewell party before their tour to the United States. They gather to prepare a large-scale dance show, and at the end they organize a disco with snacks and drinks. After drinking a good share of alcohol, the merry rhythm begins to involve more and more participants in a mass dance flash mob, and their movements gradually grow into euphoria.

The film was quite highly praised by critics, and at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, the movie took home the prestigious Art Cinema Award.

High Strung

IMDB Rating – 6.4
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA, Romania / 2016
Worldwide box office receipts: $2,084,451
Director: Michael Damian
Starring: Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Golitsyn, Sonoya Mizuno, Jane Seymour, Richard Southgate, Paul Freeman, Marcus Emanuel Mitchell, Maya Morgenstern, Anabel Kutai, John Silver

She is a young talented ballerina who studies at a prestigious art school. He is an ordinary guy forced to play the violin in the crosswalk to earn money for food and avoid deportation from the United States. There seems to be nothing in common between them, until one day a hip-hop dance party brings these two together to achieve a common goal.

The main role was played by American professional ballerina Keenan Kampa.

All the scenes in the subway were filmed in Bucharest, where ancient trains still run.

Street Dance 3D

IMDB Rating – 5.9
Genre: Melodrama, music
Production: UK / 2010
Budget: £3,500,000
Worldwide Box Office: $44,123,464
Director: Max Jiva, Dania Pasquini
Starring: Nicola Burley, Richard Winsor, Akweli Roach, Frank Harper, George Sampson, Charlotte Rampling, Elinor Bron, Patrick Balady, Tenisha Bonner, Lex Milczarek

During the prestigious dance competition, a team of talented guys “Jay20” gets into the last stage. But after reaching the finals, the leader of the group Jay unexpectedly leaves the team, and his place is taken by Carly. The guys train hard together with the ballet company to show a high level at the end of the competition, where they will have to fight with the strongest opponent.

The film was one of the first projects in European cinematic history to be shot in 3D technology.

The White Crow

IMDB Rating – 6.6
Genre: Drama, Biography
Production: UK, France, Serbia / 2019
Worldwide Box Office: $7,622,595
Director: Rafe Fiennes
Starring: Oleg Ivenko, Rafe Fiennes, Louis Hoffman, Adele Exarchopoulos, Sergei Polunin, Olivier Rabourdin, Rafael Personas, Chulpan Khamatova, Zack Avery, Mar Sodup

The biographical movie tells about the Russian ballet dancer – the legendary Rudolf Nureyev. The story begins with his early years in Ufa and stops at the most difficult and dramatic period of his life – the tour of the Kirov Theater company in France.

During one of the performances Nureyev gets acquainted with the Parisian bohemia, which attracts the young dancer with freedom of thought and manners. The new acquaintances absolutely dislike the KGB officers accompanying the artists. After being threatened with deportation to the country, Nureyev makes the dangerous decision to ask for help in escaping to the West.

The film was directed and starred British actor Rafe Fiennes.

The screenplay is based on the biographical book by Julie Cavanagh.

Honey

IMDB Rating – 5.3
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: USA / 2003
Budget: $18,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $58,756,646
Director: Bille Woodruff
Starring: Jessica Alba, Mekhai Phifer, Lil Romeo, Joy Bryant, David Moskow, Missy Elliott, Lonette McKee, Zachary Williams, Christian Monson, Al Shearer.

Hana is a young and gifted girl who is a great dancer and dreams of becoming a famous choreographer. In the evenings she works part-time in a bar, and the rest of the time she devotes to rehearsals and auditions.

One day she goes with a friend to a club where her dance is recorded by eyewitnesses. So Hannah is invited to put the movements in the videos of popular performers. However, suddenly fell fame and a busy schedule of work alienate from the girl the closest people.

Originally the American singer and dancer Alia was approved for the main role, but after the tragic events her place was taken by Jessica Alba.

The inspiration for the picture was the life story of professional dancer and choreographer Laurianne Gibson. In the movie she played a rival of the main character Katrina.

Love N’ Dancing

IMDB Rating – 5.4
Genre: Drama, Melodrama
Production: USA / 2009
Budget: $10,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $73,848
Director: Robert Iskow
Starring: Nicolas Royston, Brandi Tobiasch, Brian Lucero, Tom Malloy, Robert Royston, Ryan Montano, Amy Hendricks, Amy Smart, David House

Deafness did not prevent Jake from becoming a professional dancer and winning many prestigious awards in swing. But the times of resounding success were quickly replaced by a boring teaching job, where the guy meets a charming teacher Jessica. Together they try to resist all obstacles and extinguished relationships to win the world championship in dance.

The music for the movie was composed by brothers Jeff and Scott Bielman.

Feel the Beat

IMDB Rating – 6.3
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Production: USA / 2020
Worldwide Box Office: $207,678
Director: Elissa Down
Starring: Sofia Carson, Enrico Colantoni, Wolfgang Novogratz, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Dennis Andres, Joanna Colon, Donna Lynn Champlin, Brandon Kyle Goodman, Rex Lee, Marcia Bennett

April is a Broadway dancer from New York who is forced to temper her ambitions during an important audition. Having been defeated at the next competition, she reluctantly returns home, and then agrees to train a team of young dancers before the responsible competition. At first things do not go well, but after a while the girl finds a common language with her students and changes her attitude to life and other people.

The name of the main character of the movie is consonant with the name of the second spring month. Interestingly, the actress Sophia Carson, who practiced ballet as a child, was born in April.

Suspiria

IMDB Rating – 6.7
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Detective
Production: Italy, USA / 2018
Budget: $20,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $7,942,093
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Kaven, Elena Fokina, Sylvie Testu, René Soutendijk, Christine Lebutt, Malgosha Bela

A young American girl, Susie, arrives in Berlin to study at one of the best German ballet schools, Tanz. This event coincides with the disappearance of Patricia, a student of the school, who before her disappearance told a psychotherapist that all the instructors of the school are witches. The heroine does not believe the stories of her former student and is fully engaged in dancing, but in the meantime members of the occult group have already started to hunt for her.

The movie is a remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 film of the same name.

The role of the ballet school in the film was performed by the Italian Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori.

The leader of the rock band Radiohead acted as a composer for the project.

Let’s Dance

IMDB Rating – 6.0
Genre: Drama, comedy, family, music
Production: France, Belgium / 2019
Worldwide Box Office: $2,806,934
Director: Ladislas Scholla
Starring: Ryan Bensetti, Alexia Giordano, Guillaume de Tonkedek, Mehdi Kerkush, Brahim Zaibat, Lin Renault, Fiorella Campanella, Mwen Marchand, Laura Defretin

A young dancer Joseph sees no sense of life without movement. He loves to dance and in pursuit of his dream he goes to Paris to take part in one of the best hip-hop competitions.

In the city of love he meets an aspiring ballerina Chloe, who has come to enroll in a ballet college. After talking, they decide to start their own school that will combine classical and modern movements. However, the road to success runs through a series of setbacks and disappointments. Will they be able to cope with all the obstacles?

The French film is the best remake of the 2010 American dance and ballet movie “Street Dance 3D”.

Girl

IMDB Rating – 7.1
Genre: Drama
Production: Netherlands, Belgium / 2018
Worldwide Box Office: $4,178,992
Director: Lucas Dont
Starring: Victor Polster, Arieu Vorthalter, Oliver Bodard, Timen Goverts, Katelena Damen, Valentijn Denens, Magali Elali, Alice de Brockeville, Chris Thys

A dramatic story about a girl Lara, who was born in a man’s body. She is only 15 years old and dreams of becoming a famous ballerina. Her father supports Lara in all her endeavors, but hormone therapy has a bad effect on the emotional state of a trans girl, and a future surgery may affect her results in ballet.

The main role was played by Belgian dancer and actor Victor Polster, who was also 15 years old at the time of filming.

Big

IMDB Rating – 6.9
Genre: Drama
Production: Russia / 2016
Budget: ₽ 372,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $4,029,886
Director: Valery Todorovsky
Starring: Alisa Freindlikh, Valentina Telichkina, Alexander Domogorov, Nicolas Le Riche, Margarita Simonova, Ekaterina Samuilina, Anna Isaeva, Anastasia Plotnikova, Anastasia Volynskaya, Anna Tarasenko

A young and talented girl from a small mining town gets a “lucky ticket” to a new life. One of her performances is noticed by a former ballet dancer, who predicts a great future for her on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater.

However, before conquering the heights, the girl will have to go through ballet school and face the rigor of teachers, inevitable injuries and monstrous competition.

This is one of the few Russian films about dance and ballet art that reveals the story, avoiding the usual stamps and stereotypes.

Filming lasted 80 days and took place in Moscow on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, Kirovsk and Minsk.

Desert Dancer

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Drama, Biography, Music
Production: UK / 2014
Budget: $4,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $169,072
Director: Richard Raymond
Starring Frida Pinto, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Cullen, Marama Corlette, Simon Kassianides, Rhys Ritchie, Tolga Safer, Akin Ghazi, Richard David-Kane, Makram Khouri

The action of the movie is set in Iran around a talented and persistent boy Afshin. The young man dreams of dancing, but in his country it is considered illegal. So he learns the moves on his own, using clips on YouTube. To hide his clandestine lessons from the local police, he puts on a performance in the desert, and later at protests he still falls into the hands of the Sharia Guard.

The movie is based on the biography of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian.

Most of the filming took place in Morocco, while scenes in Tehran were shot in Casablanca.

After you

IMDB Rating – 6.0
Genre: Drama
Production: Russia / 2016
Worldwide Box Office: $223,524
Director: Anna Matison
Starring: Sergei Bezrukov, Anastasia Bezrukova, Alyona Babenko, Karina Andolenko, Vladimir Menshov, Maria Smolnikova, Tamara Akulova, Stepan Kulikov, Galina Bokashevskaya, Sergey Vershinin

Russian drama film about ballet reveals the difficult story of Alexei Temnikov – formerly a brilliant dancer of the Bolshoi Theater, who left a brilliant career because of a serious injury.

After learning that the old disease has begun to progress and will soon deprive the man of the ability to move independently, Alexei begins to think about what he will leave behind after his death. He has no friends and hardly communicates with his daughter, so he decides to make a breakthrough in art by staging a grandiose performance.

The producer and author of the script was Anna Matison, the wife of Sergei Bezrukov, who performed the main role.

Filming of the ballet “Symphony in 3 Movements” was conducted in documentary mode, because it took place at the time of real rehearsals.

On the table at Temnikov can be noticed a photo of Maya Plisetskaya, and on the wall graffiti with her portrait.

Footloose

IMDB Rating – 5.9
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Comedy, Music
Production: USA / 2011
Budget: $24,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $62,701,289
Director: Craig Brewer
Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell, Miles Teller, Ray McKinnon, Patrick Pflueger, Kim Dickens, Zia Colon, Ser’Darius Blaine.

Wren McCormack moves to a quiet provincial town, where the puritanical orders of the local pastor prevail. Residents are forbidden to listen to rock music and any “wild” dancing.

But the hero decides to change the old-fashioned rules, enlisting the support of his friends and his favorite girl. They begin to organize parties to help cheer up the townspeople. However, Reverend Father Moore also does not want to give up in this struggle.

The historic Newton County Courthouse in Covington, Georgia was used for the courtroom scene.

The movie is a remake of the 1984 film of the same name, with the only difference being that the action takes place in the fictional town of Beaumont, Georgia, instead of Utah.

La danseuse

IMDB Rating – 6.6
Genre: Drama, Biography, History, Music
Production: France, Belgium, Czech Republic / 2016
Worldwide Box Office: $1,960,510
Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto
Starring: Stéphanie Sokolinski, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Lily-Rose Depp, François Damiens, Louis-Do de Lanqueset, Amanda Plummer, Denis Menochet, Charlie Morgan, Tamsin Merchant

Biographical film tells about the life and success of Maria-Louise, better known as Loi Fuller. The girl from childhood dreamed of the big stage and dreamed of becoming a great actress. During one of her performances, she accidentally stumbles over her dress, but keeping her balance, continues to spin gracefully, throwing the audience into shock.

This is how history was made before the eyes of amazed spectators – the birth of a new dance trend, which would later be called modern. However, the life of the great artist was not only glory and meetings with fans. The woman had to go through difficult events and competition with the equally talented Isadora Duncan, who threatened to take away from her rich patrons and loyal audiences

The movie is based on true events and is Stephanie Di Giusto’s directorial debut.

Make It Happen

IMDB rating – 5.4
Genre: Musical, Drama
Production: USA / 2008
Worldwide Box Office: $10,153,961
Director: Darren Grant
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Tessa Thompson, Riley Smith, John Reardon, Julissa Bermudez, Ashley Roberts, Karen LeBlanc, Matt Kippen, Eric Fjeldsted, Aaron Merke.

Lauryn is a young and determined dancer from Indiana who travels to Chicago to enroll in the prestigious School of Music and Dance. She dreams of a brilliant career and long prepares for the audition, but at the last moment begins to worry and fails the performance. After the failure, she goes to work in a burlesque club, where she begins to realize that plans can change at any moment, but dreams – never.

Dance with umbrellas was originally planned to shoot under pouring water as in the rain, but because of the danger of injury to the actors, this idea was abandoned.

Ema

IMDB Rating – 6.8
Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Music
Production: Chile / 2019
Worldwide Box Office: $193,676
Director: Pablo Larraín
Starring: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Santiago Cabrera, Paola Giannini, Giannina Fruttero, Josefina Fiebelkorn, Mariana Loyola, Catalina Saavedra, Paula Luchsinger

Ema is a successful dancer of the popular Latin American dance trend. Together with her husband Gaston, she is going through a difficult time after giving up her adopted son Polo. The woman blames herself for what happened and constantly doubts the correctness of the decision.

After the marriage begins to finally crack at the seams, she immerses herself in the world of reggaeton – a combination of music and street dance style. The new project completely embraces Emu, and it dramatically changes the fates of several people at once.

Filming took place in Valparaiso, Chile. In addition to the main character’s husband, the movie featured mostly little-known actors.

Work It

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Comedy, Music
Production: USA / 2020
Director: Laura Terusso
Starring: Keiynan Lonsdale, Liza Koshy, Brianna Andrade-Gomez, Callian Bremo, Alyssa Trask, Kiana Smith, Justin Sanker, Markisha Sparks, Teya Wylde, Eliana Todaro

A determined girl Quinn dreams of winning a local dance competition to get a chance to study at a prestigious college and become a choreographer. She can’t be a part of the best dancers’ team, so there is only one way out: to gather her own group of similar losers and win the main prize.

The filming took place in a real North Carolina school building.

Cuban Fury

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Melodrama, Comedy, Sports
Production: UK / 2013
Worldwide Box Office: $5,645,773
Director: James Griffiths
Starring: Nick Frost, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd, Ian McShane, Ben Radcliffe, Isabella Steinbart, Brandon Robinson, Louis Kairiakou, Kieran Gaffney, Steve Oram

Bruce has been fond of dancing since early childhood and excelled in this business. Once he almost won the national championship, if not for one unfortunate misunderstanding, after which the man hastily ended his career.

Years passed, Bruce got a regular job and gained a couple dozen extra pounds. One day a new female employee appeared in their team, which immediately attracted the attention of all the men. Bruce decides to compete for her heart at a dance competition, but quickly realizes that he is not the only one who wants to charm the beauty.

In the parking lot dance scene, the characters are honked at by a car driven by actor and screenwriter Simon Pegg.

Tango libre

IMDB Rating – 6.2
Genre: Drama, melodrama
Production: France, Belgium, Luxembourg / 2012
Worldwide Box Office: $36,630
Director: Frédéric Fontaine
Starring: François Damiens, Sergi Lopez, Jan Hammenecker, Anne Polizevich, Zachary Chasseriot, Christian Kmiotek, David Murgia, Frédéric Fresnay, Dominique Lejeune, Marc Charlet

A non-trivial movie about ballroom dancing tells the story of Jean-Christophe, a guard of the local prison, who goes to tango courses in the evenings. One day he meets Alice – an attractive middle-aged woman, who immediately interests the hero.

A little later he sees her in prison on dates with different men, one of whom is her husband. The more often the man meets the mysterious Alice at dances and at work, the more he becomes fascinated by her life story.

Ann Polizevich, who played the title character, wrote the screenplay for the movie, which was directed by her husband Frederick Fontaine.

Magic Mike

IMDB Rating – 6.1
Genre: Drama, comedy
Production: USA / 2012
Budget: $7,000,000
Worldwide Box Office: $167,221,571
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Olivia Munn, Adam Rodriguez, Reed Carolyn.

An experienced stripper nicknamed “Super Mike” works in the nightclub “Xquisite”, which is run by the famous dancer Dallas. In addition to work, the man gives life lessons to a novice stripper Adam nicknamed “Kid”, with whom there are constantly some mishaps on stage. As their friendship grows stronger, and later Mike meets Adam’s sister, and realizes that he needs much more than just dancing.

The main character Mike, played by Channing Tatum, in his youth worked part-time in a strip club in Florida, so the movie is partly based on the facts of his biography.

The actors had to wax their bodies for the movie, which many of them felt was the worst experience of their lives.