Though it wasn’t a box office smash, Center Stage twirled its way into audiences’ hearts and became a beloved cult phenomenon in 2000 — two decades later, the now-iconic movie still resonates as a love letter to both dance and New York City. Amanda Schull, who starred as ambitious ballet dancer Jody Sawyer, and production designer David Gropman take EW behind the scenes of the film’s most iconic locations.
follows a group of young dancers as they're accepted into the prestigious American Ballet Academy in the heart of New York City, loosely based on the School of American Ballet. It's one of very few movies made about dance that actually "got ballet right," which is why it's stood the test of time as a favorite of both ballet dancers and non-dancers alike for two decades, according to star Amanda Schull.
Another reason why the film feels so authentic is that it was all shot on location in New York City. From the gorgeous, spacious theaters to real lofts and brownstones to bars and even on a boat,took every opportunity to infuse the magic of the city into the film.
"It was a huge stage set with a completely sprung dance floor which is the kind of floor dancers need to practice on," Gropman says. "You had to have mirrors that work both for the dancers and for the camera. And then creating that great, big skyline of New York out the windows, it was a great challenge. We also shot on stage sets for the dormitory rooms as well."required a lot of work to ensure that it was safe for the dancers.
After Jody accidentally runs into infamous choreographer/ballet's bad boy Cooper in the class, he whisks her away for a spontaneous date on the street outside the studio, which Schull reveals was actually shot on the curb below Taylor's studio. "Ethan actually is a motorcycle fanatic, but for insurance [reasons] I wasn’t supposed to be on it," she says. "But after we had done a few takes, Ethan just took off for the first and last motorcycle ride of my life.
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