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HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                    </B><A HREF="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                       </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="067a3da0.png" border=0 width="163" height="218" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="23c95630.png" border=0 width="149" height="99" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>Charlie, Eva, Erik & Jody cut loose in a limo</B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Center Stage</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="500" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 146 WIDTH="494"><div> <IMG SRC="e3a5e8c0.jpg" border=0 width="94" height="140" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004XPPD/reelmoviecriticc">Buy DVD from Amazon.com</A>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Center Stage ***1/2 (PG-13)</B></div> <div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> <bR> <div> Dancing With Your Heart  </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="500" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 94 ><NOBR><div> Amanda Schull: Jody          Ethan Stiefel: Cooper          </div> <div> Peter Gallagher: Jonathan</div> <div> Eva: Zoe Saldana                Erick: Shakiem Evans          </div> <div> Sascha Radetskyk: Charlie</div> <div> Maureen: Susan May Pratt           Director: Nicholas Hyner</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Aspiring ballet dancers, just out of high school, audition for an elite dance school in New York City. Only a few are chosen to join the company and make the transition to professional dancer. We follow the path of the students and teachers, and learn something from each of them.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> New students prepare for the welcoming speech by the director of the American Ballet Academy, Jonathan (Peter Gallagher). We see them preparing their bodies and feet, and getting dressed. The routine appears more complicated than boxers getting their hands taped, or football players putting on all their equipment. All the students raise their hands in response to the question  "Were you the best in your class?"  They are then told that they are now average, and that "Being the best you can be may not be good enough." </div> <bR> <div> Jody (Amanda Schull) is pretty, and a good dancer, with a wonderful personality, who has difficulty getting her dance skills to the "next level". Cooper (Ethan Stiefel) is an instructor at the school (a real life world class dancer), who lost his lover to Jonathan. Erick (Shakiem Evans) is talented, and Eva (Zoe Saldana) is motivated by the love of dance. Eva, however, has a bad attitude when dealing with authority. Moreen (Susan May Pratt) has talent, but her motivation is being the dancer her mother could not be. These and other characters push themselves, and are pushed by others, to learn what is important to them with respect to personal and professional relationships. </div> <bR> <div> As the semester progresses, students are chosen for two major dance numbers, where scouts from major dance studios around the country come to view new talent. Not all students are selected to participate in the grand finale recital. Those who are chosen are placed in two dance scenes that have wonderful choreography and are beautifully executed. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: The dancers with the most potential have ideal bodies and feet that hold position on the floor just perfectly. As in <I>Shall We Dance, </I>the studio's location is elevated, with a view that allows you to have a feeling of being "above it" but not  "in it", with respect to what is important to the rest of the world. The idea in dancing is to not make it look like work. The audience should see and feel the movement, while not thinking of the effort behind it. </div> <bR> <div> Dance films don't drag me into the theater like <I>Mission Impossible </I>or a James Bond movie. But when I leave, I've usually learned something about the human spirit. Surely this genre, like documentaries, uses the film format to its best advantage. </div> <bR> <div> You get inside these characters through their dancing, so that when they do things, you understand the <I>why</I> even if the action is not 100% justified. These are real human beings, just like us. The dancing is wonderful, and the soundtrack is worth buying.</div> <bR> <div> Should one make a career of something because they can do it really well; as opposed to doing something else that they love, but may not possess world class skills?  Most of us are always searching for a way to make a living doing something for which we have a true passion. The message in <I>this</I> bottle is that when we find that something we should go for it. If you are lucky, it will happen before you are 25. But at no age, is it too late to pursue your dreams. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="505" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 70 WIDTH="499"><div> PG-13 (language; sexual;)</div> <div> George O. Singleton © 2000</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@playrules.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="652" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="317"><div> Ethan Stiefel: Debut Film</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Peter Gallagher: <I>American Beauty</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="317"><div> Zoe Saldana: Debut Film</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><div> Shakiem Evans: Debut Film</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Sascha Radetskyk: "Home at Last"-TV</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Susan May Pratt: <I>10 Things I Hate About You</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Nicholas Hyner: <I>The Madness of King  George</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><div> Amanda Schull: Debut Film</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="479" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 65 WIDTH="473"><div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=28757177&siteid=34293771&bfpage=people" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=28757177&siteid=34293771&bfpage=people" TARGET="_top"><IMG SRC="http://image.pathfinder.com/affiliate/images/people/creative/B_468x60r1.gif" BORDER="0" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="60" ALT=""></A>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>