“Just a few years before my own beginnings as a ballet dancer, director Nicholas Hytner premiered a film that would become a seminal comfort watch for bunheads everywhere. Although Center Stage released to lukewarm and mixed reviews that highlighted soapy plots and rushed arcs, commendable care went into providing viewers with a film that delivered an important message: pointe shoes are not one size fits all.
Whenever pressing play on Center Stage, it feels like a bittersweet walk down memory lane. The film opens on a bustling scene of young dancers auditioning for acceptance into the American Ballet Academy, hoping that it will eventually lead to a career in the American Ballet Company. Meant to be loosely based on the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet, founded by the father of American ballet George Balanchine, the audition process for the film’s fictional school mirrors a very real reality. Many young boys and girls work from the age they can walk in hopes to be one of the lucky dancers that will be accepted to their dance school of choice–and even if they get past this hurdle, only 3-4 of them will be offered the chance to stay on with a company. Having stood in my own uniform of a black camisole leotard, pink tights, and a number safety-pinned to the stomach, this opening scene always triggers nervous butterflies and memories of the perfectly poised poker faces of teachers and artistic directors, void of any signs that you might be the one to get the golden ticket.”
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