20 Films about... Dance

Aronofky paints a difficult and insanity-driven portrait about a young prima ballerina, Nina, who becomes obsessed and paranoid while playing the Swan Queen in her company's rendition of Swan Lake.

A drama that documents a teenage girl coming-of-age through a relationship with a dance instructor whom she encounter's during her family's summer vacation.

A young rebel moves to a small town where dancing is outlawed, ultimately inciting him to throw a dance and overthrow the law. The film was remade by Craig Brewer in 2011.

Powell & Pressburger paint one of the most beautiful films ever about a young ballerina who joins an established dance company and becomes the lead dancer in a new ballet called "The Red Shoes", itself based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson.

An immature Italian-American young man spends his weekends dancing disco at a local club, ultimately having to come to terms with his escapism and grow up.

The first film in Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain trilogy (the others including Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!) paints a theatrical story of a ballroom dancer and his frumpy pasodoble-dancing gypsy partner who audition for the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship.

Not just a dance film, as it presents a group of adolescent dancers, singers, and dreamers during their high school years at a prestigious art school in New York. The film spawned a tv series, and a 2009 remake directed by Kevin Tancharoen.

The first film in one of the most popular dance franchises ever, Step Up tells the story of a disadvantaged young street dancer and his romance with a privileged modern dancer. Three sequels were produced, the most recent being released in 2012.

An exotic dancer at a neighborhood cabaret, who aspired to someday be a professional dancer, ultimately forms bonds with the other dreamers working there, as well as with the owner of a rival strip joint.

A British boy turns in his sport uniform for ballet slippers, and keeps it a secret from his hyper-masculine father and the disappointing eye of the community.

A baby penguin chooses to express himself through dance, rather than singing, much to his family's chagrin, in this adorable animated jukebox musical.

The 7th out of the 10 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers Musical comedies, about a ballet dancer who wants to incorporate jazz into his routines, falls for a tapdancer, and a publicity stunt is made of their romance.

A promising ballet dancer who hoped to be admitted to Julliard's dance program, gives it up after being racked with guilt for her mother's death. She moves to the city where a smooth-talking dancer shows her the world of hip-hop.

A young man joins a fraternity at a historically black University, and delves into the steppin' program, a dance made of creating the music with one's body through a series of rhythmic clapping and stomping.

A provocative documentary film about how the New York City educational system runs a ballroom dance program for 5th graders, teaching them tango, foxtrot, rumba, swing, and the like.

Based on the Broadway musical about a group of talented young dancers all battling inner demons while auditioning to be backup dancers in a stage musical.

John Waters first "mainstream" film about an overweight young girl in the 60's who lands a job as a dancer on a popular musical TV show, and uses it to her advantage to bring attention to the injustices of racial segregation. The film inspired a broadway musical of the same name, which was then turned into a movie by Adam Shankman in 2007, starring John Travolta & Michelle Pfeiffer.

A Latin dance instructor teaches inner city students patience, humility, and drive through a dance program.

A talented cheerleading squad must reimagine their entire routine in time for a competition against an enemy high school.

A struggling jazz dancer teams up with a duo of break dancers to bring a hybrid dance style to a street dancing competition. One of the first films to prominently feature break & street dancing.