Discuss the role of dance in one of the films listed below—how are the
dance sequences used to develop the plot and/or individual characters
and relationships? What makes the dances significant or important in
the film? How do the dances color your perceptions of the characters
or the story? What do movement sequences and music choices tell the
viewer about these characters? Discuss the use of dance in the plot
through the arc of the film and select at least three specific scenes
to analyze which demonstrate character development through movement
choices/choreography in those particular scenes. Please do NOT
summarize the film—I have seen it! Summaries will NOT receive credit.
Some of these films may be available at local libraries, and all of
them should be available on Netflix, iTunes, or rent from Amazon.
Mao’s Last Dancer (Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood) PG
Chicago (Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere) PG-13
Black Swan (Natalie Portman) R
Dirty
Dancing (Patrick Swayze) PG-13
All That Jazz (Roy Scheider, Anne
Reinking) R
Center Stage (Ethan Stiefel, Amanda Schull) PG-13
Stomp
The Yard (Colombus Short, Meagan Good) PG-13
Step Up (Tatum Channing)
PG-13
White Nights (Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines) PG-13
Take the
Lead (Antonio Banderas) PG-13
Swing Kids (Robert Sean Leonard,
Christian Bale) PG-13
Honey (Jessica Alba) PG-13
Shall We Dance? (Koji
Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari) PG
Shall We Dance? (Richard Gere, Jennifer
Lopez) PG-13
Tap (Gregory Hines) PG-13
Save the Last Dance (Julia
Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas) PG-13
Strictly Ballroom (Paul Mercurio,
Tara Morice) PG
Dancers (Mikhail Baryshnikov, Julie Kent) PG
One Last
Dance (Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi) PG-13
Dancer (Sergei Polunin) NR
WarDance PG-13
Sample Solution