As is everything about Gladiator . Even the music, composed by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard, is well chosen to evoke a sense of distance and timelessness. No weepy theories about hurting students' feelings apply here. Either you perform according to the program, or you can take a flying leap through the nearest door. The pressure is great.
Careers depend on every twirl, every pointed toe.
Each student in Center Stage represents a broad cultural stereotype. They are stock figures, plausibly tethered to reality but insufficiently individual to be of more than passing interest. The rhythmic razzmatazz is older even than Flashdance . Its archetypes are those backstage hoofer pictures from the early 1930s. Filmed and edited with cool economy, and graceful in its moves, Center Stage is an entertaining but not terribly profound glimpse of the art of dance.