The story of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet’s most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.

Mao's Last Dancer

2009

English

7.3

♡ 10

55%

Bruce Beresford Director

Bruce Greenwood as Ben Stevenson

Penne Hackforth-Jones as Cynthia Dodds

Amanda Schull as Elizabeth

Nicholas Hammond as TV Reporter

At the age of 11, Li was plucked from a poor Chinese village by Madame Mao's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet. In 1979, during a cultural exchange to Texas, he falls in love with an American woman. Two years later, he managed to defect and went on to perform as a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet and as a principal artist with the Australian Ballet.

Hope Dances

2017

English

5.7

♡ 6

69%

Andrew Dillon Director

Kye Olshan as Benji Douglas

Mitch Costanza as Coach Maguire

Quinlynn Barry as Sofia Rains

Meghan Collins as Stage Manager

Hope Douglas has a dream but her parents have thrown her into battle between playing sports and dancing ballet. When a tragedy strikes, Hope has to make a difficult choice that will decide her fate - which way does she go?

The Company

2003

English

6.2

♡ 6

72%

Robert Altman Director

Malcolm McDowell as Alberto Antonelli

James Franco as Josh

Neve Campbell as Loretta 'Ry' Ryan

Marc Grapey as Toast Master

Ensemble drama centered around a group of ballet dancers, with a focus on one young dancer who's poised to become a principal performer.

Shall We Dance

1937

English

7.4

♡ 16

89%

Mark Sandrich Director

Mary Stewart as Dancer and Singer

Matty Roubert as Elevator Operator

Ben Alexander as Evans - a Bandleader

Charlie Hall as Ship's Bartender

Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.

Ailey

2021

English

6.8

♡ 3

90%

Jamila Wignot Director

Harry Belafonte as Self

Carmen De Lavallade as Self

Cicely Tyson as Self

Hope Clarke as Self

Alvin Ailey was a visionary artist who found salvation through dance. Told in his own words and through the creation of a dance inspired by his life, this immersive portrait follows a man who, when confronted by a world that refused to embrace him, determined to build one that would.

Dancer

2016

English

7.8

♡ 3

88%

Steven Cantor Director

David LaChapelle as Self

Valentino Zucchetti as Self

Salvatore Scalzo as Self

Tony Hall as Self - chief executive of the Royal Opera House

Sergei Polunin is a breathtaking ballet talent who questions his existence and his commitment to dance just as he is about to become a legend.

A Nutcracker Christmas

2016

English

6.5

♡ 3

48%

Adventure

aunt niece relationship

Michael Lembeck Director

Catherine Mary Stewart as Carol

Tina Jung as Coffee Shop Clerk

Kenneth Welsh as Dimitri

Amy Acker as Lily

When her niece is cast in The Philadelphia Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker, a jaded ex-ballerina is forced to come to terms with the life and love she left behind.

Dancing on Glass

2022

Spanish

5.6

♡ 8

67%

Jota Linares Director

Ana Wagener as

María Pedraza as Irene

Jessica Rookeward as Irene

Silvia Kal as Laura

When immense pressure threatens a ballerina in a new lead role, she and another dancer escape into a friendship that isolates them from the real world.

Darling

2017

English

6.1

♡ 5

husband wife relationship

rivalry

Birgitte Stærmose Director

Aviad Arik Herman as Dancer

Danica Curcic as Darling

Gustaf Skarsgård as Frans

Ulrich Thomsen as Kristian

The moving love story of a dancer on the rollercoaster ride of her life, a drama about the rise and fall of a modern woman as she summons the courage to face her greatest trial.

Driven to Dance

2018

English

4.6

♡ 16

Tati Vogt Director

Asher Angel as Alex

Aaron Ginn-Forsberg as George

Kaitlyn Black as Lynda

Juliet Doherty as Paige

While preparing to audition for a renowned ballet company, Paige must convince herself and her mother that she has what it takes to make it in the world of dance.

Grand Jeté

2022

German

4.7

♡ 7

Isabelle Stever Director

Stefan Rudolf as Daniel

Anke Stelling as Geburtshelferin / midwife

Carl Hegemann as Herrmann / Hanne's friend

Maya Kornev as Sofia

Dance teacher and mother Nadja left her son Mario with her own mother when he was little. Now she has reappeared on his doorstep, seeking a closeness that knows fewer and fewer boundaries. An uncompromising film about family relationships.

Save the Last Dance

2001

English

6.2

♡ 28

54%

Thomas Carter Director

Nikky Smedley as Molly Shelby

Julia Stiles as Sara

Vince Green as Snookie

Andrew Rothenberg as Stern Judge

After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.

StreetDance 3D

2010

English

5.8

♡ 19

78%

Max Giwa Director

Charlotte Rampling as Helena

Eleanor Bron as Madame Fleurie

Patrick Baladi as Mr Harding

Gino Picciano as Theatre Audience

In order to win the Street Dance Championships, a dance crew is forced to work with ballet dancers from the Royal Dance School in exchange for rehearsal space.

Center Stage: On Pointe

2016

English

5.7

♡ 1

40%

Director X. Director

Maude Green as Allegra

Gabrielle Rose as Beverly

Peter Gallagher as Jonathan Reeves

Ken Kramer as Myron

Jonathan Reeves is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy, and enlists his top choreographers Charlie, Cooper and Tommy to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker, who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp.

The One Man Band

1970

French

6.2

♡ 2

Serge Korber Director

Louis de Funès as Monsieur Édouard - dit Evan Evans

Olivier De Funès as Philippe Evans

Michel Charrel as Un agent de la circulation

Edward Meeks as (uncredited)

Evan Evans, the director of a ballet troupe, is rehearsing his next show in Monaco, in preparation for a worldwide tour. When one member of his troupe leaves to get married, Evans imposes a regime of strict discipline on his remaining dancers. The latter get their revenge by presenting Evans’ nephew Philippe, the only male member of the group, with a baby and a note claiming he is the father…

Neneh Superstar

2022

French

5.4

♡ 1

Ramzi Ben Sliman Director

Nathalie Richard as Jeanne-Marie Meursault

Micha Lescot as Le prof de chant

Aïssa Maïga as Martine Gnaoré

Maïwenn as Myriam Bel-Hadj, dite Marianne Belage

Born to dance, Neneh is a 12-year-old black girl who dreams of entering the Paris Opera Ballet School. Despite her enthusiasm, she will have to redouble her efforts to escape from her condition and be accepted by the director of the school, Marianne Bellage, the guarantor of traditions and the bearer of a secret that links her to the little ballerina.

Girl

2018

Dutch

7.2

♡ 36

84%

Lukas Dhont Director

Julia Effertz as Ballet teacher

Katelijne Damen as Le docteur Naert - le médecin

Valentijn Dhaenens as Le docteur Pascal - le psychiatre

Daniel Nicodème as Opa

A promising teenage dancer enrolls at a prestigious ballet school while grappling with her gender dysphoria.

The Goodbye Girl

1977

English

7.4

♡ 14

77%

manhattan, new york city

Herbert Ross Director

Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield

Robert Costanzo as Liquor Store Salesman

Anita Dangler as Mrs. Morganweiss

Raymond J. Barry as Richard III Cast

After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.