The Best DANCE Movies!
by cala708 | created - 28 Jan 2013 | updated - 15 Sep 2022 | PublicLooking for inspiration? Love dance?
Then watch these dance movies!
They are sorted by IMDB ratings, and so, the upper half are the best ones. However, they all include great dance performances <3
Please comment if I've missed a movie :)
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1. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
G | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.
Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly | Stars: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen
Votes: 260,394 | Gross: $8.82M
2. The Red Shoes (1948)
Not Rated | 135 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann
Votes: 39,099 | Gross: $10.90M
3. Black Swan (2010)
R | 108 min | Drama, Thriller
Nina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
Votes: 823,624 | Gross: $106.95M
❤
4. Top Hat (1935)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
An American dancer comes to Britain and falls for a model whom he initially annoyed, but she mistakes him for his goofy producer.
Director: Mark Sandrich | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes
Votes: 20,690 | Gross: $3.88M
5. And Then We Danced (2019)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A passionate coming-of-age tale set amidst the conservative confines of modern Tbilisi, the film follows Merab, a competitive dancer who is thrown off balance by the arrival of Irakli, a fellow male dancer with a rebellious streak.
Director: Levan Akin | Stars: Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili, Ana Javakishvili, Kakha Gogidze
Votes: 14,335
6. Billy Elliot (2000)
R | 110 min | Drama, Music
A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven
Votes: 142,505 | Gross: $22.00M
❤
7. Swing Time (1936)
Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Roguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick
Votes: 14,576
8. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 299,132 | Gross: $57.39M
9. Yeh Ballet (2020)
117 min | Drama, Musical
Discovered by an eccentric ballet master, two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams.
Director: Sooni Taraporevala | Stars: Julian Sands, Jim Sarbh, Sarah Jane Dias, Mihir Ahuja
Votes: 1,518
10. Shall We Dance (1937)
Approved | 109 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A ballet dancer and a showgirl fake a marriage for publicity purposes, then fall in love.
Director: Mark Sandrich | Stars: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore
Votes: 7,847
11. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,093 | Gross: $43.66M
12. Frances Ha (2012)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A New York woman apprentices for a dance company and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as the possibility of realizing them dwindles.
Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen
Votes: 94,166 | Gross: $4.06M
13. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance, Western
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 27,064 | Gross: $9.40M
14. Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
PG | 105 min | Documentary, Family, Music
The students of several New York City elementary schools learn ballroom dancing and compete in a city wide dance competition.
Director: Marilyn Agrelo | Stars: Heather Berman, Emma Therese Biegacki, Eva Carrozza, Evangelina Carrozzo
Votes: 3,551 | Gross: $8.12M
15. Stormy Weather (1943)
Passed | 78 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
The relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra, Katherine Dunham and Her Troupe
Votes: 2,886
16. Grease (1978)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway
Votes: 300,134 | Gross: $188.76M
17. An American in Paris (1951)
Passed | 114 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary
Votes: 36,824 | Gross: $4.50M
18. Strictly Ballroom (1992)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson
Votes: 29,379 | Gross: $11.74M
19. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,155 | Gross: $170.69M
❤
20. Five Dances (2013)
TV-14 | 83 min | Drama, Music, Romance
The coming of age tale of an extraordinarily gifted young dancer recently arrived in New York City.
Director: Alan Brown | Stars: Ryan Steele, Reed Luplau, Catherine Miller, Kimiye Corwin
Votes: 2,870
21. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 256,046 | Gross: $0.62M
A real forever favorite! ❤
22. Dance Academy: The Movie (2017)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama
This 2017 movie follows the original dance academy TV show and tracks where the characters are in their lives now.
Director: Jeffrey Walker | Stars: Xenia Goodwin, Mackenzie Fearnley, Ines English, Adam Sollis
Votes: 1,796
23. Sweet Charity (1969)
G | 149 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Taxi dancer Charity continues to have faith despite endless disappointments at its hands, and hope that she will finally meet the man to romance her away from her sleazy life. Maybe, just maybe, handsome Oscar will be the one to do it.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr.
Votes: 6,669 | Gross: $3.43M
24. Dancehall Queen (1997)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A single street vendor disguises herself for a dance contest, and pits her enemies against each other.
Directors: Rick Elgood, Don Letts | Stars: Audrey Reid, Carl Davis, Paul Campbell, Mark Danvers
Votes: 638 | Gross: $0.16M
25. The Turning Point (1977)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
When her daughter joins a ballet company, a former dancer is forced to confront her long-ago decision to give up the stage to have a family.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Tom Skerritt
Votes: 5,172 | Gross: $33.60M
26. Free Dance (2016)
PG | 103 min | Music, Romance
A young choreographer casts a contemporary dancer and an innovative pianist in New York's most anticipated new Broadway show.
Director: Michael Damian | Stars: Jane Seymour, Thomas Doherty, Ace Bhatti, Kika Markham
Votes: 2,250
27. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
R | 118 min | Drama, Music
Anxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
Director: John Badham | Stars: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali
Votes: 87,376 | Gross: $94.21M
28. Suspiria (I) (2018)
R | 152 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.
Director: Luca Guadagnino | Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Tilda Swinton, Doris Hick, Malgorzata Bela
Votes: 91,997 | Gross: $2.47M
29. Born to Dance (1936)
Passed | 106 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broadway star, who is also enamored by him.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Eleanor Powell, James Stewart, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel
Votes: 1,931
30. The Way We Dance (2013)
110 min | Drama, Music
The rise, fall, and rise again of a Hong Kong street dance crew.
Director: Adam Wong | Stars: Cherry Ngan, Babyjohn Choi, Lok Man Yeung, Janice Fan
Votes: 595
31. Polina (2016)
108 min | Drama
A young girl studies classical ballet. As a young woman she turns to modern dance and choreography.
Directors: Valérie Müller, Angelin Preljocaj | Stars: Anastasia Shevtsova, Veronika Zhovnytska, Juliette Binoche, Aleksey Guskov
Votes: 1,969 | Gross: $0.17M
32. White Nights (1985)
PG-13 | 136 min | Drama, Music
A Russian American ballet dancer's airplane is forced to land in USSR, where he's "repatriated". He stays with an American man married to a Russian. Will the American help him flee USSR?
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren
Votes: 8,204 | Gross: $42.16M
33. Center Stage (2000)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A group of teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Amanda Schull, Ethan Stiefel, Sascha Radetsky, Christine Dunham
Votes: 22,782 | Gross: $17.17M
❤
34. Take the Lead (2006)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama, Music
A dance teacher offers to conduct detention for a group of misfit students by teaching them ballroom dancing. He overcomes their insecurities and prejudices, to enter them in a dance competition.
Director: Liz Friedlander | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCosta, Alfre Woodard
Votes: 26,646 | Gross: $34.74M
35. Ballet Shoes (2007 TV Movie)
PG | 85 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1930s London, three orphan girls are adopted by their great uncle, who is an eccentric paleontologist, and his niece.
Director: Sandra Goldbacher | Stars: Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton, Emilia Fox
Votes: 9,170
36. Footloose (1984)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 91,983 | Gross: $80.04M
❤
37. The Dancer (2016)
Not Rated | 108 min | Biography, Drama, History
Loïe Fuller was the toast of the Folies Bergères at the turn of the 20th century and an inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec and the Lumière Brothers. The film revolves around her complicated relationship with protégé and rival Isadora Duncan.
Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto | Stars: Soko, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry, Lily-Rose Depp
Votes: 2,754
38. The White Crow (2018)
R | 127 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Rudolf Nureyev's defection to the West.
Director: Ralph Fiennes | Stars: Oleg Ivenko, Ralph Fiennes, Louis Hofmann, Adèle Exarchopoulos
Votes: 7,007 | Gross: $1.83M
39. Step Up (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Music
Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.
Director: Anne Fletcher | Stars: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Damaine Radcliff, De'Shawn Washington
Votes: 126,716 | Gross: $65.33M
❤
40. Beat Street (1984)
PG | 105 min | Drama, Music
An aspiring DJ from the South Bronx and his best friend, a promoter, try to get into show business by exposing people to hip-hop music and the local culture.
Director: Stan Lathan | Stars: Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, Jon Chardiet, Leon W. Grant
Votes: 4,316 | Gross: $16.60M
41. Step Up Revolution (2012)
PG-13 | 99 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.
Director: Scott Speer | Stars: Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman, Cleopatra Coleman, Misha Gabriel Hamilton
Votes: 58,145 | Gross: $35.07M
42. High Strung (2016)
PG | 96 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Dancer Ruby, starting at Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, meets English violinist Johnnie, playing in a subway station. Music and dance follow.
Director: Michael Damian | Stars: Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Sonoya Mizuno, Jane Seymour
Votes: 10,233 | Gross: $0.05M
43. Burlesque (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 119 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A small-town girl ventures to Los Angeles and finds her place in a neo-burlesque club run by a former dancer.
Director: Steve Antin | Stars: Cher, Christina Aguilera, Alan Cumming, Eric Dane
Votes: 93,085 | Gross: $39.44M
❤
44. ABCD (Any Body Can Dance) (2013)
Not Rated | 160 min | Drama, Music