Maybe West Side Story and Hairspray aren’t your style. That’s OK. There are plenty of great movies out there about theatre and dance that aren’t necessarily musicals. Whether it’s about a struggling dancer trying to make it big and find someone to recognize their talent, a playwright hoping to find someone to bring their play to life on stage, or even just a fun romp about dancing at a summer country club — there’s something for everyone. If you’re looking for a fun, music and art-filled movie that isn’t a traditional musical, this list has you covered. These are seven of the best movies about theatre and dance.
7 Burlesque (2010)
Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Releasing
Burlesque is about a small-town girl named Ali (Christina Aguilera) who moves out to LA to follow her dreams of becoming a professional dancer. She ends up waitressing at a burlesque club owned by Tess (Cher). After seeing Tess and some of the dancers at the club perform a number, Ali is infatuated with the idea of getting on stage herself and eventually gets her chance when Tess holds auditions to replace one of her dancers.
Burlesque is absolutely cheesy, filled with clichés and generally predictable. However, it’s also full of great performances — from Cher and Stanley Tucci, most notably — stellar costumes and clean dance routines, making it hard to deny that despite its cheesiness, it’s a really entertaining movie. After premiering in 2010, Burlesque was met with mixed reviews, but if you can look past its cliché nature and just focus on the fun performances, you’ll have a good time watching it.
6 Fame (1980)
United Artists Digital Studios
Fame is set in New York City and follows the lives and ups and downs of the lives of a group of students at a performing arts high school, known today as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. The movie chronicles their auditions in the various drama, music and dance departments all throughout high school as each student works to make their dreams a reality. The movie originally premiered in 1980 and was remade years later in 2009. It was also made into a TV series from 1982 to 1987.
The original is slightly better than the remake, but both iterations do a fine job at telling the students’ stories and illustrating their desires for fame — hence the name of the movie — and the trials and tribulations they must endure to have a shot at fulfilling their dreams. It’s a very captivating storyline — albeit, one that has been done time and time again — and features an iconic soundtrack that had a life of its own off-screen.
5 Flashdance (1983)
Paramount Pictures
Premiering in 1983, Flashdance is a dance-focused drama about Alex (Jennifer Beals), a young welder/exotic dancer who dreams of going to ballet school. It’s the classic story seen time and time again about an aspiring artist, but Flashdance is truly a classic. Everyone knows the signature songs, “Maniac” and “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” used in the movie, as well as the iconic waterfall chair scene. Flashdance is very ’80s. From the visuals to the content to the soundtrack, it’s an undeniable ’80s classic. It’s certainly not the best dance film ever made, but it’s still a really fun watch and provides another dose of that age-old message of the importance of following your dreams.
4 Footloose
There aren’t likely many people who aren’t familiar with Footloose in some way. Whether it’s the fun movie intro, Kenny Loggins’ song, the stage adaptation, the 2011 remake, or the 1984 original. Footloose follows Ren McCormick (a young Kevin Bacon), a teenager from Chicago who moves to a small, rural town that has a ban on dancing issued by the town’s stiff minister (John Lithgow). But when Ren comes to town, he works to rally the local teens to overturn the dancing ban. Footloose is a fun, silly movie that screams 1980s. But despite its silliness, it’s a classic worth a watch if you somehow missed it. It has a fun soundtrack, iconic dance numbers, and talented cast that all work together to make this movie a major ’80s classic.
3 The Producers (1967)
Embassy Pictures
The Producers is about a greedy Broadway producer (Zero Mostel) who scams old wealthy women out of their money by romancing them for cash for a play he’s working on (that doesn’t actually exist). When his accountant Leo (Gene Wilder) pulls his books, the two realize that a producer can make a lot more money off of a play that flops, so they pair set out to produce the worst play to ever hit the stage.
Directed by Mel Brooks and premiering in 1967, The Producers is a hilarious classic full of stellar performances, most notably from Wilder. Though it was a sleeper hit at the box office, it has since become a cult favorite. It was even turned into a Broadway stage musical in 2001, and there was a movie made about the musical a few years later in 2005. With its over-the-top acting and zany humor, The Producers may be an acquired taste, but even if it’s not your cup of tea, it’s hard to deny its impact and role as a milestone in filmmaking.
2 Dirty Dancing (1987)
Vestron Pictures
Dirty Dancing, another ’80s classic, is about a girl (Jennifer Grey) who falls in love with a dance instructor (Patrick Swayze) at a vacation resort one summer. Dirty Dancing is a major feel-good movie. It’s fun and romantic, but also touching and poignant at the same time. Coupled with great performances and memorable music numbers, Dirty Dancing checks all the boxes for a “good movie” and its become a classic over the years. The summertime love story between Grey and Swayze’s characters is truly timeless. Whether you’ve only seen it once, or 50 times, it’s hard not to be captivated by the two on screen. In terms of the dancing in the movie, the dance practice sessions are some of the most memorable as they all lead up to the iconic performance and overhead lift during “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”
1 Black Swan (2010)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Black Swan is a unique entry on this list as it’s a psychological horror and not a fun, feel-good flick like the rest of the movies here. Black Swan premiered in 2010 and focuses on a performance of Tchaikovsky’s classic Swan Lake by the New York City Ballet Company. Starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, the bulk of the movie focuses on Portman, a dedicated ballerina who receives the lead role of White Swan in the ballet, as she begins to lose her grip on reality and go mad.
Black Swan is such a great movie because it’s both beautiful and nightmarish. The ballet is delicate, pristine and pretty to watch, while Portman’s loss of sanity and hallucinations are scary and concerning. Portman’s performance alone is masterful and actually won her the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. While Black Swan isn’t as happy-go-lucky and bright as most other dance movies, it delivers a firm message about the price you must pay to be “perfect” and the consequences that it bears.
