Talent aside, some people were born to dance

Ballet lessons (along with violin and piano) are often forced upon us at a certain age and continue until we or our parents throw a major tantrum and we call it quits. There are some little girls, however, who take to the barre like the mafia to crime and show up for lessons with their hair in buns and wearing cute, expensive leotards. When the music starts, they raise themselves on little, little toes and walk all the way across the room, their faces transformed by rapture. It is in this instant that other less coordinated 10-year-olds (like this reviewer) vow to take up smoking as soon as possible and waste as much time as possible in the bathroom.

Such fond memories come rushing back with a movie called "Center Stage," which is a tale of what happens after those talented little girls grow into their late teens, start competing with others just as talented and gear themselves for the career track of professional dancing. Directed by Nicholas Hytner ("The Madness of King George"), "Center Stage" is not only great eye candy, it makes you rediscover the sheer physical beauty of bodies that can really, really dance. Of course there's that twinge of regret that comes from ditching ballet at age 11 for a life of slouching in front of a computer screen. But that's what movies are supposed to do to you.

"Center Stage" is set in the American Ballet Academy in New York, the summit of American performing arts and the coveted destination for any young dancer. The competition is stiff, the teachers are all ex-prima donnas who kept and honed their prima-donna attitudes, and every single student is highly talented and willing to work their legs off.