Centre Stage: Turn It Up is a sequel in the loosest sense of the word. Though it shares a name with the quite successful 2000 film Centre Stage, as with the follow ups to the cheerleader flick Bring It On, similarities to the original are limited. There's a new cast, a new setting, a new story line. In other words, it's a completely new film, but they hope that by linking it in name at least to the first film, you might be more likely to see it. That's not necessarily true for me as I will watch any dancing film that gets released, but it did raise my expectations somewhat since I was such a fan of the original. This is a film only review of what was a straight-to-DVD release in the UK. The DVD can currently be bought on Amazon for £7.98 but I would expect the price to fall pretty quickly to below £5.

The only two characters from the original movie who crop up again in this sequel are the director of the academy, Jonathan Reeves, and one of its former stars, Cooper Nielson. How does this work, since Kate never becomes a student at the Academy? Well, as is the cliché with so many dancing films, she has a 'special' friend with whom things subsequently get complicated...and handily he didn't fail his audition. This provides an interesting angle for the film - they want to keep the ABA in it somehow, so rather than just following Kate with her struggles to keep dancing, they also track Tommy during some of his day to day dealings with the Academy. The contrast between the bright shiny studios Tommy gets to dance in, and the dark, sticky-floored clubs Kate is stuck with is clear, but the two continue their relationship with little in the way of jealousy for the other's life.

There is a formula for dance films, and this does follow it rather. Think Save The Last Dance, A Time For Dancing, that hideously awful The Company, the original Centre Stage and so on. You need a couple of leads (usually boy/girl, but best friends will do). You need a struggle that only those with true dedication can overcome (think inter-racial relationships, a devastating terminal illness, even a weight problem). You often need some kind of loss that inspired you to dance in the first place, or keep dancing now (the death of a parent is always a good one). You preferably need a troubled romantic relationship or two, and it will invariably involve people from different social or economic backgrounds. Most of the time you need someone who doesn't understand the passion their loved one has for dancing, but will probably come around at some point when they finally see what the dancer is capable of. This film has all of these elements, but is not as cheesy as it could have been, despite the emphasis on pursuing your goals, never giving up and so on. The storyline itself is not outstanding (or original), but the dancing makes up for this, and overall leaves you with a very watchable film if you like this sort of thing. At an hour and a half, it is a good length, and well worth part of an evening when it next pops up on TV.