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For the song, see Save the Last Dance for Me. For the TV episode, see Save The Last Dance (That's So Raven).

Save the Last Dance
Directed by	Thomas Carter
Produced by	Robert W. Cort
Written by	Duane Adler Cheryl Edwards
Starring	Julia Stiles Sean Patrick Thomas Kerry Washington
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	January 12, 2001 (USA)
Running time	112 min.
Language	English
Budget	~ US$13,000,000
Followed by	Save the Last Dance 2 (2006)
IMDb profile

Save the Last Dance is a motion picture produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter, written by Duane Adler, and released by Paramount Pictures on January 12, 2001. This musical drama stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who work together to help the main character played by Stiles train for a dance audition. A direct-to-video sequel, Save the Last Dance 2, was released in 2006. Save the Last Dance can be considered a modern day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Contents 1 Plot content 2 Earnings and awards 3 Soundtrack 4 Trivia 5 External link

Sara Johnson (Stiles) was on her way to a promising ballet career when her mother was killed in a car accident while rushing to attend her daughter's crucial audition to the respected Juilliard school. Sara blames herself for the death of her mother and has given up ballet dancing. Sara moves from her Midwestern childhood home to live with her estranged father Roy (Terry Kinney), who is living in a run-down area of Chicago. Transferred to a new mostly African American high school, the white teenage girl is very uncertain of her future.

However, she quickly befriends Chenille Reynolds (Kerry Washington), a black single mom struggling with her child's absentee father. Initially, Sara has conflicts with Chenille's brother Derek (Thomas), a smart and thoughtful future college student who wants to become a doctor at Georgetown University in order to get out of the ghetto gangster lifestyle embodied by his best friend, Malakai (Fredro Starr). Soon, Sara finds herself becoming deeply attracted to Derek. The two characters connect, and with the help of Derek's coaching, the former ballet dancer is introduced to hip-hop culture in a local club and regains her love for dancing. Supported by Derek and her formerly alienated father, Sara starts to follow her dream again. In hopes to attend Juilliard, she tries out a second time in a dance audition for the school that will become critical for her future.

The film was a surprise success in theaters especially with a young audience, and is regarded as a breakthrough for its two leading actors, Stiles, and especially Thomas. It was a financial success, as well, with box-office earnings of nearly $131 million worldwide.

'Save the Last Dance' was also successful at a number of lesser-known or humorous movie awards, most notably:

• The '2001 MTV Movie Awards', winning in the category 'Best Kiss' for Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas, who also won 'Breakthrough Male Performance'; and being nominated for 'Best Female Performance' for Julia Stiles and 'Best Dance Sequence' for a scene in the hip hop club.

• The '2001 Teen Choice Awards', winning in the categories 'Film - Choice Actress' for Julia Stiles, 'Film - Choice Breakout Performance' for Kerry Washington and 'Film - Choice Fight Scene' for Julia Stiles and Bianca Lawson; and being nominated as best 'Film - Choice Drama'.

• The '2001 Young Hollywood Awards', winning in the category 'Standout Performance - Male' for Sean Patrick Thomas.

• It was also nominated for the '2002 Black Reel Awards' in the category 'Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress for Kerry Washington and the '2002 Golden Reel Awards' in the category 'Best Sound Editing - Music, Musical Feature Film' for the music editor Michael T. Ryan.

As the title 'Save the Last Dance' implies, this motion picture is also a platform for contemporary music. Therefore, the energetic soundtrack, filled with music underscoring the dance scenes from the film, also became a success. It features a lineup of R&B and hip hop performers such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Pink and Notorious B.I.G. on the harder end of the spectrum as well as K-Ci & Jo-Jo, Donnell Jones, and Soulbone for the quieter and romantic moments of the movie. The climatic scene of the movie is illustrated by Athena Cage's "All Or Nothing". Fredro Starr, of hip hop group Onyx, who also appears in the film in a supporting role, performs the main theme on the soundtrack.

• A sequel (Save the Last Dance 2) was released on DVD October 10, 2006. No actors/actresses from the first film reprise their roles in this sequel. Izabella Miko stars in the title role.
• Stiles and Thomas actually kissed each other when accepting the 2001 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.
• In the episode The Cliffhanger of The O.C. Seth and Summer watch Save the Last Dance. Because Seth was high he enjoyed the movie and even the blue screen.

• Save the Last Dance at the Internet Movie Database