Movie Review: StreetDance

DRAMA; PG, 1hr 38min
STARRING: Charlotte Rampling, Nichola Burley, Richard Winsor, Ukweli Roach

Adversity can breed winners. But five weeks out from the London Street Dance Championship finals, Carly (Burley) isn't feeling it after her boyfriend and dance-crew boss (Roach) calls time-out, leaving her in clueless charge.

Born in the clubs, street dance pairs rubbery physicality with a gymnast's whiplash timing and gravity-flouting nerve. So when classical-dance mistress Helena (queenly stringbean Rampling) offers cash-poor Carly the gratis use of her school for rehearsal space on the proviso that a group of her students are included in the performance, Carly has grave doubts.

We don't, though - not for a second: convention dictates that they'll be off to a rocky start just as surely as that when the two teams click, the stylistically fused moves will be supersonic - especially fleshed out in comin'atcha 3-D. The plot and performances won't start any fires but the demon dancing is a blast of life that gathers steam to a final, foundation-shaking showdown. All this and abs to crack ice
on? That's what I call a workout.

Andiee's Rating: ***