Dance in Film · 2006
Step Up (2006)
Channing Tatum stars in the film that launched a franchise, blending street dance with classical training.
Step Up is a 2006 dance feature film centred on Blues & Slow Social Dance, Hip-Hop & Street Dance, Ballet. For dancers, it's a chance to see these styles performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 25 indexed dance sequences ↓
Dance styles featured
Where to watch: Streaming (various)
The dance sequences in Step Up
25 sequences, 16 with a timestamp — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Danced by Channing Tatum; party partner (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Tyler dancing with PJ's girlfriend until PJ cuts directly into the floor.
Tyler disappears from Mac and Skinny's conversation into a tight party duet, keeping his shoulders loose while his partner stays close in the crowded room. PJ's demand at the edge of the floor stops the flirtation cold, so the dance introduces Channing Tatum's ease and Tyler's reflex for confrontation in the same beat.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:03:14 is the cut-away question Where's Tyler? that reveals his already-starting dance in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. PJ interrupts at 00:03:56, anchoring the end of the passage.
Danced by Jenna Dewan; Tim Lacatena; Maryland School of the Arts dance students (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
Nora continuing the seven-count phrase while the class clocks Tyler in his garbage-man jumpsuit.
The class carries a seven-count phrase from a low stop through a forward sweep and an overhead rise while Tyler crosses the studio in his work uniform. Nora keeps the count alive after the other students notice him, and Jenna Dewan's uninterrupted repetition establishes the discipline Tyler has only been watching from outside.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:14:31 is the first movement count in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference; Nora's individual phrase is explicitly counted from 00:15:11. The timestamp is tied to this edition.
Danced by Channing Tatum; Damaine Radcliff; De'Shawn Washington; Jenna Dewan (observer) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Tyler skidding over the parked car while Nora watches his ballet parody become real dancing.
Tyler turns the school lot into a solo by sliding across a car hood, rebounding through hip-hop grooves and mocking the ballet shapes he has just watched through the window. Nora's gaze from above lands on the moment Channing Tatum converts her class vocabulary into his own off-axis spin, which is why she later believes he can partner her.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:18:30 is the first Choice Is Yours lyric in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference and the stable musical onset of the parking-lot dance. Commercial masters may differ by seconds.
Danced by Jenna Dewan; auditioning MSA students (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
A succession of partners fumbling Nora's lift while she dismisses each attempt faster than the last.
Nora cycles the sophomore men through the same jump-and-catch demand, only to be set down too early, tipped sideways or left calling no before the landing is secure. Dewan's increasingly clipped thank-yous turn each failed lift into a precise inventory of what her Senior Showcase cannot survive.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:23:40 is Nora's welcome at the start of the audition montage in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The first failed attempt follows immediately, and the montage ends before Tyler volunteers at 00:25:00.
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Nora saying Catch me and Tyler securing the lift without rehearsal clothes or warning.
Nora abandons debate and runs at Tyler, forcing him to prove his partnering strength in one unprepared catch. He absorbs Jenna Dewan's momentum, lets her drop into his arms and waits for instructions, replacing every comic audition failure with a single controlled landing.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:25:49 is Nora's explicit Catch me cue in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The short test is directly timed and ends when she tells Tyler to put her down.
- 00:28:54
First rehearsal — step, knee, fan, turn
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Tyler learning Nora's full step-knee-fan combination in street clothes and sneakers.
Nora hands Tyler a phrase built from step-knee-step-fan, turn, ball change and contract, then discovers that he can reproduce it without the tights she requested. Tatum's loose attack keeps knocking against Dewan's exact counts, and Brett's interruption exposes how quickly the rehearsal has become more than community service.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:28:54 is Nora's first Step, knee, step, fan instruction in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The combination is repeated through 00:30:30 and later resumes before 00:32:30.
- 00:34:23
Step Up rehearsal montage
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
The repeated piqué-and-grab growing from a stop-and-correct drill into a seamless catch.
The title song compresses several days of work into turns, catches and resets, but Nora still has to call What next? before Tyler can find the piqué-and-grab transition. Their missed grips become clean supported changes within the same track, so the montage measures trust through a movement that was initially only a strength test.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:34:23 is the title-song cue that starts the rehearsal montage in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. Nora's later piqué-and-grab instruction at 00:35:55 confirms the continuing dance passage.
Danced by Jenna Dewan; young ballet students (not individually identified); Channing Tatum (observer) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
The children sinking all the way into plié while Tyler watches Nora teach from the side.
Nora takes the children from a deep grand plié to a reach for the sky, a toe touch and pointe in second while Tyler tries to stay quiet at the studio edge. The tiny students follow Dewan's full-body demonstration rather than just her words, revealing the patient teaching practice behind Nora's own polished lines.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:44:23 is Nora's grand plié cue at the beginning of the children's class in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The reach, toe touch, pointe and second-position cues continue through 00:44:52.
- 00:47:25
Tyler proposes the level-change turn
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Nora accepting Tyler's lowered turn after one four-count test.
Tyler interrupts the prescribed turn to drop his level beneath Nora's line, then asks to test the change instead of merely copying her counts. Dewan tries the four-count idea twice and keeps it, the small negotiation marking the first time Tyler's street vocabulary visibly rewrites her showcase.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:47:25 is Nora's five-six-seven-eight cue immediately after Tyler proposes lowering the shared turn in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. They repeat the change once before leaving.
- 00:49:32
Waterfront canon demonstration and intimate duet
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Nora sliding down Tyler's body after the sunset lift beside the harbor.
At the waterfront where Nora imagined her piece, she demonstrates canon and then circles Tyler until their faces nearly meet against the sunset. Tatum lifts Dewan on the lyric's emotional crest and lets her slide down his torso, turning a lesson in ensemble structure into the film's most intimate rehearsal.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:49:32 is Nora's I'll show you cue for the waterfront canon demonstration in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference; U Must Be is audible by 00:49:56. The passage is edition-specific but directly anchored.
- 00:51:46
Expanded ensemble run-through for Director Gordon
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Maryland School of the Arts ensemble dancers (not individually identified); Rachel Griffiths (observer) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
The once-empty duet suddenly surrounded by dancers breaking out of unison into canon.
Tyler answers Nora's imagined canon by filling the studio with younger MSA dancers, then places their staggered entrances around the duet she had been rehearsing alone. Director Gordon's pause before calling the revision risky gives the new bodies weight: the room now shows Nora's original idea and Tyler's recruitment work at once.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:51:46 is Tyler's How many did you say you needed? cue that begins the recruitment-and-run-through passage in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. Director Gordon evaluates the result at 00:52:13.
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Mario; Drew Sidora; club dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Nora leading the women forward before Tyler and the men answer across the club floor.
Nora challenges Tyler to dance without tights, then the club floor organizes itself into women-forward and men-answering lines beneath Lucy and Miles's live track. Dewan meets Tatum's loose groove instead of dragging him toward ballet, and their face-to-face exchange lets the rehearsal partners look equally at home in his social vocabulary.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 01:00:03 is Nora's answer to Tyler's dance invitation in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The group sequence continues through the women's and men's call-outs and ends at about 01:02:37.
Danced by Channing Tatum; Alyson Stoner; child performer playing Malcolm (not individually verified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Malcolm attempting a one-handed Running Man while Camille and Tyler cheer him on.
Camille turns a tossed ball into an exchange of steps, making Tyler copy her small hand-and-foot accents before they stitch the pieces together on a three-count go. Alyson Stoner then calls for the Running Man and lets Malcolm attempt it one-handed, so the kitchen-floor lesson becomes a family game rather than Tyler's audition material.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 01:06:27 is Camille's Then do somethin' challenge in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The teach-in runs through the one-handed Running Man at 01:07:48.
- 01:11:28
Full-cast rehearsal interrupted by Mac
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Maryland School of the Arts ensemble dancers (not individually identified); Damaine Radcliff (observer) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Mac stopping the rehearsal just after Tyler tells one section to hit hard and another to smooth out.
Tyler directs the back line to hit hard while asking another phrase to look pretty, using his own words to balance the showcase's two movement textures. Mac walks in before the run can settle and calls the work Riverdancing, freezing Tyler between the ensemble he now leads and the friend he has been avoiding.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 01:11:28 is Tyler's Ready back there? cue at the start of the full-cast rehearsal in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. Mac stops the run at 01:11:39.
- 01:16:20
Andrew returns and the revised routine defeats his ankle
Danced by Jenna Dewan; Tim Lacatena; Maryland School of the Arts ensemble dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
Andrew collapsing on the first full counted run and admitting he cannot pull off the revised piece.
Nora drives Andrew through ball change, side changes, head accents and an inside lift before asking for the full count. His ankle gives on the second measure, and Tim Lacatena's aborted rise demonstrates that the choreography Tyler helped build can no longer be restored to its earlier partner.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 01:16:20 is Nora's ball-change instruction at the start of Andrew's return rehearsal in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. His ankle fails during the counted phrase at 01:16:46.
- 01:35:47
Senior Showcase — hip-hop handoff and full-company finale
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Mario; Maryland School of the Arts showcase dancers and musicians (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Tyler catching the shirt before the men break into hip-hop and the women answer with ballet lines.
The score drops into straight hip-hop as Tyler receives a shirt and the men drive the phrase with torso hits while Nora and the women answer in ballet-derived lines. Miles and the live musicians thicken the final build, and the company closes by letting both groups share the same accents instead of returning to separate sides.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 01:35:47 is the new vocal cue that starts the finale's hip-hop section in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. The performance ends with applause at 01:37:03.
Club freestyle and battle
New Style Hip-HopDanced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Mario; club ensemble · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Rosero McCoy; Jamal Sims; Zachary Woodlee
The circle format and call-and-response keep the dancing grounded in peer recognition rather than stage approval.
Wide frames make the ensemble geometry readable, while selective cuts redirect attention without breaking the musical phrase. Layered entrances and changing formations turn the group itself into a visual rhythm, giving the number scale without sacrificing clarity.
Maryland School ballet rehearsal
Contemporary BalletDanced by Jenna Dewan; Rachel Griffiths; conservatory dancers · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Rosero McCoy; Jamal Sims; Zachary Woodlee
Clean studio lines and repeated phrases establish the formal movement system Tyler will disrupt.
Observational coverage keeps the dancers' full bodies and surrounding community in view, using close-ups mainly to reveal effort and response. Because the film lets attempts, corrections and recoveries remain visible, the sequence shows how the dance is made rather than presenting only a polished result.
Opening cross-cut — Baltimore street-party crew
New Style Hip-HopDanced by Opening street-party dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
The opening edit bouncing from low street-dance hits to elevated ballet shapes.
The party crew answers Petey Pablo with bent-knee rebounds, torso hits and floor-level shapes while the edit keeps snapping back to the MSA dancers. Their grounded attack makes the polished ballet room look newly percussive, establishing the film's two movement vocabularies in a single musical argument.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:00:43 is the first sustained Show Me the Money lyric cue in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference, but the intercut street movement precedes it. The exact subtitle-silent onset remains blank/low.
Opening cross-cut — MSA ballet phrase
Contemporary BalletDanced by Maryland School of the Arts ballet dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher
Ballet lines and street-dance weight sharing the same opening beat in alternating rooms.
The title sequence cuts a long, lifted ballet phrase against the low-slung party dancing happening elsewhere in Baltimore. Each return to the Maryland School of the Arts preserves the dancers' extended legs and upright torsos, making the shared beat expose a difference in training before Tyler and Nora meet.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. 00:00:43 is the first sustained music cue in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference, but movement is already underway in the subtitle-silent opening. The onset therefore remains blank/low rather than treating the lyric as the dance start.
Opening party and vandalism dance
New Style Hip-HopDanced by Channing Tatum; Alyson Stoner; Baltimore street dancers · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Rosero McCoy; Jamal Sims; Zachary Woodlee
Aggressive handheld energy gives way to readable circles and freestyle exchanges, establishing movement as social currency.
Tracking shots and rhythmic cutting borrow energy from the dancers while repeatedly returning to frames that show complete actions. The choreography answers accents with changes of level, direction and texture, making the scene feel driven by the music rather than pasted onto it.
Senior Showcase — Nora's traditional opening ensemble
Contemporary BalletDanced by Jenna Dewan; Channing Tatum; Maryland School of the Arts showcase dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Nora leading the formal opening in front of the school-like set before Tyler's spotlight arrives.
Nora opens beneath the MSA-style façade with a traditional ensemble phrase, leading long contemporary lines before Tyler receives his own spotlight. The women hold the school vocabulary in front while the men wait at the edges, giving the stage a visible order that Tyler's entrance is about to disturb.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. The Showcase dance begins after the last backstage cue at 01:33:39 and before the first timed vocal at 01:34:18 in the named 1080p Blu-ray subtitle reference. Because the onset is subtitle-silent, no exact timestamp is claimed.
Senior Showcase — Tyler enters and the duet takes over
Danced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; Maryland School of the Arts showcase dancers (not individually identified) · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Jamal Sims; Rosero McCoy
Tyler stepping out of the spotlight as Nora switches into his grounded attack before they join in close hold.
A separate spotlight gives Tyler the stage, and Nora briefly mirrors his grounded accents before the ensemble parts for their close duet. Their solo phrases resolve into held turns and tango-inflected partnering, letting the choreography stage the argument between his weight and her line inside one couple.
Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. Tyler's spotlight and the duet begin during the subtitle-silent interval before the first vocal cue at 01:34:18 in the named 1080p Blu-ray reference. The section is verified by the published finale analysis, but its exact onset remains blank/low.
Senior showcase finale
Fusion DanceDanced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan; conservatory ensemble · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Rosero McCoy; Jamal Sims; Zachary Woodlee
Ballet lines, street attack and live percussion are integrated through formations instead of simply alternated.
The camera expands and contracts with the number, moving from architectural wides to selective details at musical turning points. Scale, costume and formation changes amplify the choreography instead of replacing it, so the spectacle remains anchored in dancing bodies.
Tyler and Nora first rehearsal
Fusion DanceDanced by Channing Tatum; Jenna Dewan · Choreography Anne Fletcher; Rosero McCoy; Jamal Sims; Zachary Woodlee
A fixed studio view makes their incompatible weight and attack obvious before the phrase begins to mesh.
The sequence gains force by cutting between sharply different movement textures while keeping each style visually legible. That contrast turns technique into character: posture, groove and use of space communicate the conflict before dialogue can explain it.
More dance films
Poster artwork and title data from TMDB. This site uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.