| Director | Thomas Carter |
|---|---|
| Genre | crime film, drama film, musical film, romance film, teen film |
| Runtime | 112 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Box office | $131.5 million |
17-year-old Sara Johnson, a promising ballet dancer in suburban Chicago, hopes to be admitted to the Juilliard School and implores her mother to attend the audition. She fails the audition and soon learns that her mother was killed in a car accident on her way to get to it.
Sara is wracked with guilt and gives up ballet. She moves to the South Side to live with her estranged father Roy, a relatively unsuccessful jazz musician, who plays the trumpet at nightclubs. Sara transfers to a majority-black high school, where she is one of a handful of white students. She quickly befriends Chenille Reynolds, a teenage single mother who is having relationship problems with her ex-boyfriend Kenny.
Chenille invites Sara to a dance club called Stepps, where she has her first experience dancing to hip hop rhythms. At Stepps, she dances with Derek, Chenille's brother. Derek is studious and responsible, something rare in his community. He dreams of attending Georgetown University and eventually becoming a pediatrician. Derek likes Sara, and decides to help her develop her dancing abilities by incorporating more hip hop into her style.
Derek takes a reluctant Sara to the Joffrey Ballet and, afterward, she confides in him about her mother and her dreams. Later, they return to the club and amaze others with their dancing. While they are performing, Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki rudely interrupts them and begins dancing with Derek, making Sara retreat to the bar. Malakai comes over to Sara and insults her by saying that there's no point for her trying to be with Derek.
Afterward, Derek returns to Sara and apologizes for pairing up with Nikki, reassuring to her that it was just dancing and that there's nothing between him and Nikki anymore. Sara accepts his apology and they return to Roy's apartment. Having achieved his dream of being accepted into Georgetown, Derek convinces Sara to follow her dreams of Juilliard; they eventually begin a romantic relationship.
At school, Nikki picks a fight with Sara during gym. At the clinic, Chenille tells Sara that while she did not approve of the fight, she can sympathize with Nikki's bitterness to a certain extent since Sara, a white girl, is "stealing" one of the few decent black boys at school. Because of this hurtful conversation, Sara and Chenille's friendship becomes strained, and Sara breaks up with Derek as the backlash becomes too much for her to handle.
Meanwhile, Derek deals with his friend Malakai, who is deeply involved in the gang lifestyle that Derek is trying to leave. Derek agrees to help Malakai execute a drive-by at the same time that Sara has an audition. Roy has a heart-to-heart talk with Sara and encourages her to go through with the audition.
After learning what Chenille said to Sara, Derek angrily confronts her about it, and explains that he dumped Nikki because she cheated on him. Remorseful, Chenille admits that what she did was wrong and apologizes. She also tells Derek that Sara did not want to break up with him, but her words hurt Sara to the point of feeling forced to.
Chenille also admits that she has been resentful for how Kenny has been treating her, including not helping her raise their son and not being a good boyfriend to her. She unintentionally took it out on Sara since she has been envious of her and Derek's relationship. Chenille encourages Derek to reconcile with Sara, admitting that she knows that Sara is in love with him. She warns Derek not to follow Malakai, knowing that he may lose his chance to attend Georgetown and his future if he is arrested. Derek meets up with Malakai and does his best to dissuade him from carrying out the attack, but Malakai refuses, causing Derek to turn on him.
Derek arrives at a crucial point in Sara's performance to offer her encouragement and moral support. Afterward, Sara is accepted into Juilliard and rekindles her relationship with Derek. Meanwhile, the drive-by is botched and Malakai is arrested. The film closes as Sara, Derek, Chenille, and their friends meet at Stepps to celebrate Sara's successful audition.