Movies like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque (1994)
The best movies like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque (1994) are Dancer (2016), Center Stage: On Pointe (2016) and Limelight (1952). If Balanchine Essays - Arabesque hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLimelight (1952)7.9/10 from 626 votes
- NewestNatalia: Entre Pasos y Sueños (2025)Released 2025
Dancer (2016)
Sergei Polunin is a breathtaking ballet talent who questions his existence and his commitment to dance just as he is about to become a legend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCenter Stage: On Pointe (2016)
Jonathan Reeves is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy, and enlists his top choreographers Charlie, Cooper and Tommy to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker, who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLimelight (1952)
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBlack Swan (2010)
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStreetDance 3D (2010)
In order to win the Street Dance Championships, a dance crew is forced to work with ballet dancers from the Royal Dance School in exchange for rehearsal space.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Strung (2016)
When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBirds of Paradise (2021)
Two dancers at an elite ballet academy in Paris must compete for a contract to join the highly coveted Opéra National de Paris as they confront their competitive nature, sexual awakenings and how far they would go to win.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trials of Cate McCall (2013)
In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCenter Stage (2000)
A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTake the Lead (2006)
A former professional dancer volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system and, while his background first clashes with his students' tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance. Based on the story of ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulane.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDaddy's Little Girl (2014)
After the police find Derek’s daughter brutally murdered on the beach, he vows to make the culprit suffer for his actions, even if that person is ‘part of the family.’ With careful research into the history of torture, Derek prepares himself and his basement for a week of brutal tactics that will make his daughter’s killer feel the pain that he has inflicted upon so many others. In a time when stranger danger is ever present, a single father learns that it’s the ones you trust most who have to be watched the closest.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Won't Believe Me (1947)
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe American (2023)
American ballet dancer Joy Womack is accepted into Moscow's infamously tough Bolshoi Ballet Academy, with the dream of becoming a great ballerina.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGoal II: Living the Dream (2007)
Tempted away from Newcastle United to join Real Madrid, rising star Santiago Munez finds this latest change of fortune the greatest challenge yet - personally as well as professionally. He is reunited with Gavin Harris, though they must compete to be on the team, and estranged from fiancee Roz, whose nursing career keeps her back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Turning Point (1977)
As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
An intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty featuring Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher, and Carrie Fisher.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAvatar: Creating the World of Pandora (2010)
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAll Day and a Night (2020)
While serving life in prison, a young man looks back at the people, the circumstances and the system that set him on the path toward his crime.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSave the Last Dance (2001)
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Figo Affair: The Transfer That Changed Football (2022)
This documentary spotlights one of the most contentious deals in football history and the extraordinary player at the center of the storm: Luís Figo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAct II (TBA)
After suddenly losing his job at a world-class ballet company, a male ballet star is forced to wrestle with his identity as a minimum-wage teacher in the shadows of the suburbs.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Masters of Georgian Ballet (1955)
A pair of short ballets, written for the screen, filmed and performed by artists of the Georgian SSR. In color, with narration.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Prokofiev: Cinderella (2012)
Christopher Wheeldon's acclaimed new Cinderella for the Dutch National Ballet is an imaginative interpretation of a much-loved classic. Inspired by the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Wheeldon gives the characters renewed depth and complexity, complementing Prokofiev's celebrated and colorful score. With sets and costumes by the renowned designer Julian Crouch, supported by stunning stage effects, this world premiere production is a truly magical experience, bringing an age-old fairy tale into the 21st century.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Spring of Nijinsky (2022)
The famous ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky struggles with rehearsing his newest choreography - the revolutionary Rite of Spring.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Ballet Boys (2014)
Ballet Boys takes you through disappointments, victories, forging of friendship, first loves, doubt, faith, growing apart from each other, finding your own way and own ambitions, all mixed with the beautiful expression of ballet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Suspiria (1977)
An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThis is Ballet: Dancing Anne of Green Gables (2021)
Facing financial challenges and constant risks of injury, an innovative ballet company strives to bring the iconic Canadian story of Anne of Green Gables to new diverse audiences.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
La Fille mal gardée (2005)
Ever since its triumphant premiere in 1960, Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardee has been treasured as one of his happiest creations - his artistic tribute to nature, and an expression of his feelings for his beloved Suffolk countryside. Marianela Nunez and Carlos Acosta perfectly portray the young lovers Lise and Colas, determined to thwart the plans of Widow Simone to marry off her wayward daughter to Alain, the simple son of wealthy Farmer Thomas. Osbert Lancaster's colourful, picture-book designs, along with Ferdinand Herold's tuneful score, arranged by John Lanchbery, provide the perfect setting for Ashton's blissfully bucolic ballet, complete with haywain, pony, maypole and ribbons, a cockrel and his chickens and, of course, the famous clog dance, here wonderfully led by William Tuckett as the irascible but lovable Widow Simone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
The Red Shoes: 75th Anniversary (2023)
Shannon Davidson and Ashley Shaw at the iconic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, delving into their thoughts and feelings about the timeless classic "The Red Shoes" to celebrate its 75th anniversary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque?
The closest matches to Balanchine Essays - Arabesque are Dancer (2016), Center Stage: On Pointe (2016) and Limelight (1952). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Balanchine Essays - Arabesque?
Start with Dancer (2016), the closest match to Balanchine Essays - Arabesque.
What is the highest-rated movie like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque?
Limelight (1952), rated 7.9/10 by 626 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque?
Natalia: Entre Pasos y Sueños (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Balanchine Essays - Arabesque?
Yes: Dancer (2016), Center Stage: On Pointe (2016) and Limelight (1952).
How are movies similar to Balanchine Essays - Arabesque chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Balanchine Essays - Arabesque, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.