Movies like Step Up (2006)
The best movies like Step Up (2006) are Footloose (2011), Honey (2003) and StreetDance 2 (2012). If Step Up hooked you with its music and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHigh Strung Free Dance (2018)7.3/10 from 244 votes
- NewestHigh Strung Free Dance (2018)Released 2018
- Same seriesStep Up 3D (2010)Step Up
Footloose (2011)
Ren MacCormack is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where loud music and dancing are prohibited. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister’s troubled daughter Ariel in the process.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHoney (2003)
Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStreetDance 2 (2012)
After suffering humiliation by the crew Invincible, street dancer Ash looks to gather the best dancers from around the world for a rematch.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlashdance (1983)
Alex Owens, a young woman juggling between two odd jobs, aspires to become a successful ballet dancer. Nick, who is her boss and lover, supports and encourages her to fulfil her dream.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Fans watch both · both music & romance
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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
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: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHoney 3: Dare to Dance (2016)
While attending college in Cape Town, Melea Martin feels constrained by the school's strict policies, and decides to set out on her own. Searching for a way to use her talents as a dancer and inspire the community around her, Melea rents a failing theater in order to put on a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet performance. But much like the Capulets and Montagues, conflicts between cast members threaten to bring the whole performance to a halt...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
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: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStep Up 3D (2010)
A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers, including Luke and Natalie, team up with NYU freshman Moose, and find themselves pitted against the world's best hip-hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Same series: Step Up · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDance with Me (1998)
Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisYou Got Served (2004)
At Mr. Rad's Warehouse, the best hip-hop crews in Los Angeles compete for money and respect. But when a suburban crew crashes the party, stealing their dancers — and their moves — two warring friends have to pull together to represent the street.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFootloose (1984)
When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock after discovering he's living in a place where music and dancing are illegal.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMake Your Move (2013)
A pair of star-crossed dancers in New York find themselves at the center of a bitter rivalry between their brothers' underground dance clubs.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music
SnoozefestMovies like thisStep Up 2: The Streets (2008)
When rebellious street dancer Andie West lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts, she finds herself fighting to fit in while also trying to hold onto her old life. When she joins forces with the school's hottest dancer, Chase Collins, to form a crew of fellow outcasts to compete in Baltimore's underground dance battle The Streets.
Why it matches: Same series: Step Up · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Strung Free Dance (2018)
Zander Raines, a dazzling and tempestuous young choreographer, gives the break of a lifetime to two hopeful artists when he casts a stunning contemporary dancer, Barlow, and innovative pianist, Charlie, in New York’s most-anticipated new Broadway show: Free Dance. But the move throws off the show’s delicate creative balance when Charlie falls hard for Barlow, while Zander embraces her as his muse.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLambada (1990)
Kevin Laird is a Beverly Hills school teacher by day and a mystery man by night. Using his lambada dance moves to first earn the kid's respect and acceptance, Kevin then teaches them academics. But when a jealous student exposes Kevin's double life, his two worlds collide, threatening his job and reputation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Honey 2 (2011)
After a brush with the law, Maria has returned to her gritty Bronx roots to rebuild her life with nothing but a talent for street dance and a burning ambition to prove herself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStomp the Yard 2: Homecoming (2010)
Chance Harris looks to find a balance between his school, work, relationships and opportunity to perform at the nationally televised step competition during homecoming weekend at Truth University.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
SnoozefestMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStomp the Yard (2007)
After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStep Up Revolution (2012)
Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.
Why it matches: Same series: Step Up · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDrumline (2002)
A talented street drummer from Harlem enrolls in a Southern university, expecting to lead its marching band's drumline to victory. He initially flounders in his new world, before realizing that it takes more than talent to reach the top.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDance-Off (2014)
Two cross-town rival dance teams go head to head for the National Nationals Championship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & music
SnoozefestMovies like thisDirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
In pre-revolution Cuba, Katey Miller is about to defy everyone's expectations. Instead of a parent-approved suitor, Katey is drawn to the sexy waiter, Javier, who spends his nights dancing in Havana's nightclubs. As she secretly learns to dance with Javier, she learns the meanings of love, sensuality and independence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirty Dancing (1987)
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMake It Happen (2008)
Embarking on a journey to fulfill her dreams as a dancer, a young girl discovers a new style of dance that will prove to be the source of both conflict and self-discovery.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBreakin' (1984)
A struggling young dancer joins forces with two breakdancers and together they become a street sensation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeartbeats (2017)
When a bubbly American hip hop dancer goes to India with her family for a wedding, she is impressed by a new dance style and falls in love with the man who introduced her to it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both music & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Step Up?
The closest matches to Step Up are Footloose (2011), Honey (2003) and StreetDance 2 (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Step Up?
People who watched Step Up most often go on to Footloose (2011), Honey (2003) and StreetDance 2 (2012).
What is the highest-rated movie like Step Up?
High Strung Free Dance (2018), rated 7.3/10 by 244 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Step Up?
High Strung Free Dance (2018) is the most recent release on this list.
Is Step Up part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to Step Up, which includes Step Up 3D (2010), Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up Revolution (2012).
Are there English movies like Step Up?
Yes: Footloose (2011), Honey (2003) and StreetDance 2 (2012).
How are movies similar to Step Up chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Step Up, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.