A teenager named DJ (played by Columbus Short) is in trouble in L.A.: His brother is killed in a street fight, he’s got no future, and his only talent is in the impromptu dance-offs held in the kind of well-lit abandoned warehouses that only seem to exist in movies such as “Stomp the Yard.”
Wait a minute. Dance-offs? We haven’t come very far from “West Side Story.”
Some strings are pulled and DJ gets a scholarship to Atlanta’s Truth University, a mythical black college. Here he will learn not only a bunch of movie life lessons, he’ll get to dance.
This is step-dancing, a traditional activity of black fraternities. DJ reluctantly joins Theta Nu Theta, where he can channel his street-dancing skills into the synchronized style of stepping (which involves a lot of stomping, slapping and clapping).
The phenomenon of step-dancing gives a new flavor to “Stomp the Yard,” which is otherwise a familiar tale of college life. Most of the usual bits are here: DJ quests after the pretty April (Meagan Good), who is involved with Big Man on Campus Grant (Darrin Henson), who is naturally a member of a rival fraternity.
And there’s melodrama at the climax, when DJ’s scholarship is threatened by revelations about his troubled past. Wouldn’t you know it – the threat comes just on the eve of the national step-dancing championships.
Director Sylvain White takes a jittery, handheld approach to this material that will have your head hurting after 15 minutes. It actually gets in the way of enjoying the dancing, which is the movie’s main drawing card.
There’s a lot of precision step-dancing in the film, so anybody interested in the percussive style will get their fill. The movie is also a virtual recruiting poster for black fraternities (most of the dancing in the movie is male, although a prescreening stepping demonstration by University of Washington dancers proved that the women might have it all over the men).
One side benefit of this otherwise unremarkable film is the lead presence of Columbus Short, a dancer and choreographer who displays a dry style and a quick intelligence – and, of course, he can dance. “Stomp the Yard” would have been a lot less easy to take without Short’s star-in-the-making presence.
Stepping up: Troubled LA teen goes to a black college in Atlanta, and learns about the precision-dancing tradition known as step dancing. Everything is familiar but the dancing in this story. Leading man Columbus Short has a future.
Rating: PG-13 rating is for language
Now showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Mountlake, Pacific Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall
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