Take the lead / New Line Cinema presents a Tiara Blu Films production ; produced by Diane Nabatoff, Michelle Grace, Christopher Godsick ; written by Dianne Houston ; directed by Liz Friedlander.

Pierre is a ballroom-dance instructor with courtly manners whose pupils tend to be well-heeled teenagers. Partly as a dare and partly as a joke, he is offered the job of supervising a South Bronx high school detention class, where the students regard him as a visitor from the moon. They resist him, but he fascinates them, and before long, Pierre has talked them into learning a few steps. He even suggests that if they work hard enough, they might have a shot in a citywide dance competition, which offers a first prize of $5,000. As they morph into Astaire's and Charisse's, and as Pierre's lessons instill self-mastery, self-restraint, and self-respect, these previously aimless kids blossom into confident, self-possessed young adults.

MPAA rating: Rated PG-13.

Antonio Banderas (Pierre Dulaine), Rob Brown (Rock), Yaya DaCosta (LaRhette), Dante Basco (Ramos), John Ortiz (Mr. Temple), Laura Benanti (Tina), Marcus T. Paulk (Eddie), Jenna Dewan (Sasha), Alfre Woodard (Augustine James).