The 31 Best Things About Step Up

It’s the tenth anniversary of Step Up, which seems like the perfect time to remind you that movies about dancing tend to be the best movies. Whether you’re here for the dancing, the romance, or you know, Channing Tatum, there are a variety of things to get excited for when it comes to this launch of the Step Up franchise. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. To begin, there is literally nothing better than a movie in which two protagonists build sexual tension through arguing and dance. See also: Dirty Dancing, The Cutting Edge (ice dancing counts).
2. This movie served as the latter half of 2006’s two-part introduction to Channing Tatum’s actually memorable pop culture career (sorry Coach Carter, Havoc, and War of the Worlds), the first being the incomparable She’s the Man.
3. Channing Tatum plays Tyler, a dude who ends up getting in trouble for trashing the local art school’s auditorium. Why was he trashing the auditorium, you ask? Merely because he and his friends were too busy pretending to sword fight and prancing in dresses to notice what they were doing.
4. Tyler’s foster sister Camille is portrayed by Alyson Stoner, AKA the little girl from those Missy Elliot videos.
5. To really hammer the point home that the Maryland School for the Arts is an art school, the hallways are crawling with people carrying paintings and playing Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” on strings.
6. Our other lead Nora is played by Jenna Dewan Tatum, Channing’s now-wife and the rightful Lip Synch Battle champion. This film provided for their initial meeting.
7. The dated sentence said by Skinny: “Damn, they look like the girls from the “Candy Shop” video!”
8. When Nora is auditioning new partners for her showcase, one guy falls to the floor just so he doesn’t have to attempt the lift with her.
9. Tyler’s deadpan delivery of “I don’t own tights,” when Nora points out that she asked him to bring some to their first rehearsal.
10. Nora’s boyfriend Brett is portrayed by Josh Henderson, of Dallas reboot and “He Said She Said” music video fame. This might be more important to me than it is to most people.
11. When Nora keeps it real while accepting Tyler’s attractiveness: “I mean fine. Tyler is good-looking, but he’s annoying.”
12. The casual reminders that this movie came out ten years ago: “Oh good! Miles sent me another MP3.”
13. The sheer number of dance montages.
14. Camille’s bad bitch status, especially when it comes to her interactions with her foster brother where he tries to steal her breakfast: “I spit on that spoon. Yeah, now you give it back.”
15. The fact that Tyler’s friends are the ones who convince him to return to rehearsals with Nora, because they’re disappointed that he quits everything.
16. To get back in Nora’s good graces, Tyler has to wear tights and take the beginner’s ballet class Nora teaches with a bunch of seven-year-olds.
17. The cheeeeeeese-tastic dance scene where Tyler and Nora do a contemporary number on a rooftop in front of a sunset.
18. Nora breaks up with Brett for being a dick to his friend Miles, as he took a solo recording contract and failed to mention that Miles was the producer behind it all.
19. Since they’re all art students, they provide their own entertainment–speaking specifically of Lucy getting up to sing in the club.
20. Tyler finally impresses Nora by breaking it down in the club, back flips included. A question: how did all those people on the dance floor know to get out of his back flipping way? It’s not like he shouted it out.
21. The adorable scene where Tyler teaches Camille how to dance, and you can see thirteen-year-old Alyson Stoner trying very hard not to show up Channing Tatum.
22. The best of the dance montages, in which Nora attempts some of Tyler’s street style moves and a tiny ballerina gives Tyler the stink eye.
23. The absolutely hissy fit Mac throws when he sees Tyler dancing at the school. Imagine my sister yelling, “Everyone in these movies just has that one friend WHO’S A DICK” at the screen.
24. The dude Tyler was replacing coming back to do the dance, only to be like, “JK, can’t,” two scenes later.
25. Mac is so mad that he won’t even let his younger brother Skinny bro-hug Tyler at the basketball court.
26. The random plot point in the movie where Skinny steals a car and then gets shot for it??
27. After that devastating side note, when Tyler tries to make up with Nora. “I’m fighting for something that’s real for the first time in my life,” he says. To which are you referring to, Tyler? Your love of Nora, or your love of dance?
28. At the last minute (seriously, they’re about to go on stage), Nora changes back to the original dance featuring Tyler. This is met with cheers, not shrieks of rage like it would in real life.
29. When the dance company interviewing Nora asks about Tyler, the headmistress is immediately like, “Oh! He’s our new transfer.” Sure, halfway through senior year. NONE OF HIS CREDITS WOULD EVEN TRANSFER OVER.
30. The credits for the movie include the cast’s audition and rehearsals tapes.
31. Truly, the best part about Step Up is that it paved the way for the FAR SUPERIOR Step Up 2: The Streets. Fight me. You won’t, because you know I’m right.