One Last Dance

The movie is delicate and the choreography's are amazing. It might not be perfect but many people vote it without any dance knowledge.

I loved to see that she used Brazilian music, which is great. Also the courage of Lisa Niemi to produce this movie with a very low budget deserves a lot of credit. Fortunately I could find it here in Brazil and appreciate it. I hope it gets everywhere so people that loves dance can see a very nice movie that goes a little bit different from the many clichés of struggle beginners.

The scene where they are warm up and the fog starts, really gives us the impression that the entire room is boiling.

It is a pity that we cannot see the complete choreography of Without a Word. That was the only promise that the movie did not accomplished.

Overall, I enjoyed this film. It is a movie musical, but instead of breaking into song, the performers break into dance. This film was very well written and directed. I, however, feel that it doesn't translate well from stage to screen (I wish that I had been able to see the stage production). Or maybe the world just isn't ready for such a progressive method of storytelling. The Complexions dancers are wonderful and Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze and George de la Peña are superb dancers. The acting is certainly adequate and, at times, deeply moving. I recommend this movie to anyone with a dance background or an interest in non- traditional films.

ONE LAST DANCE appears to be a film for dancers, either active or retired, wannabees or romanticists. There is some terrific Brazilian influenced music from Stacy Widelitz that enhances much of the corps dancing and some beautiful moments of cinematography making the most of a bare ballet studio rehearsal hall - both of which add what dreaminess this low budget film has to offer.

Written and directed and produced and acted by Lisa Niemi the story involves the return to the boards by three retired dancers (Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze, George de la Pena - all three are dancers in real life) to pay homage to the gifts of a highly regarded yet now dead choreographer. The three left dancing seven years prior to the story for personal reasons, mostly involving lack of confidence and personal issues that affected each tangentially. They return to a company to perform a dance by the dead choreographer and the rest of the slim story is how these out of shape hoofers regain the healing magic of dancing.

The corps of ballet dancers assembled for this film is exceptionally fine for a pickup group: Rasta Thomas, Desmond Richardson, Kathryn Bradney, Tai Jiminez, Bambi Swayze, Jamie Bishton, Stephanie Slater, Heather Thompson, Dwight Rhoden and Yosuke Mino deserve special mention. The scenes of dancing vary depending on the choreography of each of four artists - Alonzo King, Dwight Rhoden, Patsy Swayze, and Doug Varone. But in the end to be less than a documentary about the rigors and rewards of dancing there must be a well-acted story based on a sensitive script and that is where the film is shaky and a bit self indulgent. Swayze, Niemi, de la Pena take the roles as far as they go, but in the end the story is much ado about very little.

Yet there is some gorgeous dance work well filmed that will satisfy even the most particular critic. The DVD added features include some insights into the difficulty and final rewards of bringing ONE LAST DANCE to the screen, and in these comments there is more story than that found in the script. Grady Harp

"One Last Dance" is another one of those movies whose bad word of mouth will puzzle a lot of viewers. While the major subplot has been done a hundred times before (frequently better), the music and dance are superb. Further, while Lisa Niemi (Mrs. Patrick Swayze) is a pretty inept actress, her camera setups superbly capture the dance. Besides, "One Last Dance" boasts one superb performance, that of George De La Pena ("Max"). With this movie, Lisa Niemi, for better or worse, clearly establishes herself as both the brains and drive behind Patrick Swayze.

Hopefully, "One Last Dance" will usher in a whole series of dance films, both comedies and dramas; and one could certainly do much worse than the dance team of Swayze and Niemi.

I give "One Last Dance" a "7".

I'm sure a lot of dancers saw this and hated it, but this movie is not going to relate to young dancers today. It's a movie for the dancers of the "old school". 20 years ago, when we were coming up through the ranks, it was a lot different than it is now. It's about what it was to be a dancer with a dedication and discipline beyond what people think it means today. And how is can obsess and destroy and how sometimes one can overcome the "demons" for the pure love of dancing.

The story is about the reunion of 3 dancers who are asked to perform a particular work that, for varying reasons, ended their careers.

Lisa Neimi wrote and directed this movie...she is the only director yet who actually knows how to direct a dance film. You are FINALLY able to see the dancing, not just weird fast cuts to keep heads reeling and people's short attention spans. The writing is very good and captures what dancers go through. George de la Pena is still a wonderful dancer and Patrick Swayze is really incredible.

Sorry to all the nay sayers who can't appreciate this movie. I loved it. I thought it was brilliantly filmed and acted...and although some of the dialog may come across as trite, you would have had to live the life of years ago to get it. I'm talking about a time when a person was so dedicated, so disciplined that they would do anything, overcome anything to make their dreams happen and sometimes almost destroying themselves in the process.