Center Stage

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Center Stage Trivia

The American Ballet Company does not exist. There is, however, the American Ballet Theater (ABT), where Ethan Stiefel (Cooper Nielson) is a principal dancer.
Of the main characters who are dancers, five are professional ballet dancers or have had ballet training (Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Ethan Stiefel, Sascha Radetsky, Julie Kent), one is a professional figure skater (Ilia Kulik), and two were actors (Susan May Pratt and Shakiem Evans). Body doubles were used for many of the major dance sequences.
Sergei, played by Ilia Kulik, is headed for the San Francisco Ballet after his stint at the American Ballet Company. Amanda Schull, who plays Jody, actually danced with the San Francisco Ballet for several seasons.
Jonathan's Ballet is performed by the corps of the New York City Ballet.
When Cooper blows Jody off after the performance and walks off with another girl ( leaving Jody standing alone by the door) the "other girl" is played by Ethan Stiefel's real-life girlfriend, ballerina Gillian Murphy (II).
Susan May Pratt, who plays the best dancer in the school, Maureen Cummings, had no ballet training before being cast.
The name Jody Sawyer is a reference to 42nd Street's, Peggy Sawyer.
In the opening sequence there is a shot of the exterior of the fictional American Ballet Academy. Actually, that building is the Julliard School, and the top floor with the dance studio in it was added to the top of the building with digital special effects.
There is a subplot in which Cooper Nielson, played by Ethan Stiefel, attracts the financial support of a wealthy philanthropic benefactress. A 15 August 2004 New York Times article entitled "How Much Is That Dancer in the Program?" revealed that Stiefel has a very similar real-life sponsorship relationship with a philanthropist named Anka Palitz.
After Jody tells her parents she has been accepted into the ABA, her mom suggests she could still go to college, and says, "Indiana has a great dance program." Amanda Schull, who plays Jody, actually attended the Indiana University for two years.
The elephant/mouse joke told at the bowling alley, and subsequently over lunch, is described in detail in the book "Rules of Attraction" by Bret Easton Ellis.