Take an Acting Class with Amanda Schull at San Francisco Dance Film Festival’s Center Stage Weekend  

The 2000 cult classic Center Stage—starring Amanda Schull, Ethan Stiefel, Sascha Radetsky, Zoe Saldana, and Susan May Pratt—has graced many a home theater over the years since its release. Now, it’s back on the big screen for a special event at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, featuring a rare opportunity for dancers to work with Schull on their own acting skills.

On Friday, September 13, at San Francisco’s War Memorial and Performing Arts Center Herbst Theatre, an evening celebrating ballet pop culture will feature a rare screening of Center Stage. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 14 finalist Lady Camden (former Smuin Ballet artist Rex Wheeler) will host the event, and following the screening, San Francisco Chronicle arts and culture columnist Tony Bravo will moderate a Q&A between Camden and Schull. Then on September 14, Schull will lead a four-hour workshop, “Acting for Dancers,” at the Smuin Center for Dance (participants can also attend virtually). Open to dancers of all genres ages 16 and up, the workshop will focus on honing character development and taking an authentic approach to roles.

“It’s nostalgic, and sometimes a little bittersweet, for me to talk about Center Stage,” Schull tells Pointe. “I wish I could go back and tell myself, ‘Enjoy! Suck it all up. Take every single minute and just hold it in your fiber.’ ”

When managing director Garen Scribner joined the SFDFF team this past January, he strategized that to grow its audiences and their appreciation for the festival’s usual, more experimental, programming, big-name movies like Center Stage could provide a recognizable draw (SFDFF’s traditional festival season runs October 4–20 this year). The Center Stage event also kicks off a new SFDFF series, Ballet Stories, featuring the films Kindred Spirits, Ten Times Better, and Twenty. “We need to widen the funnel,” he says, “so that people are reminded how important dance film is in the broader cultural zeitgeist.”

Prior to Schull’s acting career, she and Scribner danced together at San Francisco Ballet. The two have remained close friends, so when Scribner first suggested she also lead an acting workshop, Schull was excited. “But then,” she says, “I thought, Is anyone going to attend? Do people want to hear what I have to say?”

“I think sometimes I have impostor syndrome because, clearly, I am an actor who used to dance,” says Schull, who’s also starred in “Suits,” “12 Monkeys,” and several Hallmark movies. “But we had a couple of conversations about that, because there is something unique about what a dancer brings to acting.” Schull explains that she’s worked with several directors who’ve expressed loving the opportunity to work with dancers, and she notes that dancers’ discipline and postural acumen give them an edge. But also, she continues, “I’ve seen performances of Giselle where it’s beautiful, and I’ve seen performances where you believe it. And it’s gut-wrenching. How amazing to have those tools in your tool belt as a dancer—to be gut-wrenching.”

For the workshop, participants will be invited to learn one of five or six short scenes of Schull’s choosing ahead of time. Participants will then have the option to workshop the scene with Schull during the session. While selecting the scenes from film and TV scripts, Schull has curated choices for both adults and teens.

Scribner recognizes the significance Center Stage has had for generations of dancers and dance lovers, explaining that it was a catalyst in his pursuit of his own ballet career. What is more, the movie’s representation of homosexuality through the character Erik O. Jones (played by Shakiem Evans), he says, “opened up something in me which made me feel more comfortable to be myself. To me, that’s what this film is all about.”

Scribner says that Lady Camden was a perfect fit for hosting, especially since Wheeler shared similar experiences watching the movie as a young dancer. “And then on ‘Drag Race,’ she performed Center Stage–inspired numbers!” says Scribner. “The goal is to put all of this together into one explosive, celebratory evening.”

When asked if she will partake in watching the screening itself, Schull laughs and says, “If I do, it’ll be like this,” covering her eyes. Aside from snippets, she has not watched the movie since its premiere in 2000.

“That was my first acting job for screen,” she says. “I was being myself. Now, when I create a character, I spend hours working on it so I don’t have to think about it when I step on set. I’d love to be able to help people work really hard on all those things, and then walk out onto that stage and fly.”