High Strung

"See the music. Hear the dance."

2016 1h 36m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 943

MusicRomanceDrama

Synopsis

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When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever.

“See the music. Hear the dance.”

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Cast

Keenan Kampa
Ruby
Nicholas Galitzine
Johnnie
Sonoya Mizuno
Jazzy
Jane Seymour
Oksana
Richard Southgate
Kyle
Paul Freeman
Kramrovsky
Marcus Emanuel Mitchell
Hayward Jones III
Maia Morgenstern
Markova

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Damian
Writers: Janeen Damian, Michael Damian
Languages: English
Countries: Romania, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Romania, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "High Strung Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Damian, shot by Viorel Sergovici. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Janeen Damian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Keenan Kampa and Nicholas Galitzine and Sonoya Mizuno carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "See the music. Hear the dance.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3451230 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Damian directs. Viorel Sergovici behind the camera. Janeen Damian cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Romania, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 10 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: Romania, United States of America.
3Part of the "High Strung Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Michael Damian, shot by Viorel Sergovici. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Janeen Damian shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Keenan Kampa and Nicholas Galitzine and Sonoya Mizuno carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "See the music. Hear the dance.".
8IMDB entry: tt3451230 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Viorel Sergovici
Editing: Janeen Damian
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,093,725
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: High Strung (2016)

Part of

High Strung Collection

High Strung (also known as Free Dance) is a 2016 American drama film directed by Michael Damian and written by Janeen Damian and Michael Damian. The film stars Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno, Richard Southgate and Paul Freeman. It tells the story of a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway who meets a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever. A sequel, High Strung Free Dance, was released theatrically in 2019. Jane Seymour is the only one of the original cast returned for the sequel.

Also by

Michael Damian

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-12-14
★ 6/10
A violinist meets a dancer: A love story. That's a freaky poster, but the film was good. You know there are dance flicks even worse than this, especially, it was once a trendy theme, but now nothing impressive. In that perspective, this film was a relief, a decently made film. So dance flick means people expect extraordinary moves and music, but in this, they had kept them simple. They did not press hard on either street dance or the classical dance. It was kind of fusion between them and in addition to that live music like mainly violin. I don't know anybody from the cast or the director, but it does not look like a B movie/indie, because the production quality was excellent. Even the story was somewhat cliché, yet enjoyable, mainly for its around 90 minute narration. I mean being a short and a decent pace with the good performances and musics and dances, this film can be easily become a dance flick of the year. The film is not just for youngsters, but for everyone. The matured contents like maintaining the decency from the dialogues to the pictures, nothing obscene in it. A perfect PG film, the majority would like it or not, but surely will be entertained. Having lots of good quality, I did not like it entirely. In some parts it looked just fake to me like in the real world kind. I would say watch it, but don't expect too much, especially twist or surprises. It's really a nice film. 6/10

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