Movies Like Mao’s Last Dancer (2009)

Mao’s Last Dancer is a 2009 drama, romance film from Bruce Beresford with a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Little Tickles and Center Stage.

Drama Romance

Little Tickles

2018

Odette is a 8-yr-old girl who loves to dance and draw. Once she has become an adult, Odette realizes she was abused, and immerses herself body and soul in her career as a dancer while trying to deal with her past.

7.4

MagicScore

Center Stage

2000

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

6.9

MagicScore

The American

2023

American ballet dancer Joy Womack is accepted into Moscow's infamously tough Bolshoi Ballet Academy, with the dream of becoming a great ballerina.

6.8

MagicScore

Center Stage: On Pointe

2016

Jonathan Reeves is tasked with infusing more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy, and enlists his top choreographers Charlie, Cooper and Tommy to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker, who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp.

6.4

MagicScore

The Company

2003

Ensemble drama centered around a group of ballet dancers, with a focus on one young dancer who's poised to become a principal performer.

5.2

MagicScore

The Red Shoes

1948

In this classic drama, Vicky Page is an aspiring ballerina torn between her dedication to dance and her desire to love. While her imperious instructor, Boris Lermontov, urges to her to forget anything but ballet, Vicky begins to fall for the charming young composer Julian Craster. Eventually Vicky, under great emotional stress, must choose to pursue either her art or her romance, a decision that carries serious consequences.

8.0

MagicScore

Black Swan

2010

The story of a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life is completely consumed with dance. Nina lives with her retired ballerina mother who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When the artistic director decides to replace the prima ballerina for the opening production of their new season, Nina is his first choice.

7.7

MagicScore

The Dying Swan

1917

After being betrayed by her playboy lover, a heartbroken mute young woman joins a ballet company; during a performance of “The Dying Swan,” she enraptures a painter obsessed with portraying death genuinely.

6.4

MagicScore

Dancer

2016

Sergei Polunin is a breathtaking ballet talent who questions his existence and his commitment to dance just as he is about to become a legend.

7.3

MagicScore

#10

Grand Jete

2022

Dance teacher and mother Nadja left her son Mario with her own mother when he was little. Now she has reappeared on his doorstep, seeking a closeness that knows fewer and fewer boundaries. An uncompromising film about family relationships.

4.9

MagicScore

#11

Billy Elliot: The Musical Live

2014

In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.

8.1

MagicScore

#12

Carmencita

1894

The first woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the first woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.

5.2

MagicScore

#13

Summer Interlude

1951

During a brief summer vacation, a lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years earlier.

7.4

MagicScore

#14

Russian Dolls

2005

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, Xavier, William, Wendy, Martine and Isabelle reunite.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

Save the Last Dance

2001

After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

A Nutcracker Christmas

2016

When her niece is cast in The Philadelphia Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker, a jaded ex-ballerina is forced to come to terms with the life and love she left behind.

6.4

MagicScore

#17

Pacarrete

2019

Russas, a small town in northeastern Brazil, is the home of Pacarrete, a grumpy retired dance teacher who dreams of getting a big shot and starring at a dance spectacle for the whole town to see. She's close to fulfilling that dream, but not without overcoming a few impediments along the way.

7.8

MagicScore

#18

Yeh Ballet

2020

Discovered by an eccentric ballet master, two gifted but underprivileged Mumbai teens face bigotry and disapproval as they pursue their dancing dreams.

7.6

MagicScore

#19

Billy Elliot

2000

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

7.6

MagicScore

#20

The White Crow

2018

The story of Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. With his magnetic presence, Nureyev emerged as ballet’s most famous star, a wild and beautiful dancer limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the KGB.

6.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Mao’s Last Dancer?

The top films similar to Mao’s Last Dancer by MovieMagicScore are Little Tickles (7.4), Center Stage (6.9), The American (6.8). Each shares drama/romance themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Mao’s Last Dancer worth watching?

Mao’s Last Dancer holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.6/10 from 118 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Mao’s Last Dancer?

Mao’s Last Dancer (2009) is a drama, romance film directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Amanda Schull, Chi Cao, Chengwu Guo.

Where can I find more recommendations like Mao’s Last Dancer?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Little Tickles Movies like Center Stage Movies like The American Movies like Center Stage: On Pointe Movies like The Company Movies like The Red Shoes

About movies like Mao’s Last Dancer

This ranked list pairs Mao’s Last Dancer (2009), a drama and romance film from Bruce Beresford, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Amanda Schull take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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