‘How She Move’ thrills with dance routines

Step was originally developed by and is still strongly associated with black fraternities and sororities—so at first it’s a little weird to see the dance form used as a signifier for the authenticity of the projects. Raya (Rutina Wesley) attends the fancy Seaton Academy and wants to go to medical school, but when her junkie sister dies, her Jamaican immigrant parents can’t afford to keep her there. So she slinks back home to a dismal high-rise in Toronto’s Jane and Finch corridor. There, she clashes with her childhood friend Michelle (Tre Armstrong), who promptly challenges her to a step-off. Slipping into her old ways (competitive dancing, how naughty!), Raya regains the trust of her peers and attracts the attention of a young hottie with a gap between his front teeth—all the while studying up for a big scholarship exam.

The only reason to watch How She Move is the elaborate, thrilling dance routines at the climactic competition. Of course, you have to wade through some useless narrative to get there. (I think Raya’s team rehearses in a garage just so their final number can include the spectacular totaling of a beater.) The plot stutters badly and the screenplay doesn’t try very hard to develop the characters, but there are a few saving graces. Canadian-Caribbean accents make the standard culture-clash storyline feel almost novel. And Raya’s mother may be there just to hold Raya back and then suddenly and inexplicably relent, but the slight, sympathetic Melanie Nicholls-King makes that formula seem somehow sweet.

HOW SHE MOVE DIR. IAN IQBAL RASHID | RATED PG-13 | OPENS FRI AT THEATERS EVERYWHERE

Tags: dance, Film, how she move, stepping