Save the Last Dance was one of the best dance movies out there. Not only because it’s one of Julia Stiles’ best films, but also for bridging the cultural gaps between two styles of dancing. But close to 25 years later, the internet has been throwing shade at Stiles’ dance moves from the movie. And one of its stars, Kerry Washington, has something to say about it.
You may remember Kerry Washington’s character Chenille, who befriends new girl Sara and introduces her to the world of hip-hop. When talking about the underrated weekend box office hit on Radio Andy, host Andy Cohen mentioned that “Julia Stiles is not the greatest dancer on the planet.” The Scandal actress responded with laughter and an intriguing question:
Why are people so committed to throwing shade at this dance?
As reported by Complex, social media sites like TikTok and X have repeatedly memed the final dance in the movie. This was when Julia Stiles’ Sara had an important audition for Juilliard that involved a graceful ballet dance that morphed into the rhythmic hip-hop dance moves she learned from her new friends. But plenty of influencers have posted videos that mockingly recreated the dance routine, with many in disbelief that the particular routine would have been accepted into Juilliard.
Like Cohen said, dance has changed a lot over the past decade. Maybe the dance routine would have been choreographed differently if the movie were made today. But Kerry Washington made sure to give esteemed praise to Save the Last Dance’s choreographer and her intentions in coming up with the final dance number:
But our choreographer was Fatima. Fatima’s a legend… She was choreographing that dance within a specific cultural context and moment.
Fatima Robinson truly is a “legend” for coming up with era-defining dance moves for a lot of high-profile artists like Michael Jackson, Aaliyah, The Backstreet Boys, and more. Other than Save the Last Dance, Robinson also choreographed for hit movies like Dreamgirls and The Cheetah Girls: One World. So it’s possible that the American music video director was simply putting together a dance that would combine the delicate moves of ballet with hip-hop moves that were reminiscent of the Y2K generation.
It would be easy for millennials to blame the dance flick’s choreographer for putting together a meme-worthy dance to be mocked decades later. Kerry Washington, however, was not having it and continued to defend Fatima:
No, no, no. I love Fatima. I’m just saying, greatness goes through different eras.
A dance that was once a hit in one era can indeed be laughed at in the next. We could watch Saturday Night Fever, one of the best movies of the ‘70s, and cringe at John Travolta’s disco club moves. The same can be said for Grease, watching everyone get wild doing the ’50s “hand jive.” Every generation has something that was once considered cool and that is seen as outdated later. But all styles of dance can still be celebrated for defining an era.
Internet users aren’t the only ones who’ve made fun of the final dance scene. On season 49 of SNL, Chloe Fineman spoofed the iconic dance sequence, looking like Sara, as “the perfect gift this season.” And who should finish off the ballet/hip-hop routine but a surprise cameo of Julia Stiles herself?! It was the perfect way to laugh at the ‘00s movie’s quirks while still celebrating its legacy.
Stiles also said on Elizabeth Day’s podcast that she felt “self-conscious” joining a dance class in fear of being judged for her dancing in Save the Last Dance. Although she made sure to point out that she’d love to “get over that” and get back to formal dance classes…or at least a private dance instruction.
The internet may be throwing shade today at Julia Stiles’ Save the Last Dance choreography, but at least none of it is coming from Kerry Washington. That particular dance routine may not have been Juilliard material in real life. Yet Stiles’ dedication to powering through the dance routine, despite not being a professional dancer, is worthy of its hard work. Feel free to find the classic romance-dance flick on Pluto TV.