One of cinema’s most attractive and unique qualities is its ability to capture movement in ways other art forms cannot. This advantage has led to the development of numerous motion-based movie types such as action, sports, and, of course, dance.

Dance was one of the earliest subjects of film. William K.L. Dickson – credited with inventing the motion picture camera while working for Thomas Edison – chose a dancing woman for the subject of his 1894 film “Carmencita.” Dance movies have since evolved into a full-fledged genre. In these movies, dance often acts as the primary catalyst for narrative events or, at the very least, adds some fun and excitement for audiences.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, dance films benefited immensely from Hollywood’s exodus from the silent era into the world of sound. Beloved dance films, including “Top Hat,” “Swing Time,” and “Shall We Dance,” were all released in the 1930s and have sustained dedicated fan bases to this day.

This is not to say that these older films are superior to more recent offerings. The 2010 ballet-themed horror flick “Black Swan” – while a much darker affair than the previously mentioned movies – has extremely high reviews online, including 85% approval among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. “Pina,” a 2011 documentary focusing on the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, was also extremely well received – it currently has a 95% freshness rating – although it not as widely known.

Whether or not a dance film is successful oftentimes seems to depend on the talent on screen. Legendary dancers, including Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers, all appear in more than one of the best dance movies of all time.

Click here to see the best dance movies of all time.
Click here to see our methodology.

40. Dance with Me (1998)
> Directed by: Randa Haines
> Starring: Vanessa Williams, Chayanne, Kris Kristofferson
> Avg. critic rating: 5.5/10

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39. Take the Lead (2006)
> Directed by: Liz Friedlander
> Starring: Antonio Banderas, Rob Brown, Yaya DaCosta
> Avg. critic rating: 5.5/10

38. Footloose (1984)
> Directed by: Herbert Ross
> Starring: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow
> Avg. critic rating: 5.6/10

37. Magic Mike XXL (2015)
> Directed by: Gregory Jacobs
> Starring: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer
> Avg. critic rating: 5.9/10

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36. Roll Bounce (2005)
> Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
> Starring: Shad Moss, Nick Cannon, Meagan Good
> Avg. critic rating: 5.9/10

35. Dirty Dancing (1987)
> Directed by: Emile Ardolino
> Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach
> Avg. critic rating: 6/10

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34. Bring It On (2000)
> Directed by: Peyton Reed
> Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford
> Avg. critic rating: 6/10

33. StreetDance 3D (2010)
> Directed by: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini
> Starring: Nichola Burley, Richard Winsor, Ukweli Roach
> Avg. critic rating: 6/10

32. Kites (2010)
> Directed by: Anurag Basu
> Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut, Bárbara Mori
> Avg. critic rating: 6.1/10

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31. Mao’s Last Dancer (2009)
> Directed by: Bruce Beresford
> Starring: Chi Cao, Bruce Greenwood, Kyle MacLachlan
> Avg. critic rating: 6.1/10

30. Footloose (2011)
> Directed by: Craig Brewer
> Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid
> Avg. critic rating: 6.1/10

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29. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
> Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard
> Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
> Avg. critic rating: 6.2/10

28. The Company (2003)
> Directed by: Robert Altman
> Starring: Neve Campbell, James Franco, Malcolm McDowell
> Avg. critic rating: 6.6/10

27. High Strung (2016)
> Directed by: Michael Damian
> Starring: Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Sonoya Mizuno
> Avg. critic rating: 6.6/10

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26. Grease (1978)
> Directed by: Randal Kleiser
> Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing
> Avg. critic rating: 6.7/10

25. Magic Mike (2012)
> Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
> Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn
> Avg. critic rating: 6.9/10

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24. Happy Feet (2006)
> Directed by: George Miller, Warren Coleman, Judy Morris
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman
> Avg. critic rating: 6.9/10

23. Shall We Dance (1937)
> Directed by: Mark Sandrich
> Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton
> Avg. critic rating: 7/10

22. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
> Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
> Starring: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo
> Avg. critic rating: 7.1/10

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21. Fame (1980)
> Directed by: Alan Parker
> Starring: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri
> Avg. critic rating: 7.2/10

20. Billy Elliot (2000)
> Directed by: Stephen Daldry
> Starring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood
> Avg. critic rating: 7.3/10

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19. Strictly Ballroom (1992)
> Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
> Starring: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter
> Avg. critic rating: 7.4/10

18. All That Jazz (1979)
> Directed by: Bob Fosse
> Starring: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer
> Avg. critic rating: 7.5/10

17. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
> Directed by: John Badham
> Starring: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller
> Avg. critic rating: 7.6/10

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16. Fish Tank (2009)
> Directed by: Andrea Arnold
> Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing
> Avg. critic rating: 7.6/10

15. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
> Directed by: Stanley Donen
> Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards
> Avg. critic rating: 7.7/10

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14. Ballet Shoes (2007)
> Directed by: Sandra Goldbacher
> Starring: Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton
> Avg. critic rating: 7.7/10

13. Hairspray (2007)
> Directed by: Adam Shankman
> Starring: John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky
> Avg. critic rating: 7.8/10

12. Chicago (2002)
> Directed by: Rob Marshall
> Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere
> Avg. critic rating: 7.9/10

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11. Shall We Dance? (1996)
> Directed by: Masayuki Suo
> Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka
> Avg. critic rating: 7.9/10

10. An American in Paris (1951)
> Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
> Starring: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant
> Avg. critic rating: 8/10

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9. Black Swan (2010)
> Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
> Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
> Avg. critic rating: 8.2/10

8. West Side Story (1961)
> Directed by: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
> Starring: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer
> Avg. critic rating: 8.3/10

7. Pina (2011)
> Directed by: Wim Wenders
> Starring: Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo
> Avg. critic rating: 8.3/10

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6. Mary Poppins (1964)
> Directed by: Robert Stevenson
> Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
> Avg. critic rating: 8.4/10

5. Cabaret (1972)
> Directed by: Bob Fosse
> Starring: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem
> Avg. critic rating: 8.4/10

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4. Top Hat (1935)
> Directed by: Mark Sandrich
> Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton
> Avg. critic rating: 8.6/10

3. Swing Time (1936)
> Directed by: George Stevens
> Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore
> Avg. critic rating: 8.7/10

2. The Red Shoes (1948)
> Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
> Starring: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer
> Avg. critic rating: 9/10

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1. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
> Directed by: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
> Starring: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds
> Avg. critic rating: 9.2/10

Methodology

To determine the best dance movies of all time, 24/7 Wall St. created an index based on each film’s average critics’ rating and average audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as the average user rating on Internet Movie Database. We considered films only with at least 2,000 Rotten Tomatoes user ratings, five approved Tomatometer critic reviews, and 5,000 IMDb user ratings.

We averaged together the user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb and weighted them by the number of votes involved. This combined user rating was then averaged with the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating.

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