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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.
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.
Zander Raines, a dazzling and tempestuous young choreographer, gives the break of a lifetime to two hopeful artists when he casts a stunning contemporary dancer, Barlow, and innovative pianist, Charlie, in New York’s most-anticipated new Broadway show: Free Dance. But the move throws off the show’s delicate creative balance when Charlie falls hard for Barlow, while Zander embraces her as his muse.