TV & Movies
Kerry Washington Addressed An Infamous Save The Last Dance Scene
“Why are people so committed to now throwing shade at this dance?”
Kerry Washington is as loyal as her Save the Last Dance character, Chenille Reynolds. Appearing on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, she faced tough questions about the iconic 2001 dance film, specifically its infamous final routine. The scene in which Julia Stiles’ Sara auditions for Juilliard has taken some heat over the years, but Washington wouldn’t join the negative chorus.
Defending The Last Dance
In the film, former ballerina Sara moves to Chicago’s South Side after the death of her mother and struggles to adjust. Siblings Chenille and Derek Reynolds (Sean Patrick Thomas) soon befriend her, and Derek helps Sara rediscover her passion for dance by teaching her hip-hop. He encourages her to pursue her dream of getting into Juilliard, and she finally auditions with a performance that many fans find cringe-worthy.
“Can we all just agree that Julia Stiles is not the greatest dancer on the planet?” Cohen asked Washington on his show. She refused to take the bait and laughed as she put forth her own question: “Why are people so committed to now throwing shade at this dance?”
In Cohen’s eyes, the routine didn’t live up to the occasion. “Well, because it was her big Juilliard audition!” he said.
Still, Washington stood firm in her defense, trying to make the argument that the scene was a product of its time, only for Cohen to cut in and state that “dance has changed in 24 years.”
“But our choreographer was Fatima [Robinson],” she responded. “Like, Fatima’s a legend. … She was, like, you know, choreographing that dance within a specific cultural context.”
When Cohen suggested the hashtag “Blame Fatima,” Washington disagreed again. “No, no, no, no, no,” she said. “I love Fatima. I’m just saying, like, you know, greatness goes through different eras.”
Indeed, Robinson has proven her greatness. The choreographer has worked with some of music’s biggest icons, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Rihanna, and the Backstreet Boys. Her choreography has been in films like Dreamgirls (2006) and The Color Purple (2023), plus on the Super Bowl and Oscars stages.
Looking Back On Save The Last Dance
For Robinson, it was special to do a film like Save the Last Dance. “I’ve always had to fight for hip-hop dance to be looked at as a true art form of dance because it really wasn’t taught in dance studios at the time,” she told Entertainment Weekly in December 2023. “It was just probably getting started. But when I started as one of the pioneers of hip-hop dance, if you weren’t in the clubs, you would get all the moves from music videos. So for the film to focus on ballet and hip-hop dance felt like finally, someone’s paying attention to this art form.”
Whether or not Sara’s Juilliard audition routine is Robinson’s best work is arguable, but there’s no denying the dance made a mark. Saturday Night Live even parodied it in December 2023 — with Stiles’ help. The actor appeared on Watch What Happens Live days later and called the experience “so fun.”
The movie was also momentous for Washington and her career. “Save the Last Dance was my first big studio film,” she told Parade in May 2013. “It was really exciting for me. … I don’t think any of us really knew what a huge hit it was going to be, but we were all really driven to tell an important story regardless of how well it did commercially.”
