User:OwensGK/An American Girl: Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight

Sources Added to Wiki Page
Paddon, Natalie (2014-08-12). "Scotland performer hits the red carpet". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2020-10-17.

Awards
In 2014, the film received the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) Silver Award. The association enjoyed the film because of the cast, sets, and performances. They stated "It is truly outstanding – particularly the ballet performances". The director of the movie, Vince Marcello, was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award in 2014. He was nominated for an Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs award and he did not win.

Plot Summary
Isabelle Palmer attends Anna Heart School of the Arts where she focuses on ballet and constantly gets compared to her older sister, Jade, who is also a ballerina. In her classes, a fellow ballerina, Renata teases Isabelle because her dance skills and her clothes, while Luisa, Isabelle's best friend, is always there to defend her. During lunch, Jade joins them in the cafeteria and informs Isabelle that The Nutcracker is coming to town and they are looking for child dancers from Anna Heart to perform in it. Jade also tells Isabelle that their favourite ballerina, Jackie Sanchez, will be in the show. All of the students in the cafeteria then break into a song and dance ("Ur Your Own Star").

Later at home, Isabelle and Jade fantasize about being in the ballet together with Jackie. The next day, the girls and their parents, Nancy and Leo, have breakfast while talking about their Uncle Devi's (Luisa's dad) barbecue where Leo and his band will be performing. Nancy and Isabelle then talk about her costume for the upcoming Hospital Halloween Benefit show. The family then goes to the barbecue where the girls and Nancy meet up with Luisa and watch Leo and Uncle Devi perform "Pond Dreams" with their band. Isabelle and Luisa end up dancing during the band's set.

A few days later, Isabelle performs at the Hospital Halloween Benefit and Jackie Sanchez is in the audience watching the show. After the performance, a little girl in a wheelchair approaches Isabelle and asks her an autograph and says that she wishes she could dance like Isabelle. Isabelle then shows her a ballet move that she can do and gives the girl her autograph. Jackie then comes up to Isabelle and tells her that she dances with joy and that she enjoyed her performance.

Isabelle watches Jade practice while they talk about the audition and Isabelle messes up the choreography. A few days later, they go to the audition and Jade gets praised by the director, Mr. Kosoloff. The cast list is then posted and Jade is given the role of Clara while Isabelle also gets a part as a chorus member. Isabelle is nervous to be in the ballet and is thinking of dropping out, but then a teacher announces that a kid from each grade will be offered a spot in the New York City Ballet summer program. Isabelle then decides to be in the ballet so she can beat Renata for the 4th grade spot. Later at home, Nancy tells Isabelle that she will be making the costumes for the show and wants Isabelle to help her make Jade's costume.

Isabelle goes to the first rehearsal and they rehearse the opening sequence of the ballet. Isabelle struggles to keep up while Jade is excelling. Later on at the theatre, Isabelle and Luisa are helping Nancy with the costumes when they see Renata who is there to rehearse more. Isabelle and Jade go to the next rehearsal where Isabelle falls and hurts herself and Renata laughs at her. Jade stands up for Isabelle and tells Renata to leave her alone. Isabelle gets upset with Jade and says that she can take care of herself. After rehearsal, Isabelle is still upset and Jade is mad that Isabelle yelled at her. Jade then tries to reach out to Isabelle to help her feel better, but Isabelle does not want to listen. Jade persists and tries to tell Isabelle what she can do to help herself when she is feeling nervous. Jade and Isabelle go to the studio the next day and Jade explains to Isabelle that she should use visualizations when she is dancing so that she will not be nervous.

At the next rehearsal, Isabelle tries to visualize water lilies to help her focus, but it does not work. Afterwards, Jackie sees Isabelle rehearsing and helps her visualize which allows Isabelle to complete the sequence. When leaving rehearsal, Isabelle, Jade, and Nancy see Renata crying because her mom is not able to pick her up on time. Isabelle then offers Renata a ride home and Renata turns it down and yells at Isabelle. A few days later at rehearsal, Mr. Kosoloff wants to add more choreography to The Dance of the Snowflakes and Renata encourages him to make it more challenging.

Back at home, Jade starts to get jealous that Isabelle is getting more attention from their parents, and this causes Jade to struggle in rehearsals. Isabelle then starts to get nervous about the new choreography because she is just starting to pick up the original choreography. After rehearsal, Isabelle overhears Jackie and Mr. Kosoloff talking about how Renata might get the 4th grade spot in the summer program, and that Isabelle might be cut from The Dance of the Snowflakes number if she cannot figure out the new choreography. That night, Isabelle has a nightmare where she is playing Clara and she is not able to keep up with Jade who is also Clara in the dream. Renata then enters the dream as the Rat King which scares Isabelle awake.

The next day, Isabelle tells Luisa about her nightmare and Luisa reassures her that her dream was not real and that she is a good dancer. The girls then go to the cafeteria where music is playing, so Luisa encourages Isabelle to dance to build her confidence and show everyone what she is capable of. It then turns into a dance battle between Isabelle and Renata. Isabelle wins the battle, but Renata lashes out and says that Isabelle only got into the school and the show because Jade is her sister, and that Isabelle is going to mess up the show. Back at home, Jade tries to make Isabelle feel better, but Isabelle blames Jade because she is stuck in her shadow. Isabelle then says that she wants to drop out of the show and go back to her old school. Jade gets mad at Isabelle because she never considers how she feels about all of the pressure she has to be perfect. She then tells Isabelle that she should drop out because "ballet isn't for quitters".

The next morning, Jade talks to her mom about how she is feeling and says that everyone only ever worries about Isabelle, and Nancy reassures her that no one expects her to be perfect, they all just want her to be happy. Nancy then goes to check on Isabelle in her room, and Isabelle says that she is not feeling well and does not want to go to school. Nancy allows her to stay home while Jade goes to school and rehearsal. At rehearsal, Jade tells Jackie that Isabelle dropped out of the show because she does not feel like she is good enough to be in it. Jackie wants to help so she goes to the Palmer's house and talks to Isabelle. She tells Isabelle that even if she is not the strongest dancer, she is an inspiring dancer and that is just as important. Isabelle asks Jackie how she can start believing in herself again, and Jackie tells her that she has to keep practicing and stay dedicated. Isabelle goes back to rehearsal and tells Renata that she does not care what she thinks anymore, because she knows that she is a good dancer. Isabelle and Jade then make up and Jade helps Isabelle practice, while Isabelle works on Jade's costume. As the show approaches, Isabelle is still nervous, but her mom tells her that she will do great.

Performance day finally arrives and Renata's parents do not show up because they are busy at her brother's football game. Her dress then rips so Isabelle and Jade step up to help her fix her costume and make her feel better. Renata admits that she does not hate Isabelle and that she lies about how great her family is. Isabelle encourages Renata to tell her family how she feels, and Renata thanks Isabelle and tells her that she is a good dancer. The performance begins and Isabelle is nervous about The Dance of the Snowflakes, but then, Isabelle goes out and visualizes water lilies and is able to complete the performance perfectly. Isabelle and Jade then continue to admire Jackie from backstage and Jade tells Isabelle how well she did.

Back at school, the girls wait for the list to be posted to see who got into the New York City Ballet summer program. Renata sees the list first and sees that she did not get into the program, but she is okay with it because she is going to spend the summer with her family because she took Isabelle's advice and talked to them about how she was feeling. Isabelle and Jade then see that they both got into the program. It begins to snow outside, and the school runs outside to celebrate while the girls look forward to having a white Christmas and getting to spend the summer together in New York.