In today's society, struggles are everywhere. People face struggles within themselves, with their friendships, relationships, acceptance by others, love, goals, dreams, and in finding complete happiness. In the movie "Save the Last Dance", the character Sara played by Julia Stiles deals with struggles in her life and the movie shows how she overcomes emotional and social obstacles. Throughout the movie, Sara displays many different emotions. As the viewer, one is able to capture the full effect of her life and the people and atmosphere around her.
As the movie unfolds, seventeen year old Sara is traveling in a train on her way to live with her father (Terry Kinney) in inner-city Chicago. Flashbacks fill us in. She was raised by her mother in a predominantly white, middle-class neighborhood and was a promising ballerina with an audition to Juilliard. Trying to make it to the audition, Sara's mom gets in a car accident and dies. After the accident, Sara gives up her lifelong dream of becoming a professional ballerina, because she blames herself for her mother's death. She is forced to go live with her father and attend a predominantly black school. She quickly has to adjust to the different lifestyle. At school, she becomes friends with a teenage single mother Chenille (Kerry Washington) and her brother Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas). They show her the ropes around school and they bring her to a dance club called Steps. Sara starts to dance with Derek and eventually their relationship leads to romance. They become really close, really fast and they begin dancing together in an old abandoned building. Derek teaches her the art of hip-hop while she shows him her love of ballet. Derek is not just someone who Sara is attracted to but also someone who challenges and listens to her and who is determined not to see her give up her dreams of getting into Juilliard. Both Sara and Derek have to deal with other people looking down on their relationship and it challenges their love for each other.