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Private screening

Family and friends celebrate a local dancer's role in a movie.

By Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
Published February 14, 2008

Amanda Saylor, left, 17, of St. Petersburg, Johnathan Sullivan, 21, of Safety Harbor and Charles Smith, 21, of St. Petersburg watch the film Step Up 2: The Streets during a private screening Wednesday at the BayWalk Muvico.
	[Edmund D. Fountain | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT Ebone Johnson, 21, a former student and teacher at the Soulful Arts Dance Academy in St. Petersburg, makes her silver screen debut in Step Up 2: The Streets.

ST. PETERSBURG - The lights dimmed, the previews played, and the feature presentation began, but this was no ordinary night at the movies for about 250 people at the BayWalk Muvico.

On this night, theatergoers saw their granddaughter, teacher and student make her silver screen debut.

St. Petersburg's own Ebone Johnson, 21, danced her way through Step Up 2: The Streets in a private screening Wednesday filled with students at her former studio, the Soulful Arts Dance Academy, where her mother teaches. The movie opens to the public today.

"I never thought this would be happening," said Paulette Johnson, 49. "A movie!"

The atmosphere was like a party as fans munched on nachos and popcorn, greeting Johnson's mother as "Miss P." They whooped and clapped when they glimpsed Johnson in the movie's first choreographed scene, where a group of street dancers don masks and start break dancing on the subway.

The school has about 200 students, and everyone knows Ebone, her mother said. She's taught classes, taken classes and been a role model and inspiration to its students.

For dozens, the film was proof that their dreams could come true.

"She makes it possible that I can do this," said Taylor Barnes, 10, who said she's been dancing at the studio for eight years.

Johnson's grandparents, Jim and Doris Walker, 80 and 79, said it was the first time they'd been to the movies in many years.

"I wouldn't miss this for nothing in the world," her grandfather said.

Johnson plays a member of a street dancing crew in Baltimore that includes the lead character, who struggles to become a serious performer at a prestigious arts school.

Johnson's newfound career led her to Los Angeles, where she's auditioning for another movie and working as a choreographer. She's also been a New York Knicks dancer and a teacher in Japan.

"It was a beautiful experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything," Johnson said. "I want to do movies forever."

[Last modified February 13, 2008, 23:42:42]