Save the Last Dance 2 is a direct-to-video

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 to 2001's theatrical feature Save the Last Dance

Save the Last Dance

Save the Last Dance is a 2001 romantic drama dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and released by Paramount Pictures on January 12, 2001. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who work together to help the main...

. It was released to DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 on October 10, 2006 by Paramount Home Entertainment and MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. While featuring some recurring characters, none of the cast (including Julia Stiles

Julia Stiles

Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...

 and Sean Patrick Thomas

Sean Patrick Thomas

Sean Patrick Thomas is a Guyanese-American actor. He is perhaps best known for his co-starring role in the 2001 film Save the Last Dance, as well as his television role as Detective Temple Page in The District and also "Barber Shop".- Early life :Thomas is the son of immigrants from Guyana and was...

) or storylines are retained from the original film. Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 singer Ne-Yo

Ne-Yo

Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...

 makes an appearance in the film.

Plot

The film continues the story of Sara (now being played by Izabella Miko

Izabella Miko

Izabella Anna Mikołajczak , better known as Izabella Miko, is a Polish-born actress, dancer, and environmentalist.-Life and career:...

) who goes on to be a student at Juilliard

Juilliard School

The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...

. As she excels to star pupil status, Sara becomes torn between her love for traditional ballet and her passion for the urban street rhythms of hip-hop, complicated further by her new love, hip-hop musician Miles (Columbus Short

Columbus Short

Columbus Keith Short, Jr. is an American choreographer, actor, and singer. He choreographed Britney Spears's Onyx Hotel Tour and worked with Brian Friedman...

). Soon torn between the raw honesty of hip-hop dance and the respectable world of ballet, Sara realizes that only she can take hold of her fate and face the future with the confidence to succeed, no matter which path she chooses.

Cast

• Izabella Miko
  Izabella Miko
  Izabella Anna Mikołajczak , better known as Izabella Miko, is a Polish-born actress, dancer, and environmentalist.-Life and career:...
  
   as Sara Johnson
• Columbus Short
  Columbus Short
  Columbus Keith Short, Jr. is an American choreographer, actor, and singer. He choreographed Britney Spears's Onyx Hotel Tour and worked with Brian Friedman...
  
   as Miles Sultana
• Jacqueline Bisset
  Jacqueline Bisset
  Jacqueline Bisset is an English actress. She has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award. She is known for her roles in the films Bullitt , Airport , The Deep , Class , and the TV series Nip/Tuck in 2006...
  
   as Monique Delacroix
• Aubrey Dollar
  Aubrey Dollar
  Aubrey Dollar is an American television and film actress.She was born in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina and studied at Needham B. Broughton High School, where she was a classmate of fellow actor Colin Fickes. She also attended Boston University and Amherst College...
  
   as Zoe
• Ian Brennan (writer)
  Ian Brennan (writer)
  Ian Brennan is a television writer, actor and producer. He is best known for his work on the television show Glee.-Early life:Brennan is the son of John and Charman Brennan. His sister, Sarah Brennan, is one of the founders of in Chicago...
  
   as Franz
• Maria Brooks as Katrina
• Tracey 'Tre' Armstrong as Candy
• Seana McKenna
  Seana McKenna
  Seana McKenna is a Canadian actress primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.-Background:Seana Mckenna was raised in Etobicoke, west of Toronto, Ontario...
  
   as Simone Eldair
• Cameron Wiley as Dancer
• Ne-Yo
  Ne-Yo
  Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
  
  as Mixx

Reception

Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com was critical of the film, complaining it "retreads the original Dance pretty much completely". He notes that Miko lacks the girl-next-door charm of Stiles, but suggests she does make for a more credible ballerina.

Home media

The film was released on DVD October 10, 2006. The DVD includes a making of feature.