Director Sylvain White's film showcases stepping, an extreme mix of dance, gymnastics and poetry practised among students at traditionally African-American colleges. DJ (Columbus Short) arrives at university from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, weighed down by guilt over the senseless murder of his brother (and a total lack of imagination on the part of the screenwriters). A step contest offers him a new sense of purpose, as does sexy fellow student Meagan Good - who just happens to be dating his arch rival in the stepping stakes (Darrin Henson). Short certainly boasts some impressive moves, but away from the dance floor the action is lethargic and full of clumsy contrivances, as White fails to sustain the energy of the film's striking opening scene.

After the death of his younger brother, a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from Los Angeles is able to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in the historically black, Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. But his efforts to get an education and woo the girl he likes are sidelined when he is courted by the top two campus fraternities, both of which want and need his fierce street-style dance moves to win the highly coveted national step show competition.