High Strung

High Strung is a 2016 American drama film directed by Michael Damian and written by Janeen Damian and Michael Damian. The film stars Keenan Kampa, Nicholas Galitzine, Jane Seymour, Sonoya Mizuno, Richard Southgate, and Paul Freeman. The film was released on April 8, 2016, by Paladin. A sequel High Strung: Free Dance was released in 2019. Plot Ruby is a classical ballet dancer who earns a scholarship to the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts. She meets an edgy, British, moody young violinist named Johnnie who performs in the New York City Subway. While watching him play, two groups of hip hop dancers start a dance off, and Ruby gets pushed and she falls down. Johnnie gets distracted while helping her, and his violin and the rent money he earned busking are stolen. He gets very upset, stating the violin was given to him by his grandfather, who he seemed to have been close with, since he had a tattoo of his grandfather's death date on his bicep. Later, she tries to help him with a loaner violin from the Conservatory, but he tells her he doesn't want charity and seems to be accusing her of being a rich, entitled snob because she attends the Conservatory, not knowing she's on scholarship. She learns he is illegally living in the USA, which is why he didn't report the theft to the police or ask them for help to retrieve his violin. She also learns that there is a competition where a dancer performs with a string musician, and the winner gets a scholarship, which could qualify Johnnie for a student visa, and earn him 25 grand. Ruby's scholarship is on the line because she is failing a mandatory contemporary dance class so she and Johnnie must find a way to save Ruby’s scholarship and keep Johnnie from being deported. Ruby's friend and roommate Jasmine "Jazzy" is also at risk of facing expulsion because she is repeatedly late for her classes because of partying late with her boyfriend. The two have a struggle with friendship over Jazzy's situation, and Jazzy ends up calling Ruby "you bitch!" Jazzy realizes her mistake, and starts to improve her dancing and habits. Meanwhile, Johnnie had paid an immigration attorney to help him get a green card but the attorney turns out to be a fraud. The situation is made more complicated by the rivalry of some other students (April and Kyle) entering the competition, one of which has a particular jealousy of Johnnie's talent, Kyle Endeca.