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‘Center Stage’ star Ethan Stiefel looks very different these days

Stars from the cult 2000 movie “Center Stage” reunited via Zoom on Tuesday night. Zoë Saldana, Amanda Schull, Sascha Radestsky and Ethan Stiefel regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes tales — but it was ballet dancer Steifel’s appearance that had fans buzzing. Resembling a Cher-era Gregg Allman with a large blond mustache, Stiefel, 47, looked unrecognizable …

Stars from the cult 2000 movie “Center Stage” reunited via Zoom on Tuesday night.

Zoë Saldana, Amanda Schull, Sascha Radestsky and Ethan Stiefel regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes tales — but it was ballet dancer Steifel’s appearance that had fans buzzing.

Resembling a Cher-era Gregg Allman with a large blond mustache, Stiefel, 47, looked unrecognizable from the short-haired dancer character that resulted in him becoming a ballet boy pinup.

Ethan Stiefel joins a “Center Stage” reunion Zoom call.YouTube

“Good god, Ethan Stiefel, that look is a choice,” wrote one Twitter user, while another added, “And Ethan Stiefel’s look is . . . a lot.”

Steifel was the principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater from 1997 to 2012. He then became the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet from 2011 to 2014.

The “Center Stage” chat touched on serious subjects like diversity and representation in ballet. Saldana revealed that the movie was her first big role but she had been a ballet dancer for years.

“I was incredibly discouraged with the lack of diversity in the classical form dance,” Saldana said. “So my heart was broken. I feel like that was my first heartbreak. So booking ‘Center Stage’ was a sign from the universe where you get to bid off and say goodbye to a part of my life that had been so fundamental up until that point and say hello to another form about that I was inquisitive about but being so insecure. ‘Center Stage’ sealed that deal.”

The reunion raised funds for the American Ballet Theatre’s Crisis Relief Fund, a charity that helps those working in the world of ballet who have been impacted by cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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