Welcome to Long Live the Sex Scene, a special project by Cosmopolitan that explores why these steamy television and movie moments truly matter, especially right now. Join us as we rewind, replay, and then rewind them all over again.
It’s 2006 and I’m in my parents’ basement, on the couch in front of a big, boxy TV. My mom has purchased a DVD copy of the cinematic masterpiece Step Up from the grocery store, and I’m about to have a sexual awakening.
In the movie, Nora (Jenna Dewan) is a dancer at a performing arts high school where Tyler (Channing Tatum) is doing 200 hours of court-mandated community service. When Nora needs a partner for the end-of-year showcase, she glimpses Tyler breakdancing with his friends outside the school. She’s found her man.
As they get to know each other and build trust, Nora brings Tyler to a rooftop overlooking the water. The sun is setting as Gina Rene’s “U Must Be” scores the scene. As they move, orbiting each other, their mouths are so close, they could kiss. But they pull away. As Rene sings the words, “You must be the reason I’m alive,” Tyler lifts Nora up and lets her slide back down his body.
Nora and Tyler don’t technically hook up—they spend less than a minute gazing longingly into each other’s eyes as they dance, and all their clothes stay on—but to my 12-year-old mind, they may as well have been naked. I nearly broke the DVD rewatching that scene. I tried to learn the dance moves, even without a Channing Tatum to lift me off the ground.
Although I barely understood my feelings then, the moment turned the movie into a physical experience—not just an emotional one. Watching it now, I still get a little thrill. It doesn’t hurt that Channing and Jenna ended up getting married. Clearly, the dance got to them too.
