A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers find themselves pitted against the world's best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown.
A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers, including Luke (Malambri) and Natalie (Vinson), team up with NYU freshman Moose (Sevani), and find themselves pitted against the world's best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.—Walt Disney Pictures
After graduating high school from the Maryland School of the Arts (MSA), Moose, with his longtime BFF and fellow MSA alumnus Camille, decides to "grow up" by quitting dance and becoming an engineering student at NYU, much to the delight of his parents. An impromptu street dance battle in New York City in which Moose is involved against Kid Darkness of the renowned House of Samurai dance crew catches the eye of Luke, the leader of the House of Pirates dance crew. Luke convinces Moose to join his crew, which is comprised of a group of misfits who each has his/her own individual dance style. Luke and his crew live in what is called the vault - a converted warehouse - which has a living and dance rehearsal space upstairs and a dance club downstairs. Luke has his own personal reasons for creating the vault and helping these dancers. However, he is five months behind in the mortgage payments and the bank could foreclose at any second. Luke believes winning the $100,000 grand prize in the inaugural World Jam Championships would solve his financial problems. The Samurais, led by Luke's nemesis Julien, are their main competition. Beyond the prestige, Julien has his own motive for wanting to win and ruin the Pirates. Luke is also trying to recruit Natalie, a recent attendee to the downstairs club. In getting to know Luke, Natalie tries to get him to follow his own dreams. But Natalie's involvement with the Pirates may threaten its existence. Meanwhile, Moose is trying to balance his secret involvement with the Pirates against his commitments to school and to Camille, who secretly wants to be more than just a platonic BFF to Moose. But Camille may be able to take only so much neglect from Moose before even their BFF status is placed into jeopardy.—Huggo
Orphaned would be-filmmaker Luke uses his trust fund to host a 'crew' of talented street kids sharing his other passion, hip-hop dance. His latest brightest recruit is small NYU engineering freshman Moose, accidentally discovered by brilliantly winning an impromptu street challenge and accepts joining, while pressed for time by studies and best friend since childhood Camille. To prevent the cool place being bought by Luke's nemesis Julien, his Pirates must earn the fat cash prize of the 'first annual World Jam' in several rounds at different colorful New York clubs. Luke also takes in drifter Natalie, who becomes his lover, ignoring she's a spy planted by her brother Julien.—KGF Vissers
In New York City, Moose (Adam G. Sevani) and Camille (Alyson Stoner) attend the New York University. Moose is majoring in electrical engineering after promising his father that he would not dance anymore. While touring the campus, he sees a pair of Limited Edition Gun Metal Nike Dunks worn by Luke Katcher (Rick Malambri). Moose follows the shoes and then stumbles upon a dance battle, where he beats Kid Darkness (Daniel "Cloud" Campos) from the dancing crew House of Samurai. Luke takes him back to his place, an old warehouse converted into a club. Luke shows Moose his dance crew, the House of Pirates, whom he later teams up with to compete in the World Jam dance contest. Jacob (Keith Stallworth) informs Luke the warehouse will be put up for auction if the overdue rents are not paid.
Luke meets Natalie (Sharni Vinson) at the club and notices her dancing abilities, enlisting her to become part of his crew, but is unaware of Natalie's motives. Moose has to choose between his studies and dance, between a test and a dance competition. He goes to test but seeing the paper and receiving a message from Luke, he rushes to the competition just in time.
Luke and Natalie become close as the movie progresses. Luke explains his true intentions with his recordings and dance interviews. Basically, Luke's parents had started the club as they were dancers themselves and wanted to help other struggling dancers. But they never got to see their own vision take shape as poverty took their lives and hence Luke to so devoted to the dance club and winning the Jam in their memory. Natalie is hiding the fact that her brother is Julien (Joe Slaughter), the leader of the House of Samurai, and lies about everything but the love connection between her and Luke.
Natalie faces a hard decision between her love and her family. She confronts Luke and asks what happened with him and Julien. He says that Julien was a member of the House of Pirates but has a gambling problem and he once wagered against the Pirates and threw the battle, so the Pirates kicked him out. After arguing with Julien, she decides to leave Luke. Julien uses her phone to invite Luke for her birthday party. Luke asks Moose to attend the party with him, but because they have no invitation, they are not permitted to enter. They find a way to get in and Luke and Natalie dance a tango. Julien reveals Natalie's identity and Luke is angry with Natalie. When Luke arrives back at the warehouse, he finds it is foreclosed. Angry at himself for not being a better leader, he exclaims that the House of Pirates is over, and the crew members go their separate ways. Moose and Camille are best friends, but Moose does not see that Camille is in love with him. The two fall out after Moose shows up late to a costume party (which Moose insisted that Camille should invite him to).
Moose and Camille make up the streets by dancing to a remix of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, as a way to make up after their fight. Camille tells Moose that he can never give up dancing as he was born to do it. Moose helps out Luke by bringing the House of Pirates back together and giving him additional members for his crew including Camille and The MSA Crew from Step Up 2: The Streets. They discover that the former members are now performing with the House of Samurai. They also find out Julien is buying their warehouse, but says if they throw the battle, they can have it back, but they do not take the offer.
Natalie helps Luke and the Pirates win the World Jam with the routine they had practiced. She invites him to come with her to California, which he does by meeting her at the train station and kissing her just as Moose kisses Camille. Before leaving, Luke gives Moose the pair of Limited Edition Gun Metal Nike Dunks and is in charge of the group.
