Andie Step Up: Who Is Andie West?

Andie West is the Baltimore street dancer at the center of Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), directed by Jon M. Chu, and Briana Evigan plays her, billed first in the cast. She is mourning her mother, who died of cancer, and she lives with her guardian, Sarah, played by Sonja Sohn. Outside school she dances with the 410, an illegal crew that competes in an underground contest called The Streets, and that double life drives the whole film.

Her friend Tyler Gage, played by Channing Tatum, talks her into auditioning for the Maryland School of the Arts, the school that offered him a place at the end of Step Up (2006). Chase Collins, one of the school's top dancers (played by Robert Hoffman), helps her win a place. Some viewers search for her as Andy, but the credits in both of her films spell the name Andie.

Andie returns in Step Up All In (2014), directed by Trish Sie, where Evigan is again billed first. She is not among the billed cast of Step Up (2006), Step Up 3D or Step Up Revolution, so her story is told in the second and fifth films. If you are planning a marathon, our guide to step up movies in order shows where each one sits. Step Up: High Water is a television series, not a film, so it has no film page here.

Andie's most important relationships are with Tyler Gage, Chase Collins and Sean Asa, plus the two crews she dances with, the 410 and the LMNTRIX. Tyler is the friend who opens the door to the Maryland School of the Arts. If you have only seen step up 2006, you already know the path he took there, and he appears again in the sequel (Channing Tatum is credited in both). His story with Nora Clark, which you can read on the nora step up page, belongs to the first film, and Nora is not among the billed cast of Step Up 2. For more on him, see tyler gage step up.

Chase Collins is the school dancer who helps her get in and then builds the new crew with her. His older brother Blake Collins is the school director who expels her and later reinstates her. Sarah, her guardian, is the adult at home, while Tuck, who leads the 410, is the rival who casts her out of the street scene she grew up in.

In the fifth film, Adam Sevani's Moose, a returning face from the series, helps Sean recruit her. You can read more about him on the moose step up page. Her bond with Sean, who is also covered on sean step up, starts as a rocky partnership and ends with a kiss after they land the trick that caused their argument. Sean also appears in step up revolution, a film Andie sits out. For the wider picture of crews across the saga, see step up dance crews.

In my opinion, Andie's best moment is when she accepts the blame for the wrecked dance studio in Step Up 2: The Streets, because it costs her the school place she fought for and proves she values her crew over her own future. It is a quiet choice in a series known for big routines, and it gives Evigan the film's most grown up scene. Perhaps that is why the later reinstatement lands as a reward rather than a convenience.

A close second is the night she and her crew skip the school fundraiser to compete at The Streets. It brings her two worlds into the same room, and, as the film plays it, Blake only changes his mind because he sees the dancing in person. In the first film, Tyler is a street dancer who steps in to learn Nora's routine and clashes with her over style, and Andie likewise takes street style into a school that did not respect it, though she is the one who has to win the school over. Emily Anderson in step up revolution keeps her family background hidden from her crew until it is exposed, while Andie's two worlds collide when the 410 learn she is studying at the school, so both arcs turn on a divide coming out (you can meet Emily on emily step up revolution).

In Step Up All In, it could be argued that her walk off after Sean pushes her toward a trick she is not ready for is the most important beat. It gives her more agency than a sidekick usually gets, because Sean has to change before the crew can win. Her payoff, landing that same trick in the finals, is the cleanest closing image for the character. If you want to compare it with the rest of the saga, our best step up dance scenes list is the place to start.