I generally don’t watch Hallmark movies, but I did make sure to catch Taking A Shot At Love when it debuted in January 2021. I’d met one of the movie’s stars, Nolen Dubuc, at the Stratford Festival when he starred in Billy Elliot The Musical. Also, as a dancer myself, I always try and support movies that focus on and employ dancers.
Taking A Shot At Love focuses on a hockey player for the New York Rangers who travels to a small town to take ballet classes as part of rehabbing an injury. As is common in Hallmark movies, he naturally falls in love with the teacher and everyone lives happily ever after. Quelle surprise!
The movie takes place in Connecticut, but was actually filmed just outside Vancouver, in Mission, British Columbia.
Dance Studio Interiors
The dance studio scenes were filmed at the Fraser Valley Academy of Dance. I had the opportunity to visit the dance studio and take some photos inside where the film was shot. Not only did the film use this beautiful facility, but all of the dancers featured in the film were from the studio as well, other than Nolan and the two adult leads. One of the studio owners also did the choreography for the big finale in the movie.
Dance Studio Exteriors
The exteriors of the dance studio and street scenes were filmed just a couple blocks away from the studio. They picked this location due to looking like quaint small town shops, a staple in any Hallmark movie. The area is a common location for Hallmark movies.
Jenna’s house
To film scenes of Jenna’s home, a lovely and very large house was chosen just west of Langley, BC. This house is on a quiet rural road, and was an ideal setting for these scenes.
As mentioned above, I had the pleasure of meeting Nolen Dubuc a couple years ago at the Stratford Festival. He starred as the title character in Billy Elliot The Musical. He’s a lovely young man and a fantastic ballet dancer. It was great to see him in this film, and looking forward to seeing what he does in the future!
