Dance Academy

Country-girl Tara Webster travels to Sydney to audition for the prestigious National Academy of Dance. It’s a tumultuous week as she realises her dream of becoming a dancer is going to be a lot more difficult.

Tara arrives at the Academy excited about the year ahead but soon discovers that she is the worst dancer in the class. As Tara struggles to fit in, she learns the hard way to respect her teachers.

When Tara’s crush on Ethan threatens to derail her friendship with Kat, Sammy gets her to write a pros and cons list to clear her head. As the roommate war escalates, Abigail wins a decisive victory - emailing Tara’s list to the whole school.

The first years are given trust exercises to help forge connections with their pas de deux partners. Tara is frustrated when Christian refuses to participate, however they connect unexpectedly when Tara follows him to the beach.

Sammy is forced to choose between dance and his father when compulsory Saturday ballet classes clash with his Synagogue services. Christian struggles to accept the rules of the Academy.

The National Ballet comes to town and Tara is thrilled to learn that Kat’s mother is Natasha Willis, the Company’s Principal dancer and her childhood idol. Sammy’s girlfriend, Mia, also arrives forcing Sammy to evaluate his growing feelings.

Christian reluctantly agrees to dance in Ethan’s showcase but can’t stand the derivative choreography. In order to show this ballet boy some real hip-hop, Christian takes Ethan home to Maroubra.

Abigail is devastated that her body seems to be developing and defies Miss Raine by wearing a loose top to class. Sammy is forced to buy a dance belt, with Christian as his unlikely shopping buddy.

Mocking her friends’ obsession with teen popstar, Myles Kelly, Kat creates a video of herself dancing to one of his songs and then posts it on the internet. She is surprised when the record company invites her to dance in Myles’s next video clip.

Christian’s best mate Aaron comes to stay and reveals the truth about the robbery they committed. Later, Aaron uses Christian as an alibi forcing Christian to lie to the police, and to question whether old friends are necessarily good friends.

Tara is excited when Ethan asks her to star in his choreography assessment piece, but Ethan only has eyes for his mentor, Dana. Abigail’s sister, Paige, stays for the weekend.

Pressure is building at the Academy as the students prepare for exams. Tara tries to ignore her recent “almost-pash” with Ethan in an attempt to stay focused. With her sights set on the first year scholarship, Abigail pushes herself too far.

It’s Open Week at the Academy and Tara discovers she is embarrassed by her unsophisticated parents, especially around her new boyfriend Ethan. Her mum later reveals that the farm is in serious financial trouble.

Tara returns from the holidays excited to have been awarded the first year scholarship. However, this soon turns to disappointment when Kat leaves her standing alone outside a warehouse party the night before their first ballet class.

Petra Hoffman arrives at the Academy on exchange from the Berlin Ballet School. Homesick, she adopts a lost dog and attempts to conceal him in the Boarding House. Kat has been ditching class to spend time with her new boyfriend.

Kat is upset when her parent’s ignore her 16th birthday and throws herself a huge party at their harbour front home as revenge. However chaos soon reigns when Tara spies Kat kissing Christian and realizes she can’t ignore her own feelings.

It is school camp time and Tara is ostracised by her friends and further humiliated when photos of her and Christian kissing keep appearing everywhere. Tensions culminate in a fight between Kat and Tara.

Petra has decided to stay in Australia and enjoy life as an ordinary teenager, however when the Berlin Ballet offers her a contract she has a difficult choice to make.

The Institute of Sport’s Australian Rules Forward Squad has been sent to the Academy for some specialised training and the challenge is soon on, between the dancers and the footballers, to prove which is the toughest sport.

When the Board decides to cut hip hop and jazz from the curriculum Kat goes on the warpath,blaming her mother for this change. Tara and Christian find themselves together at the beach and their spark is rekindled, so much so that they lose track.

It’s a month since Tara’s injury and her plaster is due to come off but Tara seems much more focused on her new boyfriend, Christian, and organising the school formal. Sammy and Abigail decide take their relationship to the next level.

Christian’s sentencing hearing has been set and, believing that he’s headed for juvenile detention, Christian decides to stop playing by other people’s rules and goes back to his old neighbourhood.

Christian is ready for his court date but everything unravels when old loyalties cause him to change his story. Kat is shocked to learn her brother is moving overseas.

Sammy and Christian have made a pact of brotherhood – from now on they are an island of man – but Kat wonders whether Sammy might have a man crush on his new best friend.

Rehearsals for The Nutcracker are underway. Tara is playing the role of Clara and quickly discovers that being the star is not all its cracked up to be as Abigail’s claws re-emerge.