Dance Academy

- Season 1

(2010)

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 than she ever anticipated.

Tara arrives at the Academy and finds out that she is considered the worst dancer there. For Tara, making friends and earning the respect of her teachers is a challenge. She also deals with being homesick.

Tara has a crush on Ethan which threatens Tara's friendship with Kat. To determine which is more important, with Sammy's help, Tara makes a list of pros and cons about Ethan.

For a class assignment, Sammy and Abigail have to tie themselves together for 24 hours which they later discover only had to be "2-4 hours".

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

The National Ballet comes to town and Tara is stunned to learn Kat's mother is Natasha Willis - a world-acclaimed ballerina and Tara's greatest idol.

Ethan requires a dancer for his hip-hop showcase and asks Christian on the basis of the favour he owes him; Christian agrees but opposes Ethan's choreography. Tara educates Kat in every aspect of the art form of crushes.

Tara is tired of being the youngest and dislikes that Ethan thinks of her as just a little kid.

Mocking her friends' obsession with teen pop star Myles Kelly, Kat creates a video of her dancing to one of his songs and then posts it on the internet.

Christian's friend Aaron reveals the truth about the robbery they both committed. Abigail's control issues take control over her and she is seen stealing from a store.

Tara is ecstatic when Ethan asks her to dance in his assessment piece. Kat, Sammy, Abigail and her little sister Paige go to an amusement park, however, Abigail fails to connect with Paige, who would rather be with Kat and Sammy.

Tara tries to ignore her recent 'almost-pash' with Ethan so she can focus on her exams; however it's not as easy as she'd hoped.

It's Open Week at the Academy. Tara is thrilled to see her mum and dad again but when they arrive she is embarrassed that they're not as sophisticated as everyone else's parents.

Tara returns from the school holidays on top of the world - she has great friends, a gorgeous boyfriend, the first year scholarship, and is finally allowed to dance en pointe.

Petra photographs Tara and Christian kissing, creating tension between them unbeknownst to Ethan.

Kat is upset when her parents ignore her 16th birthday and throws herself a huge party at their harbour front home in revenge.

It is school camp and everyone is dreading the trip away, especially Tara who has been made an outcast following the party.

German exchange student Petra Hoffman is thrilled when she is invited to stay at the Academy. However, when the Berlin Ballet Company offers her a contract, she has a difficult choice to make

The Institute of Sport has sent football players to the Academy for one week of training to improve their elevation, coordination and flexibility.

When the Board decides to cut hip hop and jazz from the curriculum Kat goes on the warpath, blaming her mother for this change. T

It's a month since Tara's injury and her plaster is due to come off, but Tara seems more focused on her new boyfriend, Christian than she is in attending her doctor's appointment.

Christian's hearing for the robbery he and Aaron committed is coming up, however, Aaron has disappeared which puts a hole in Christian's defence.

Today, Christian faces his punishment for the robbery. But when Aaron returns, Christian's conscience gets the better of him and he changes his story to protect his friend.

In the weeks since the court hearing, Sammy and Christian have been inseparable. In fact, they've made a pact of brotherhood - from now on, they will forget all about girls.

The Nutcracker rehearsals begin and Tara, cast as Clara, finds that being the star is more trouble than she expected. Sammy faces the fact that his feelings for Christian have shifted.

The end-of-year production has arrived and Tara is rehearsing her solo in Act 2 of The Nutcracker. Director Sebastian Karamakov is not happy with her performance and threatens to put Abigail in her place.