Dance Academy

Tara Webster, a 15-year-old from a farm in the Outback, travels to Sydney to audition for a spot at the National Academy of Dance, considered the best dance school in Australia.

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.

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.

Tara is struggling to keep Ethan out of her thoughts. Sammy has to choose between compulsory Saturday ballet classes or his Synagogue services. Christian finds that he can not accept the rules of the Academy. Kat quickly tries to help him get over his "peoplephobic" behaviour after his confrontation with Academy teacher Patrick. Sammy's dad tries to pull him out of the Academy because his grades are dropping; however, he then sees Sammy dancing and decides against it even though he doesn't support him. Dr. Lieberman informs Sammy that until his grades improve he's grounded.

Tara is surprised to discover Kat's mother is Natasha Willis, a world-acclaimed ballerina and Tara's idol. She agrees to teach the first years for a week. Tara goes to Swan Lake with Kat where Natasha performs and then Tara colors her hair like Natasha. Mia, Sammy's girlfriend, surprises him by showing up at the Academy from exchange. He is then torn between his long distance relationship with her and new-found feelings for Abigail. After Tara goes to see Natasha in her dressing room before another performance and Natasha makes her leave, she realises why Kat has been mad at her for thinking so highly of her mother.

Ethan requires a dancer for his hip-hop showcase and asks Christian on the basis of the favor 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. When Tara is seen talking with Damien Lang, a rumor is quickly spread that they are dating. Abigail does not want to accept the changes in her developing body.

Kat creates a video of her dancing to one of teen popstar Myles Kelly's songs and then posts it on the Internet. The video becomes very popular and she is contacted by his music company, which invites her to dance in his next music video. Christian and Ethan see each other as friendly rivals and become competitive.

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.

The students are under heavy pressure during exam week. Tara tries to forget about her recent kiss with Ethan so she can focus on her exams. Ethan attempts to kiss her again, but Tara flees. Abigail puts herself under a lot of pressure with the goal of scoring a scholarship. Sammy discovers she's been starving herself, but Abigail makes him promise not to say anything until the exams are over.

Open Week at the Academy is when parents watch their children in demonstration classes. Tara is glad to see her mother and father again, but when they arrive she discovers the farm is in financial trouble. Sammy is disappointed when his father does not attend any classes and he worries his father will never accept that he would like to be a dancer.

Tara returns from the school holidays and is happy that she has great friends, a boyfriend and a scholarship, and she is finally allowed to dance en pointe. Kat convinces Tara to come to a warehouse party in Sydney. Tara and Christian become closer. Abigail cannot convince her therapist to let her return to ballet classes after her breakdown the previous semester.

An exchange student, Petra Hoffman, arrives from the Berlin Ballet School. Kat is enamored with her new boyfriend and skips classes to be with him. Petra photographs Tara and Christian kissing, creating tension between them unbeknownst to Ethan.

Kat is upset when her parents forget her 16th birthday; with revenge in mind she has a party at their home. The party quickly fills with strangers joining in. Lucas tries to make a move while Kat is drunk. Kat kisses Christian and Ethan finds out about Tara and Christian's kiss after Abigail sends it to Kat's phone.

As school camp arrives, Tara is the outcast of the event after Kat's birthday party: Kat will not speak to her, and photos of Tara kissing Christian are showing up everywhere. After a flashback of what Tara's week has been like, Christian tells Tara he likes her at the camping site. Sammy is forced to tutor Abigail in English, but Abigail decides that she's not smart enough and copies her essay off the internet. Sammy tells Abigail she's "brilliant" and then kisses her.

Petra Hoffman is excited when she is asked to stay at the Academy, however, the Berlin Ballet Company offers her a contract. She struggles with the decision to stay at the Academy or take the job. Abigail continues to cause trouble for Tara. Sammy and Abigail are now secretly dating and Sammy wants to go public, especially because Petra now likes him.

The Institute of Sport has sent football players to the Academy for one week of training to improve their elevation, coordination and flexibility. However, tensions erupt between the players and male dancers. Meanwhile Sammy is growing impatient with Abigail hiding their relationship.

The Academy board votes to remove hip-hop and jazz from Academy lessons, infuriating Kat, who attempts to get them reinstated. Tara starts becoming jealous whenever Christian is around other girls. But spending time at the beach together playing beach cricket, Tara and Christian finally kiss. However, after running to class, Tara takes a fall, leaving Christian to carry her to the Academy to seek medical assistance. Sammy takes Tara's spot in a dance routine with Abigail.

A month has passed since Tara's injury and her plaster is about to come off. However, her focus is on Christian, who is her new boyfriend. She also deals with planning the school formal. Sammy and Abigail decide to step up their relationship on the night of the school formal.

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. Tara has been training in rehab and is able to return to the Academy, but is frightened she will again injure herself. Ethan coaches Tara through her recovery, as they both struggle with over coming their fears about what life has in store for them. Abigail tries to be friendly with Kat because she thinks it will help her relationship with Sammy, which has been going downhill lately. Sammy, having spent the day with Christian to provide moral support for his upcoming court hearing forgets about a date he had planned with Abigail, causing even more strain on their relationship and leading them to break up.

Christian goes to his court hearing for the store robbery, and when Aaron returns, Christian decides to alter his story to protect him. Ethan is courted to be a choreographer at a dance company in Spain. Kat, (acting on advice given to her by Abigail) hatches a plan to get Tara and Ethan back together so that Ethan will have a reason to stay in Sydney and not abandon her like the rest of her family members. It is revealed that Kat and Abigail were once childhood best friends until they were 11 years old, when Kat decided that she was a rebel and abandoned Abigail for becoming too serious about ballet. With intervention from Sammy, Aaron decides to tell the truth in court and Christian is allowed to remain at the Academy. Kat's plan to reconcile Tara and Ethan fails but he is ultimately rejected by the company and remains in Sydney anyway.

During the weeks that have passed since the court hearing, Sammy and Christian become good friends and have decided to forget about girls, becoming inseparable, but Christian begins to ignore Sammy so that he can spend more time with Tara instead. Sammy becomes jealous and starts to think he might have feelings for Christian. Ethan and Kat's father, Sebastian Karamakov, arrives to direct the Academy's end of year production, The Nutcracker, putting pressure on all the students to audition and compete for roles.

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 Academy's performance of The Nutcracker is quickly approaching, and Tara continues to practice for her dance solo in Act 2. However, Director Karamakov warns her that if she does not improve her performance, he will put Abigail in Tara's place. Tara's confidence increases when she discovers that her costume has been worn by many famous dancers in the past, but Abigail hides it to try and discourage her further. Kat leaves the Academy with Myles to road-trip around Australia, and Sammy tries to convince his father to continue letting him attend the Academy.