Dance Academy

Dance Academy is a series about a girl named Tara Webster who wants to be a principal ballet dancer. To chase her dream she auditions to and gets accepted into the prestigious National Academy of Dance located in stunning Sydney, Australia.

The show is predominantly built around cute romantic story lines, though it never succumbs to fluff and is surprisingly complex at times for a show of its genre. And there's enough dancing (ballet primarily as well as some hip-hop) to satisfy the most hardcore dance fan.

Newcomer Xenia Goodwin perfectly embodies the innocence and wide-eyed wonder of Tara Webster. Tara is a girl who is a natural dancer but anything but natural when it comes to dealing with boys. Her dorkiness trying to come to terms with the opposite sex forms much of her story arc.

Alicia Banit plays Katrina "Kat" Karamakov, Tara's fun loving and rebellious BFF with some deep reservations about whether she wants to be in a ballet school. Katrina takes the Academy for granted as just another school to attend rather than a lifelong dream come true as Tara does.

Dena Kaplan portrays Abigail Armstrong, Tara and Kat's frenemy. Abigail is an overachieving ballet student who is obsessed with being a principal dancer and is willing to do anything including back stabbing and sabotage to become one.

Abigail's perfectionist personality forms much of the angst as well as the humor of her character. Kaplan expertly plays a girl who is a conniving bitch yet displays enough vulnerability and gentleness that she remains sympathetic to the audience.

Other characters include Samuel "Sammy" Lieberman; a boy who wants to dance despite objections from his father, Christian Reed; the bad boy of the Academy with a mysterious past and Ethan Karamakov; Kat's older brother and target of Tara's affection.

Finally Tara Morice is a pleasure to watch as the strict and unyielding ballet instructor of the Academy.

Dance Academy is a show that fuses teen romance with some very beautiful dancing in a very entertaining way.

And by descriptions I mean "teen drama" or "children's show".

I am a 27-year-old living in the US. When NetFlix kept suggesting this show to me, I kept writing it off because most teen/children's show are bland, poorly acted, and often talk down to their audience. Being a glutton for anything concerning dance, I thought I'd give it a shot, and I am so glad that I did. There is an emotional depth to the storytelling and acting that greatly surpasses other shows of the genre. There is something magical, and frankly addicting, about "Dance Academy" that reminds me of some of the shows that I loved to watch during my formative years.

I could sit here all day and extol the virtues of this show, but I'll leave it at this: If you've been thinking of checking out the show, or have written it off, I implore you to put aside any preconceived notions and experience it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

When I first watched Dance Academy I was on a Dance movies extravaganza on Netflix. At first I was torn because it seemed like a teen drama series and those who's dating who plot lines always repel me. But I was fascinated by the fact that the whole cast could dance! Quite an achievement and set in Australia, double bonus. It also has quite a range of problems that the characters go through, professional choices, life choices, and so on. But I also love the down moments when the characters are just getting to know each other and character building. The actors make the characters believable and will raise anyone's adrenaline when you feel they are on the verge of making wrong decisions. I am extremely fond of the actor who plays Ben Tickle in the second series; he has quite a future ahead of him, charismatic and entertaining to watch.

I'm a late bloomer to this show though I don't think it's never too late than 'never' to start. Neither was I particularly familiar to with this show's quality or award winning acclaim that's pushed it to being a modern favorite among both kids and adults. I also can't say for the very least 'I' was the target audience for this show, though I actually ended up really enjoying it as the drama and the writing started to really grow on me as the character's developed throughout the show's three season run.

I am glad for one as a show that's produced right here in Australia has made such a reputation to be well known overseas, Yeah I know it happens quite a lot though this is a kids/teenage show that would've been usually broadcasted around 5 pm after school. For one, the quality of this series really does show, all the characters in the show have tremendous depth and dimension that make them so incredibly unique. I can't say for certain they're like people I would've known when I was in high school, mainly cause this is set in a Dance school where the student's work an talent is put on display throughout the entire series up close and personal, they push their limits and encounter many trials and tribulations along the way, and it isn't just in the drama. The show does a great job balancing such great dance choreography and superb drama to flesh out the lives of these teenagers.

The show isn't overly glamorous nor does it resort to the obvious 'teen' or 'coming of age' clichés a lot of the time (struggles with that within the first season). While there're plenty of trashy TV shows that can't take teenagers or young people seriously, Dance Academy is a show that does actually take teenagers seriously touching upon notions such as finding out more about themselves, defining their identity and what they're thinking of seriously doing when they're older. There were also plenty of times this show wasn't afraid to take risks when concerning the plotting and overall story of each character arc within each season. At times there were characters I didn't like or were mostly annoyed by though I eventually grew to like them as the series progressed. My personal favorite is Christian Reed, his backstory touched me the most and I grew to like his development until the very end. Least favorite was Grace, she was annoying, manipulative and such a show off acting like she was already a professional, great dancer though was a poor human being. I also commend each and every one of the performers on the show for their work on this show as they've made it work.

The main theme song 'My Chance', perfectly illustrates the metaphorical meaning for this show. It shows the young courageous minds of teenagers willing to show their potential to the rest of the world to see what they're made of. Lastly, you're only ever young once in your life, you may as well enjoy it while you can cause 'everyone' grows up so incredibly fast.

Be sure to catch this on Stan, Netflix or whatever other streaming service this show is available on. The cinematic 'film' continuation is coming this year and it's bound to be a big surprise given this show's reputation.

" Genius" Is the word I use to describe this show.From the writing to the production,casting,acting,drama and dancing is the formula to an epic legacy.I'm a mother of 2 girls ( 13 & 10 ).My girls and I, have enjoyed watching every episode.It is so refreshing to see that writers can create a story line with real life issues, but still keeping its innocence.The acting was superb, I felt their emotions in every episode.Their Chemistry had us glued to the TV. Credit where credit is due.I usually don't write reviews or blogs.Lets be honest nobody really cares what you have to say".But in this case, I felt why not express the impact that Dance Academy had on us. We felled in love with every character.We wish the cast of Dance Academy the Best in future projects and in their personal life as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!