My latest teen drama discovery is also, I’m delighted to say, my first Australian program. (I feel like I should get an English-speaking world TV badge, or something!) Dance Academy follows Tara Webster as she begins her unusual high school experience at the prestigious National Academy of Dance ballet school in Sydney. Along with all the teen experiences we might expect, Tara’s days are full of dance classes, and Ballet is an ever-present character on the show.
Considering its focus on ballet and overlapping timelines, I expected to compare Dance Academy to “that other ballet show” Bunheads. Set in rural California, Bunheads creates a unique Amy Sherman-Palladino-style world, full of over-the-top characters and ridiculous scenarios. The dancers are fit into this mix as a few girls who take ballet at the featured studio after school. In contrast, Dance Academy places the real world of dance – the trials, the competition, the hard work and dedication – front and centre while also focusing exclusively on the stories of its teen stars. All in all, the two series could not be more different.
I found instead that after watching the first season, the show to which I most wanted to compare Dance Academy was actually My So-Called Life. While the particulars are quite different (and they take place nearly two decades apart) the two series share a kind of sensibility that I can’t help but find charming.
Just as in the classic 90’s show, Tara’s voiceover narrates each episode (with each of her friends taking over for single episodes, reminiscent of “Life of Brian”). Tara relates her dance school experiences to life lessons she is acquiring as she balances friendship, romance, competition, and her drive to become a professional ballerina.
As our protagonist and frame through which we experience her world, Tara, like MSCL‘s Angela, is sometimes frustratingly naïve. At 15, she seems so young and inexperienced, and yet she dives headlong into new situations with (at times) ridiculous enthusiasm. Even Tara’s friends, the rebellious, fun-loving Kat and romantically-confused, weak-ankled Sammy remind me of Rayanne and Rickie, right down to the conversation between Angela and Rickie – er, Tara and Sammy, that is – about how Tara sometimes worries that all they have in common is a friendship with Kat (a notion Sammy, as Rickie before him, quickly dispels).
Dance Academy is a sweet show that avoids the sensationalism of a lot of modern drama. It is one of the few shows that offers a satisfying conclusion at its first season finale, providing the viewer with a fantastic sense of closure as Tara’s first year at the Academy wraps up with a holiday performance of the Nutcracker. This example, to me, demonstrates how pointless cliffhangers are, as the complete opposite – a real ending – drew me in and made me happy, so I couldn’t wait to begin watching season two. Dance Academy embraces its ballet school premise with gusto while exploring some basic and fun teen stories, which results in a real pleasure to watch.
