Dance Academy: Rumors & Music Videos

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Yeah, so last I've been thinking about whether TeenNick is either trying to burn off the episodes faster or build an audience for Dance Academy by moving the show to twice a week, and making it Wednesday and Thursday instead of Friday, alongside the new Degrassi episodes. At this point I'm leaning toward the former, as I've seen a significant drop (like 90%) in views for the three most recent Dance Academy recaps, in comparison with the first few. So, we'll take a look at how this post does, but if it's not picking up, we're going to cut our losses. The show doesn't thrill me that much anyway. The two episodes this week have Abigail hating her body, Christian taking the high road, Kat trying something different, Tara letting a rumor fly, Ethan trying out for a new part, and Sammy buying his first protective undergarment. Nothing too exciting, but it makes sense that we're seeing some body image issues at a dance school, and it was really only a matter of time before Tara came up with a new way to try and lure Ethan.  

Dance Academy "Growing Pains" (S01E08): Tara walks around the school and practices what she'll say to Ethan when she "stumbles upon him." [does she really think that she's fooling him? Ethan hasn't really shown any signs of being an idiot, so I'm not sure why she thinks he'll buy yet another one of her stupid lines.] She invites him to see a traveling show and he tells her that she's his sister's best friend, so it's not a good idea. [at least he's trying to let her down gently at this point.] Tara meets a company member whose mother knows hers. A rumor soon starts spreading that Tara is dating Damian, which she doesn't deny. [yeah, I tried to let a rumor like that go when I was in seventh grade. and then again in eighth grade. Neither really worked out to my advantage.] Tara is told to wear less makeup in class (she's trying to cover a pimple), then she's called to the administration, where she's confronted about the rumor - company members aren't allowed to date students. [double whammy for Tara... girl can't catch a break sometimes.] Tara apologizes, then finds Damian to explain that she only wanted Ethan to see her differently. [why does Tara smile when she apologizes? this is really getting old]

Sammy is told that he needs to wear a dance belt for support from now on, and Christian goes with him to buy one. The salesgirl likes Christian so Sammy tries to help him out, only Christian isn't that interested. [why are we setting up that Christian doesn't like girls? Are they really trying to push the fact that he doesn't like to share things about himself that hard?]

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Abigail is ashamed of her developing chest and doesn't want to remove her sweater during class. [...but how is hiding it going to help anything?] Instead, she goes to the nurse, claiming she's coming down with something. She also tries to steal a chocolate bar, but that's glossed over pretty quickly. [perhaps we're to believe that she's craving chocolate as some do during a certain time of the month?] Kat tries to help Abigail, but Abigail just talks about how principal dancers have flat chests, and this will be the end of her career. [Nice of Kat to do something more than just walk away. And I've heard more than one former ballet student say this, so I imagine it has a certain degree of accuracy... much like with gymnasts...]

Dance Academy "Heartbeat" (S01E09): Ethan and Christian work out together. [well, Ethan follows Christian around and then tries to show him up. They really write Ethan to be a jerk sometimes.] We learn that Christian has to stay at the Academy during school vacations as part of his parole. Ethan and some others (including Christian) audition for a side project. Abigail doesn't make it, but Christian and Ethan are interviewed after their dances go well. Christian is offered the position, but doesn't take it because he has to share his ambitions. [wow. you lose out on something like this because you don't want to open up... shame.] Ethan is given the slot and rubs Christian's nose in it, not knowing that he was the second choice. [but, since the viewers all know, we can laugh at Ethan's ego.]

Kat posts an online music video of herself dancing, which lands her in trouble with the administration. Luckily, it also gets her a chance to dance in a real music video. [wow, that's cool. And, although I know that she and Ethan aren't close, I was expecting her to tell him about it...] Kat brings Tara and Sammy to the shoot, but Kat just isn't impresses, calling the costumes and moves cheesy. The singer agrees and decides to change things. [wow... normally you'd just throw out someone who wasn't a team player...] He then takes Kat to dinner, invites her on tour (to which she declines), and even dedicates the premiere of the music video to her. [they act like they shot it and it's airing the next day... there's so much post-production on things like that... at least in the US!]