Dance Academy

Dammit, Netflix, how did you suck me into watching an Australian teen drama about students at a dance academy?

Gdi, this is exactly why I got sucked into Dance Academy. Not because it's a good drama per se (it's your usual teen drama fare complete with the usual tropes, cliches, and occasional nonsensical convention)--or because everyone has accents--but because all the actors are actually trained dancers. I love that the show put its actors through a five-week Ballet Bootcamp for its second season because it shows its dedication to bringing quality dance reality to the production. Including all the feet abuse, ugh. (And though I haven't gotten to second season yet, I've skimmed episodes and I have to say that the series 2 opening clips are way more impressive in terms of the dancing spots we see. I do think the actors are noticeably fitter, too, so I'm glad for that. Plus, since they're using real dancers, all the body types are right. Flat chested ballerinas? Rocked out bodies? Totally on point. Wait a second, I feel like a show like this would be aimed primarily at girls, but this type of fanservice seems skewed to the male viewer?? XD)

Watching the actors here, I wonder how hard it is for them to purposefully dance badly. In series 1, they're only first years and Abigail is terrible at hip hop ("You're too stiff!" "Because I'm a ballet dancer."), but here her actress (Dena Kaplan) is rocking it! It's hard to believe that Tara is supposed to be better than Abigail when Tara's actress (Xenia Goodwin) the most awkward of the actors at hip hop in the bootcamp. XDDD

I love the dance elements of this show. It's primarily ballet, yet watching them still makes me want to get up and dance and twirl. XD It's that freedom of movement and physical self-command that always sweeps me away and ignites my envy and talent kink. I also really like that it focuses on both girls and boys at the academy, that you get to really see how ridiculously fit men who dance ballet have to be.

I also really enjoy the Tara-Kat-Sammy friendship trio (two girls and a guy combo?! no sexual tension?! shocking!) and it's nice to see that camaraderie extend to the whole cast off screen. I know that relationship dynamics in the show will evolve thanks to my episode skimming; I may have smiled a bit too widely when I caught Abigail threatening someone on Tara's behalf (say what now?--the enemy of my enemy is my friend? XD).

Yet even I am surprised to find myself hitting the "Play episode" button over and over again. XD Admittedly things with "dance" in the title usually catch my eye on Netflix, but they're usually pretty terrible. Dance Academy was surprisingly not dreck, though I could do without some of the petty antics in order to just get more dance-related drama. (Though I guess in Abigail's case, a lot of her petty actions derive from a sense of inferiority.) A lot of the relationship drama is predictable, so my brain sort of shuts off when all the love drama is going down. But then Ms. Raine starts tearing into a poor student and it's all, "That's what you get for thinking about that boy/girl during class!" XD

There is one thing that throws me off: The Asian Australian extras in the background. I don't know why, I told nemesisjk8, since I've even met an Asian Australian family, but it still throws me off to see them! My brain always goes, "Asian! In the background!" Ahahaha, I have no idea why. XD

Anyway, I'mma go watch all these BTS clips now, k?

Wow, would being in this show count as having a hazardous job?