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Private Notes
Country girl Tara Webster travels to Sydney to audition for the prestigious National Academy of Dance. It's a tumultuous week as she realises her dream of becoming a dancer is going to be a lot more difficult than she ever anticipated.
Tara arrives at the Academy excited about the year ahead. As she struggles to fit in, she learns the hard way to respect her teachers and find true friends.
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. Christian finds himself in police custody and, with nowhere else to go, has to accept his place at the Academy.
The first years are given trust exercises to help build a connection with their pas de deux partners. Tara is frustrated when Christian refuses to participate, Kat feels betrayed by Tara's secret crush on her brother, and Sammy finds himself tied to Abigail for 24 hours.
Sammy is forced to choose between dance and his father when compulsory Saturday ballet classes clash with his Synagogue services; and Christian struggles to accept the rules of the Academy.
Tara is stunned to learn Kat's mother is Natasha Willis — a world-acclaimed ballerina and Tara's greatest idol. Meanwhile, Sammy's perfect girlfriend Mia has unexpectedly returned from an overseas exchange and he's torn between his loyalty to Mia and his new-found attraction to Abigail.
Ethan needs a dancer for his hip-hop choreography showcase and calls Christian on the favour he owes him from when he stole money from his wallet. Christian agrees but refuses to dance Ethan's choreography, deeming it wannabe American gangster. He takes Ethan back to his old neighbourhood, to show him some real Australian street hip-hop. Meanwhile, Tara is the self-proclaimed expert on crushes and is happy to educate Kat in every aspect of the mysterious art form.
Tara's sick of being the youngest and hates that Ethan sees her as just a little kid. So when Tara is seen talking with Damien Lang, a soloist in the Company and a local boy from Tara's home town, a rumour is spread that they are dating. Tara is overjoyed by this rumour but when it becomes a scandal that jeopardises Damien's career, Tara is forced to admit the humiliating truth. Meanwhile, Abigail is unwilling to accept the changes in her developing body.
Mocking her friends' obsession with teen popstar Myles Kelly, Kat creates a video of her dancing to one of his songs and then posts it on the internet. The video becomes so popular she is contacted by his music company and invites her to dance in his next video clip. Meanwhile, Ethan views Christian as a friendly rival and the two boys begin to compete with each other.
Christian's best mate Aaron comes to stay and reveals the truth about the robbery they committed. Meanwhile, Abigail's control issues are spiralling out-of-control and she is caught shoplifting.
Tara is elated when Ethan asks her to dance in his choreographic assessment piece. Is he finally beginning to see her as a romantic potential? But when she arrives at the studio to find Ethan engrossed in conversation with his mentor — the talented, gorgeous and much older Dana Strong — it's obvious who Ethan has his sights on. Eager to impress Dana with his talents as a choreographer, Ethan pushes Tara mercilessly to dance better. Meanwhile, Kat, Sammy , Abigail and her younger sister Paige head to Luna Park for the day. Abigail struggles to connect with Paige who would prefer to be in the company of Kat and Sammy.
Pressure is building at the Academy as the students prepare for exam week. Tara tries to ignore her recent 'almost-pash' with Ethan so she can focus on her exams; however it's not as easy as she'd hoped. When Ethan attempts to kiss her again, Tara makes a quick exit. Remembering how awkward their first kiss was, she doesn't want to ruin her chances with a terrible second kiss as well and so Tara recruits Kat and Sammy for help.
It's Open Week at the Academy, when parents watch their children in a series of demonstration classes. Tara is thrilled to see her mum and dad again but when they arrive she is embarrassed that they're not as sophisticated as everyone else's parents. Later, Tara is shocked when her mum tells her the farm is in serious financial trouble. Tara realises that family is the most important thing and makes a very difficult decision about her future. Meanwhile, Kat feels betrayed that Natasha has reneged on a family holiday she'd promised in order to dance in yet another international ballet. Sammy also suffers disappointment when his father fails to attend any classes, and he is left wondering if his father will ever accept that he wants to be a dancer.
Tara returns from the school holidays on top of the world — she has great friends, a gorgeous boyfriend, the first year scholarship, and is finally allowed to dance en pointe. Kat introduces Tara to her new boyfriend Lucas, a 'diplobrat' she met while on holiday with her mother in Europe. Tara immediately dislikes him but doesn't reveal her aversion to Kat, who convinces Tara to go to a warehouse party in the city which ends in Tara calling Christian for help. What has Kat done to make Tara upset? Meanwhile, Abigail is struggling to convince her therapist to allow her to return to ballet classes after her collapse last semester. Sammy, who has been her constant companion throughout the holidays, tries to convince Abigail to help him out with the ballroom dance classes that he is giving for his grandmother and her friends.
Petra Hoffman arrives at the Academy on exchange from the Berlin Ballet School; Kat has been ditching class to spend time with her new boyfriend; and Tara kisses Christian behind Ethan's back.
Kat is upset when her parents ignore her 16th birthday and throws herself a huge party at their harbourfront home in revenge. The house quickly fills with people and events spiral out of control when Kat's boyfriend Lucas (Andrew Hazzard) tries to take advantage of her while she is drunk. Luckily, Christian manages to save her from Lucas but the situation goes from bad to worse when the police are called to shut the party down. Meanwhile, Abigail causes trouble when she aquires a photo of Tara kissing Christian.
It is school camp and everyone is dreading the trip away, especially Tara who has been made an outcast following the party. Kat still isn't talking to her and Tara is further humiliated when photos of her kissing Christian keep appearing everywhere. Tara believes Kat is the culprit and confronts her about it. Meanwhile, Abigail has been banned from dance class until she completes an English essay and Sammy has been assigned as her tutor.
German exchange student Petra Hoffman is thrilled when she is invited to stay at the Academy. However, when the Berlin Ballet Company offers her a contract, she has a difficult choice to make — her lifelong dream or the chance to spend the next few years as a teenager? Whilst Abigail is making more trouble for Tara, Kat tries to make amends after having disappointed a younger dancer. At the same time Sammy and Abigail have begun secretly kissing, but while Sammy wants the relationship public, Abigail insists it remains behind closed doors.
Junior footballers from the Institute of Sport have been sent to the National Academy for a week of specialised training in order to improve their elevation, coordination and flexibility. Tension between the footballers and male dancers erupts and they set a challenge to prove who has the toughest sport. The footballers must learn a routine and dance it with no mistakes, while the ballet boys must score once against the footballers in a game of touch football. Meanwhile, Tara is caught up in her own competition; Miss Raine has pitted her against Abigail in nightly private classes, intending to use their rivalry to drive each other harder.
When the Board decides to cut hip hop and jazz from the curriculum Kat goes on the warpath. Tara and Christian find themselves together at the beach and their spark is rekindled.
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.
The date for Christian's robbery hearing has been set but his defence strategy relies on his best mate, and co-accused, Aaron admitting that he was the one who brought the knife to the robbery. However, Aaron has vanished leaving Christian with slim hope that he will avoid juvenile detention. Meanwhile Tara has been working hard in rehab and the time has come for her to go back to dancing but she fears she will injure herself again. Ethan has been her coach, using the time he spends with Tara to avoid signing his company contract, because he's no longer sure it's what he wants. They both realise they need to face their fears in order to reach their dreams.
Today, Christian faces his punishment for the robbery. But when Aaron returns, Christian's conscience gets the better of him and he changes his story to protect his friend. Concerned by his decision, Sammy enlists the help of Christian's oldest friend Kaylah to try and convince him to change his mind. Meanwhile, Ethan has received interest from a dance company in Spain who are looking to take on young choreographers.
In the weeks since the court hearing, Sammy and Christian have been inseparable. In fact, they've made a pact of brotherhood — from now on, they will forget all about girls. Sammy is elated; he's never had such a good guy friend. However, when Christian ditches Sammy to spend time with Tara, what Sammy feels is uncomfortably a lot like jealousy. What if he likes Christian as more than just a friend? Meanwhile, auditions for the end of year production of The Nutcracker are upon them and Kat and Ethan's father — the internationally acclaimed Sebastian Karamakov — is directing the ballet. Who will make it and who will walk out of the auditions?
Rehearsals for 'The Nutcracker' are underway and Tara discovers that being the star is not all it's cracked up to be. Sammy is forced to admit that his feelings for Christian have changed.
The end-of-year production has arrived and Tara is rehearsing her solo in Act 2 of The Nutcracker. Director Sebastian Karamakov is not happy with her performance and threatens to put Abigail in her place.
When Tara gets her costume fitted she learns many famous ballerinas have also worn the same nightgown — giving her a new boost of confidence. But when Abigail hides Tara's costume, trouble starts again and Tara's best friend, Kat is not around to help. Kat has left for a road trip with musician Myles Kelly.
Meanwhile, Sammy faces reality when he learns his parents are refusing to pay for his tuition at the Academy next year, regardless of his good marks. Sammy begs his father to come to the end-of-year performance, believing that if he saw him dance he'd change his mind.
