Dance Academy: The Movie finds fresh steps in a familiar routine

REVIEW: The old-fashioned storyline in Dance Academy: The Movie is more downbeat and realistic than many viewers will expect.

DANCE ACADEMY: THE MOVIE (PG)

Director: Jeffrey Walker (feature debut)

Starring: Xenia Goodwin, Miranda Otto, Tara Morice, Alicia Banit, Dena Kaplan.

Rating: 3 stars

Finding fresh steps in a familiar routine

AUSTRALIAN film is not in the greatest of places right now — an all-too regular state of affairs, really — so it is encouraging to see one local title nail its admittedly limited ambitions so darn well.

This is a movie expansion of the Australian-made TV series Dance Academy, fresh episodes of which have not been produced since 2013.

Rather than repeat former glories of this charming little show, the film version tracks the original troupe of teenage hoofers as they try and make it in the wider world as adults.

The centre of attention is Tara (Xenia Goodwin), who embarks on a daunting solo mission to overcome a terrible injury, and then regain her footing as one of the best young ballet dancers of her generation.

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Xenia Goodwin’s Tara arrives in New York in a scene from Dance Academy: The Movie. Picture: StudioCanal Films

If that basic synopsis sounds more than a touch contrived, you’re not wrong. Dance-themed pictures are notorious for sticking to the same triumph-over-tribulation template, no matter the style, setting or circumstance.

However, the old-fashion story path navigated here (much of which takes place in the US) is a lot more downbeat and realistic about the plight of young performers than many viewers will expect. The movie as a whole is all the better for it.

Tara and Kat (played by Alicia Banit) are just two of the regulars of TV cast who appear in the movie. Picture: StudioCanal Films

Goodwin acquits herself well under the added weight of appearing in almost every scene.

On the odd occasion she and the other young series regulars (not all of whom have developed as actors, it must be said) do buckle slightly under the strain, experienced players like Miranda Otto and Tara Morice are there to lend a welcome hand.

Miranda Otto plays the National Ballet’s Artistic Director Madeline Moncur in Dance Academy: The Movie. Picture: StudioCanal Films