Dance Academy

Abigail Armstrong:
I preserve my energy for what's important.

Petra Hoffman:
You know, if this was a movie, we'd have a water fight right now.

Kat Karamakov:
I'm sorry, I should go out with you why?

Sean:
You can't deny there's something between us.

Kat Karamakov:
Something other than your sleaze and my casual loathing?

[the dancers are learning their assignments in A Midsummer Night's Dream]

Abigail Armstrong:
Who are I, sir?

Patrick:
Puck. The one who makes things worse before they get better.

Sammy Lieberman:
That's typecasting.

Patrick:
The point to remember is that while most of the ballet is about mixed signals and misunderstandings, in the end true love wins out.

Christian Reed:
No, I'm sick of leaving you alone, Tara. Yeah, sure, you're probably the most annoying person I've ever met, and most of the time I don't even want to be around you, then there's other times and you're the only person. And I like you.

Natasha Karamakov:
[to Kat] Uh, Sweetheart, talk me through what you're wearing.

Tara Webster:
[answering for Kat] Oh, we have hip-hop next.

Natasha Karamakov:
[to Kat] Oh, good. I thought you were TRYING to look ugly.

Sammy Lieberman:
You, of all people. You're telling me not to try.

Abigail Armstrong:
There's nothing wrong with being an understudy.

Sammy Lieberman:
Yeah, for ME, you mean!

Abigail Armstrong:
You asked me to be honest. How am I the bad guy?

Sammy Lieberman:
Ballet Fever is defined as the inability to do anything apart from ballet.

Kat Karamakov:
The inability to discuss anything apart from ballet.

Sammy Lieberman:
The inability to think about anything apart from ballet.

Tara Webster:
Did they send you to spy on me?

Christian Reed:
Yes, Training Bra, because the whole world revolves around you.

Natasha Karamakov:
I'm sorry, but whatever it is that you're blaming me for today will have to wait. I have a rehearsal.

[Tara finds a flower on her bed]

Abigail Armstrong:
I thought it was time we started over, and I wanted to express that in flowers.

Tara Webster:
Really?

Abigail Armstrong:
[laughs] No.

Tara Webster:
[voiceover] Before I left home, Mom gave me the talk. Not THAT talk. She was worried one day I'd regret missing out on being an ordinary teenager. I told her point blank that there wasn't any choice, because who wants to be ordinary when you have the chance of becoming a professional dancer?

Miss Raine:
Auditions for the junior summer school program continue this Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. A roster will be on the notice board. If your name appears there, you have volunteered to help me.

Sammy Lieberman:
SAM Somebody's interested in me. Nothing's happened yet but you should be aware that I now have options.

Abigail Armstrong:
Good for you, Sammy.

Petra Hoffman:
[to Abigail] You know what? The really sad thing is: If you put this same amount of effort into ballet as you do in being mean you'd be a much better dancer.

Tara Webster:
[voiceover] Back in Hatchie, EVERY boy played football, even though the local team hadn't won since color TV was invented. Every Saturday people drove 500K's to watch them lose. Except me. I was too busy dancing. It made no sense, everyone fighting over a ball. Why didn't they just get their own?

Abigail Armstrong:
[trying to keep their relationship hidden] Don't you think all this secrecy's kinda hot?

Samuel Lieberman:
Really? Hot? No, no, not hot! I feel used and violated. You can't kiss someone and pretend it's irrelevant. It means something.

Abigail Armstrong:
It's just lips on other lips.

Samuel Lieberman:
I know you don't mean that.

Jai:
How's the coffee here?

Abigail Armstrong:
[coldly] Brown and wet.

Jai:
Right... I should probably get going. My, uh, rond de jambe's crying out for attention.

Abigail Armstrong:
[referring to suddenly kissing Jai the day before] That THING yesterday? It was a social experiment. Just so you know.

Jai:
[wittily] Oooo. I picked out the ring and everything.

Sammy Lieberman:
Kill it. Roast the duck.

Tara Webster:
[voiceover] As dancers we learn to be in control of our bodies down to the last millimeter, because if even one finger is out of alignment...

Miss Raine:
Tara! Tara!

Tara Webster:
...it all falls apart, so you practice movements until they're perfect. You learn to control gravity, to control pain, and refuse to let yourself get away with anything. But there's one thing that doesn't follow the rules, that you wish you could control but can't - your heart.

Sean:
Hey, your sister is gonna want to marry me.

Ethan Karamakov:
Welcome to the family.

Kat Karamakov:
I don't love ballet. We're on speaking terms, mostly.

Christian Reed:
[to Kat] I finally worked out what we both have in common: This is it for us. These guys are our family. So QUIT dancing, blow off your parents, but at least say goodbye.

Petra Hoffman:
You can tell EVERYTHING about someone by their feet, how they stand in the world, how grounded they are, how they dance.

Abigail Armstrong:
[to others] Actually, we're just about to go to the studio.

Paige:
[staying put] Abigail, it's a funeral.

Sammy Lieberman:
[to his shoes] Farewell, ye odd enemy. Unfortunately, I, uh... I knew you well.

Ethan Karamakov:
So, I don't know if you know, but my dad's a choreographer.

Dana Strong:
I did my master's on him. I am a fan.

Ethan Karamakov:
Right, well, you see, his work... I want to do the opposite.

Dana Strong:
Oh.

Ethan Karamakov:
Don't get me wrong. He's a genius, but his sensibilities are more about emotions and I'm more about... ideas?

Dana Strong:
Like what?

Ethan Karamakov:
Well, I'm thinking, like, a post-modern meditation on, like, the nexus between youth and technology.

Abigail Armstrong:
You'll never be a gymnast if you don't stretch.

Paige:
Did I say "gymnast?" Oh, yeah, I meant "journalist." They don't stretch.

Abigail Armstrong:
Don't be polite. She's been acting inappropriately all day.

Abigail Armstrong:
I've put a lot of time I don't have into planning this weekend. You've completely ruined it.

Paige:
Big deal. You've ruined my whole life. "We can't go on holidays because Abigail has a concert." "No chocolate ice cream in the freezer because Abigail's on a diet."

Abigail Armstrong:
Like anyone needs chocolate ice cream.

Paige:
Mom moved us to Sydney to be near you and you never even visit.

Abigail Armstrong:
I'm at the National Academy of Dance. I have classes every day.

Paige:
Well, why is it always about you?

Abigail Armstrong:
Because you're not special. You're just a little girl, over-tired, over-stimulated and chuck full of preservatives.

Paige:
Yeah, well, just as long as I'm not like YOU!

Dana Strong:
Look, Tara's an instinctive dancer and you have the foundations of a good piece. You just need to stop micromanaging.

Ethan Karamakov:
So it's MY fault?

Dana Strong:
It doesn't always help to be dictatorial.

Kat Karamakov:
Paige, you can't just run off like that. Abigail is out there eating her own hair.

Paige:
No way! She's too worried about the fat count.

Tara Webster:
Today is a really weird day...

Kat Karamakov:
My brother was just in flirt mode.

Tara Webster:
It's Ethan. He's always in flirt mode.

Abigail Armstrong:
Tonight. 8:30.

Sammy Lieberman:
It's a date.

Abigail Armstrong:
It really isn't.

Miss Raine:
Abigail, you're a smart dancer. You know there are certain limitations to your technique. I had them, too. Others have more natural potential. We have to work the best of our ability, which you have been doing.

Abigail Armstrong:
You're saying it still might not be enough?

Miss Raine:
Abigail, sometimes ballet can be as unfair as it is unforgiving, but in my experience hard work can overcome most obstacles.

Abigail Armstrong:
I hope you've been working on the lift.

Sammy Lieberman:
Feel this bicep. I'm a lift machine, baby.

Abigail Armstrong:
If they gave me a real partner, I wouldn't have to work so hard.

Sammy Lieberman:
You know, misplaced anger is often a byproduct of low blood sugar.

Sammy Lieberman:
You know, I want to do well, too. I just don't think there's any point killing ourselves in the process.

Abigail Armstrong:
That's where you and I differ.

Christian Reed:
Training Bra, why do you make things so complicated?

Tara Webster:
You kidding? It's a minefield.

Christian Reed:
When you're kissing the right person, it's always simple.

Kat Karamakov:
I just think you need to focus on your muffins for mousies. Okay, don't agonize over the labrador thing until it follows you home and asks you to keep it.

Sammy Lieberman:
Yeah, well, I have a better plan: Avoid the mousies until the muffins go - every last crumb.

Sammy Lieberman:
I let mousies think my dad didn't sign the forms because my muffins were out of control and I'm afraid of being a Labrador.

Adam The Psychologist:
You're being the perfect patient, writing the perfect diary, eating the perfect diet, but your need to control every situation isn't helping you.

Miss Raine:
[while conducting Tara's private lesson] You know, when you arrived we talked about choosing your friends wisely. Posse up! You didn't. Better. You need to make a decision about what's more important - your training or other distractions.