There hasn't been this many dancers on the box since the golden days of 70s light entertainment. Joanna Hunkin reports on the new generation of small screen high-kickers.
KEY POINTS:
Their day begins at 9am, as they file into wardrobe for costume fittings. The next three hours are spent working with contestants, rehearsing their numbers and recapping the moves created just days beforehand.
After a short break, they're into hair and make-up; a two-hour process of primping and preening that must be touched up throughout the day.
The afternoon is spent camera plotting - running through the night's show up to four or five times, so the director and cameramen can work out the best angles to shoot from. Whenever possible, the dancers steal a moment to run through their routines, adding a final, polishing touch.
Just before 7pm, the audience begins streaming into the South Auckland studio. It will take another two hours for them to be seated and briefed on the night's movements.
Eventually the band strikes up the theme song and the show gets under way, ever-enthused host Simon Barnett sweeps down the staircase, welcoming viewers to Stars in their Eyes.
It can take two to three hours to film the one-hour episode, as each of the five contestants is given two run-throughs - once as a general overview and once for close-ups.
By the end of the night, nearly 14 hours after they first arrived on set, the dancers can finally leave.
"It's pretty full-on," laughs one of the dancers, Lauren de Boeck, best known for her role on another reality talent show, Dancing With The Stars. "But it's a lot of fun."
De Boeck is one of around 15 dancers who feature on the show, divided into two troupes, alternating rehearsal and taping days.
All are part of the same company, a professional troupe available for hire at corporate functions, product launches and, these days, television programmes. They are the Candy Lane Dancers and are in increasing demand.
De Boeck, who joined the company after meeting Candy Lane on Dancing With the Stars, is one of the few full-time dancers in the group. The others fill their days with an assortment of jobs; a make-up artist, a television presenter and a solicitor at a leading Auckland law firm all reside within their ranks.
It's fair to say the dancers come from all walks of life. But all share two essential qualities: their talent and their passion.
That passion saw Lane form her dance company nearly 20 years ago, when she returned to New Zealand after competing on the international dance circuit.
"The reason I originally started the dance company was as a vehicle for me to perform," explains Lane. "I was still really young and had come off the West End. I was teaching, which I loved, but I needed to perform.
"Now I feel it's my responsibility to give these girls the chance to keep dancing. I feel really good knowing that if I hadn't started this company, we would be losing some of our best talent."
When Lane started the company, her only bookings were for corporate functions. Television had turned its back on light entertainment - the last dancers to feature on New Zealand telly were the cabaret acts of 12 Bar Rhythm and Shoes.
"When I was a kid watching TV, there was Happen Inn, and even further back was C'Mon and the Ray Columbus era. But then it just disappeared," recalls Lane.
"There was a generation and era that was just all about music videos. Nothing was live. People got used to watching that polished, Hollywood style."
It wasn't until 2005, when the first season of Dancing With the Stars premiered, that live dance re-entered the New Zealand television realm. Within months, another two shows So You Wanna Be a Pop Star? (TV2) and Sing Like a Super Star (TV3) appeared on screen, featuring slick back-up dancers. The former was the first to feature Lane's dance troupe.
"Perhaps there's a cycle about it, like fashion and clothes, things keep coming around," suggests Lane, when asked what sparked the revival. "Once people see the ratings and see it's successful, of course other people are going to jump on the bandwagon and make similar shows. If the public are watching it, they're going to be given more money to make programmes like that."
This year, Lane's sequin-clad dancers appeared as the Honey Bees on Singing Bee and in various guises on Stars in their Eyes.
"I've always done what I'm doing," says Lane, "but it's got much more of a profile now because of the show [DWTS]. I'm still working with the same people I've always worked with."
And Lane still relies on word of mouth to book jobs.
"You're only as good as your last performance. When they were looking for people to choreograph shows or supply dancers, I'm lucky that I've been the obvious choice. But it's come by hard work and keeping a good, tight group of dancers."
Some of those dancers have included TV One newsreader Wendy Petrie and former All Black Robin Brook's wife Hayley. It's an ever-changing circle of dancers, and Lane says she is always on the lookout for new talent.
"I don't care if you haven't got any bits of paper. You can tell by looking at someone if they can dance well."
It's testament to her eye for talent that the company has earned a strong reputation for consistency. Lane's ability to turn around new routines in a short amount of time has seen business boom and she has effectively cornered the local television dance market.
While Lane sees live dance may hold novelty appeal for some people - those raised in the MTV generation of slick music videos - she says there is nothing new about the trend.
"Song and dance is the oldest entertainment. Go right back to Vaudeville and music halls. It's not new."
And she is all too aware that its current popularity may not last.
"The last four years have been great, from when we started Dancing With the Stars.
"That started them off and started people off looking for these format shows - Stars in their Eyes, So You Think You Can Dance. But as soon as you have a bad one, people are going to lose interest."
LOWDOWN
Who: The Candy Lane Dancers
Formed: The first incarnation formed in 1990, and has featured an evolving line-up ever since
What: Feature on the final of Stars in their Eyes, Tuesday, 8.30pm
