Chloe Woolford has spent months choreographing Lakeside. Photo / Stephen Parker
Chloe Woolford has danced in exotic locations and on cruise ships.
But tonight she'll be back where she belongs in her home town as Lakeside Tatau Tatau's choreographer.
Some years ago Chloe danced at Lakeside as a member of a troupe of Auckland imports but wasn't comfortable about it.
"I was left wondering why they didn't use local talent, we have so much of it here," is her reflection on a Lakeside of some years past.
When Lakeside 2020's director, Rawiri Waru, approached her to take on the choreographer's role she executed a pirouette, here was her chance to address the imbalance.
What concert goers will see tonight are the top local dancers, Taupō twins included, she hand-picked from the long line up of eager beavers who auditioned for the annual event.
Chloe's description of the team she's rehearsed relentlessly for the past five months is "awesome".
This from a woman who knows awesome dancers when she sees them.
Dance has been her life since she was 4 and joined the Vicki Le Fleming Whitmore School of Dance, she wore ballet slippers then. At 6 she moved to jazz, joining Pam Shank's Amjazz Dance Studio (Our People, May 22, 2016). By the time she was 10 she was coupling the two dance forms.
Dance is in Chloe's DNA, her mother Bronwyn Woolford, teaches it to pre-schoolers, her sister Hana is a professional dancer too, they've performed together overseas.
Her whānau is the motivating factor for her return from the international footlights to the place where she took her first dance steps.
For her it's paramount to pay back the sacrifices her parents made to launch her into the world of dance, she emphasises hers was a loving "but not flash" Western Heights upbringing.
Her dad Wayne's a plumber, her brother Steven is a special needs person who requires constant care. Chloe considers it an honour to be able to help relieve her whānau of a portion of that responsibility.
Acknowledging their sacrifices to launch her God-given talent, she laments the lack of funding for Kiwis studying the arts outside New Zealand.
"It took a massive financial toll on my family, they have been amazing."
At 17, Chloe enrolled in Sydney's Brent Street School of Performing Arts.
"I was there for the dance, I'm not much of a singer or actor."
It was a hard slog.
"We trained seven days a week, seven hours a day for 18 months."
However Chloe's 18 months were interrupted by a groin tendon strain – it's a dangerous business, this dancing lark. She came home to recuperate and once she was more mobile warmed up at Amjazz until ready for her Sydney return.
Chloe was approaching 20 when she returned to Rotorua to be snapped up by the then Blue Baths lessee, Joe Romanes, to perform in the 1930s and 50s smash hit shows staged there.
"Joe has done an amazing amount for the performance industry in Rotorua. She really supported my ultimate goal to enter the professional scene, pushing me to go to Auckland to achieve that."
There she turned to commercial dance via Momentum Productions, performing on the X Factor New Zealand - "X Factor was cool" - and hip-hop with the Identity Dance Company (IDCO).
She met her now-boyfriend drummer Shelton Woolright on X Factor, he was a judge, but they've only recently become an item.
A spin-off of her TV work saw Chloe leaping high twirling pom-poms with the top twirlers in the Warriors' and Breakers' cheerleaders' squads.
Her involvement with IDCO introduced her to Las Vegas where she went as a member of its 2014 world hip-hop championships squad.
"I was lucky enough to be a member when it took the silver medal in the mega crew section, we won that out of 48 countries, it was like being in a movie and I was playing a character."
She was midway through X Factor when she was summoned to a Sydney audition for a spot in the resident show at tycoon James Packer's new Macau casino.
Two hundred took the test, eight received the green light, Chloe included.
"Working overseas was always my goal, it was a life-changing experience."
Chloe did two casino tours of duty.
"It was very glamorous with beautiful costumes, we were real showgirls, feathers were our wow factor, the Chinese loved it."
If there was a downside it was the constant battle to remain stick thin, an amazing ask of this woman whose figure already matches that of an ironing board.
"A lot of times in my career the pressure's been on to lose weight, I've always been a little bit curvy, I've been put on weight warnings."
With her casino seasons complete, Chloe moved to Caribbean cruise ships.
"I got to see amazing places like the Bahamas, Panama Canal, some of South America, we'd have a night off in Cuba."
One all-at-sea show she performed in was a presentation of international dance.
"Flamenco, Bollywood, Greek. For the lrish River Dance we had to learn tap, that was challenging."
Weight was again closely monitored.
"We'd be weighed and measured every week ... Those suspected of drinking were breath tested, I wasn't. There were lots of rules, I'm a free soul I doubt if I'd do them [cruise ships] again."
Last year Chloe took classes in London, signing with The Dark Horse Agency.
"I thought I'd go back this year but have different plans now."
Travel was on her agenda, in Paris she saw top cabarets in action, they left her unimpressed, the Moulin Rouge included.
"To be honest they were all about body image, not talent, I've seen better shows in New Zealand."
Since her homecoming she's taught dance at St Chads, Western Heights High's special unit, Pilates Focus, AmJazz and at the Lakes Performing Arts Company.
The Amjazz studio is her happy place.
"I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Pam [Shanks] and daughter Nikki Wilkinson."
Chloe's Lakeside dancers have rehearsed there.
"When Rawiri approached me about Lakeside the opportunity was too good to miss, it's surreal to come back and share the stage with my mentors growing up. We've a great creative team but I'm super nervous, a lot's riding on my shoulders tonight."
Chloe Woolford
Born: Rotorua, 1991
Educated: St Mary's, John Paul College
Family: Parents Wayne and Bronwyn Woolford, sister, brother, half-sister, Nana Eileen Woolford
Iwi affiliations: Te Arawa, Ngāti Kahungunu
Interests: "Dancing, walking in the Redwoods or up the Mount. I love scuba diving with all my heart and going to music events. My parents say I'm a social butterfly."
On Lakeside: "It's a huge platform catering for every demographic, world-class performers come to take part in it."
On her life: "It's been a colourful journey, I'm so grateful for the support that's surrounded me."
On Rotorua: "It's the most amazing city, we have everything at our fingertips to make opportunities happen."
Personal philosophy: "Believe in yourself, if you don't no one else will."
*This is the first Our People profile of the 2020 series, this year they will run fortnightly