Five on a new high
Finding work straight out of graduation can be a dream come true for any student, but Ainsley Melham's new role is more than just a job.
The 22-year-old WA Academy of Performing Arts graduate has been singing and dancing his way around the world after joining popular children's entertainment group Hi-5 last year just weeks after graduating from the academy's musical theatre course.
"It has been a big ride," Melham said with a laugh.
"It is a full-time job, it is a lifestyle, but I would not have it any other way."
Hi-5 returns to free-to-air television today on Eleven, with Hi-5 House, which sees Melham joined by other new castmates Mary Lascaris and Dayen Zheng and familiar faces Stevie Nicholson and Lauren Brant.
Melham said Hi-5 House, which was the brand's 14th television series, would invite children to explore their world through movement, music and fun based on educational aspects such as investigation, imagination and adventure.
Hi-5 House will also be available on tenplay Kids, a dedicated digital hub just for children featuring on-demand video, extra content, and activity sheets that could be accessed online or via the tenplay app.
In the house, each member had their own special pod, which came to life with the upbeat fun, singing and dancing the group was famous for.
As a qualified tap dance teacher, experienced choreographer and talented dancer, Melham said his segment in Hi-5 House focused on how music influenced emotions and affected the way children acted socially and physically.
"Obviously, when you are watching the show you see it as a fun game or fun song or a dance move, and that is where my segment comes from," he said.
"We are really focused on there being a strong educational aspect to the show but bringing it in a fun way and presenting it through play."
The past 13 months have been a whirlwind for Melham and his castmates.
The group toured Asia in early 2013 and spent more than two months in Singapore filming the new series, before going on to tour Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Hi-5 will head back to Indonesia for another tour next month, before returning to the studio to film the next series and hopefully embark on more tours in the second half of the year.
The series will mark the first contact many children will have with the new cast line-up but Melham said his association with the popular group stretched back to Hi-5's early days, when he was just a youngster in Bathurst, NSW, singing and dancing along to his idols on the screen.
"One lucky thing about this group is that our audience is always changing," he said.
"Every day another child is born, and every day a child gets a little bit older and maybe stops watching, so our audience is continually changing, and when new guys like us step in we get our own new following and it is really warm and fantastic.
"To be in the group now is such a surreal experience, it is so weird, but it is very cool at the same time."
