BBC  (1 x 60 mins)

From six to 16 they come spray tanned, sparkling in diamante and spangled in lycra to battle it out in the cutthroat world of freestyle dancing.

Filmed over one dance season ‘Disco Babes’ follows the fortunes and failures of one dance school both on and off the floor.
 
East Belfast is home to the ‘Automatic’ School of Dance as well as the dancing dreams of 60 young girls. It is the responsibility of Jennie Stewart, the larger than life dance teacher, to turn their dreams into a reality.

So renowned is Jennie that Ballarat Street has now been dubbed the ‘disco dancing capital’ of east Belfast.
 
This film offers an intimate and amusing portrait into the lives of these kids as they train and compete for the biggest competition of the year - the ‘Five Nations International Cup’ in Wales.

“Every wee girl wants to be a dancer,” says Cory, who is 16 and Jennie’s champion dancer. Every dancer in the school wants to be Cory. She is the role model who has her sights set on a dance career.

However this film is more about members of a community whose life centres around the glitz and glam of disco. In some cases they hope it’s their ticket to a different life while others just hope it keeps their kids off the streets.

As viewers follow the tears and tantrums, highs and lows of a community whose only religion is dancing, the film examines the relationships that exist between the mothers and daughters of the disco world.