Montreal dancers think they can dance!
Updated Tue. May. 26 2009 9:10 PM ET
Lindsay Zier-Vogel, CTV.ca
Montreal is the very last stop on So You Think You Can Dance Canada's Season 2 audition tour and it's impossible not to search the line that wraps around the Théâtre St-Denis, for the next Nico. Or Vincent, or Dario or Francis or Danny...
Oh wait, there's Danny.
"It's fun to be back in line because I get to have all of the excitement without the stress," Danny says. "And I can't wait to get inside to see the crew -- they're my dance family!"
He's not auditioning, of course, but accompanying his dance partner, Montreal-native, Camille Norton.
"It was amazing of her to audition with me last year so I'm happy to be here for her," Danny explains, knowing how important support is in the dance world.
Even though the judges were more than impressed with Norton's performance in Montreal last year, she wasn't old enough. This year though, she's 18 and hoping to win a Boarding Pass to Toronto.
Twin support
Montreal's Dailey sisters know all about the importance of support -- these 21-year-old twins have been dancing together since they were three years old. "That's a lot of years," Jenny Dailey says smiling.
"I think it's pretty awesome to have someone dancing with me for so long. We go through everything together, so when we have shows and auditions like this one, I don't have to be stressed out alone."
Her sister Jayme Rae chimes in: "We encourage one another and can be really honest with each other."
But being honest isn't always easy and both sisters agree that in the past, it's been difficult to take each other's criticism. "People compare us a lot and there used to be a real competitive edge to it all, but it's not really there anymore," Jayme Rae says.
Because they often dance in the basement dance studio their father built for them, they're both comfortable freestyling and performing their lyrical routines in front of others, something they believe will give them an advantage throughout the audition process.
They've discussed what it will be like if one of them goes through and the other doesn't make it. "That's life," Jenny shrugs.
"It'd be a tough situation, but we're both hoping to go through," Jayme Rae says.
"We have to stay positive and whatever happens happens," Jenny adds. "We'll support each other either way, even if it is difficult."
And whether or not they make it through, you can be assured that they'll head over to their favourite diner, where, in true Montreal fashion, the Dailey sisters like to order the smoked meat poutine!
First in line: A trio of friends
Where the Dailey sisters have each other, the first three dancers in line prove that support doesn't have to be genetic.
Montreal's Johnny Samedi, 25, Charles Olivier, 20, from Saint-Jérôme, Que., and Jordan Ravel, 19, from Val-David, Que., are best friends and are ready to stick together through the roller coaster audition process.
Samedi calls himself "the ultimate underdog," having started his training as a popper and break dancer just nine months ago. He auditioned for Season 1 in Montreal, but the judges didn't think he had enough technique. "I started taking lessons right away," Samedi says.
"I know there are a lot of good dancers, but I'm confident in myself. It's going to be pretty easy," he smiles assuredly.
Olivier made it further than Samedi last year, getting cut just before the contemporary round during Finals week. "As a popper, I learned it was important for me to learn how to pick up choreography," he says.
"When I was in Toronto, at the Finals, I practiced with Miles -- if he can do it, I can do it!"
Ravel, the third of their trio, hasn't ever auditioned for the show.
"He can do everything," Olivier enthuses and it turns out that this hip-hopper also takes ballet and modern dance classes.
"If you can dance ballet, you can do anything!" Ravel grins. "It's so difficult!"
Montreal natives
Though there are quite a few Torontonians in the crowd, the line up is chock full of Montrealers. Melissa Charlot, 23, is part of a Montreal-based all-female hip-hop group, Aftermath and she thinks this will be her lucky year.
"I'm going to just be myself and make people laugh and entertain them and show them how much I love dance," she says of her audition plan.
Having started ballet at the age of five, Charlot left dance for figure skating, but eventually came back to it. "I just realized that I never want to quit dance. It's the best way to get your emotions out, get to know people and have them get to know you," she says.
Fellow Montreal-native, Audrey Thibodeau is just as passionate about the art form. She's not only a choreographer, but also dances with one of Montreal's most celebrated contemporary dance companies, O Vertigo.
Though she's toured Canada and Europe, with upcoming performances in Tokyo and Mexico, Thibodeau insists she wants to evolve as a dancer and try something new, so she biked down to the auditions.
The Montreal dance scene is hugely motivating for Thibodeau and she cites choreographer Édouard Lock, known for his highly physical contemporary ballets and putting men in pointe shoes, as her inspiration, along with the work of O Vertigo's choreographer, Ginette Laurin.
"Ginette's work is really organic and human," Thibodeau say. "I love her gestural vocabulary and the images she works with."
Déjà vu
There are a lot of familiar faces in the line up, many who booked bus and train tickets just minutes after leaving the Toronto auditions last week.
20-year-old Raoul Pillay is originally from Zimbabwe but lives in Toronto and made his way to Montreal late last night.
In Toronto, he saved his signature moves and was disappointed when he didn't get a chance to perform his solo for the judges.
"I talked to Jesse Catibog (Season 1's Top 14) and he said I should have gone full out all the time. I've learned from my experience!"
Shawn Deocampo, 20, from Markham, Ont., has also learned from his Toronto experience. "I just collapsed under the pressure. I didn't perform as well as I could have, so I'm here to redeem myself," he says.
"I was trying to show the judges my musicality with straight-up popping, but I should have done my own style instead," he says.
Both dancers are part of the Toronto-based dance crew, the Moon Runners, and are thrilled to have one more chance to audition for Season 2. "We don't know where we're staying yet," Pillay admits. "We're just trying to make it and we'll figure things out as we go!"
Hoping to head back to the Finals
Torontonian Cody Bonnell, 19, auditioned in Montreal last year, and just missed out on making Season 1's Top 20. He's back again this year, wanting to audition in the same city. "It's a bit risky because it's the final audition," Bonnell admits.
"I'm putting all my eggs in one basket," he laughs nervously.
But this hip-hop dancer believes he's improved a lot: "I've grown as a person and as a dancer this year and I think I have a better chance of making it to the Top 20."
"The main thing the judges said last year was that I was still young and needed to grow so I've been taking a lot of classes and workshops and dancing as much as I can."
Not only has he worked on picking up choreography more quickly, he's also changed up his solo. Instead of performing a super fast routine, like he did last year, he's decided on slowing his movement down. "I've made it more intricate to show what I've learned and how I've grown," he says.
"I really hope I'll go all the way to the Top 20 and then hopefully win it," he grins.
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