The Young Cast: like on a cloud

A part of the troupe The Young Cast

June 28, 2020

Updated on June 29, 2020 in 2h 25min

The Young Cast: like on a cloud

Judith Desmeules

The Sun

The troupe The Young Cast of Lévis is currently turning heads in the american show World of Dance, produced by none other than Jennifer Lopez. Behind this success, lies a lot of work, discipline and a brotherhood unique.

The show has been recorded in the month of February. The young troupe of Lévis had to keep the secret until the beginning of the broadcast, at the end of the month of may.

We saw them dance two times in front of the famous judges Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo and Derek Hough until now, the team will pass to the step of duels. We are promised other numbers filled with emotions, it will be necessary to continue to watch.

This dream, the 11 dancers aged 13 to 17 years have lived just before the health crisis broke out. They returned to the house at the beginning of the month of march. Even the producers of the show have sped up the filming of the final to avoid problems in case… they were right.

Since their return, the dancers of Lévis have the time to enjoy every moment of their passage to the tv.

“It is on a cloud, we see all of our work with the benefit of hindsight. I’ve never had such a beautiful experience it. It is a lot of work, but so much worth the effort. We receive so many beautiful comments, much love. We greatly appreciate,” says Alyssa Leblond, it is part of the oldest of the troupe, she danced with The Young Cast for several years already.

It is she who is the spokesperson for the group, but you can not put a dancer more than another of the before, they are a close-knit group.

“We really are dancers of groups, people, team. It is the strength of our numbers also. It is the strength of the dancers. I think that it is so one positive point for their lives beyond the dance also, they know how to work as a team,” said Caroline Lemieux, dancer and choreographer of the troupe The Young Cast.

“We are like family, this is really it. The younger ones are like my little sisters! We love it and we love what we do, it is for that that we work well together,” said Alyssa.

Marie-Odile Haince-LeBel and Caroline Lemieux, choreographers

Sun, Yan Doublet

Behind the cameras

The issue shows us the numbers of the troupe, and the final result. What we do not see, what are the short nights and long practices to get to such a choreography is impeccable. After their first audition before the judges, they were sent to “calls backs“, a last chance to move to the next step.

“In real life, we don’t have as much time as we can see between the emissions. Between the two choreographies that we have seen already on tv, 24 hours ago. But they are disciplined, they know it. Our girls love the process of creation. Our dancers know about us, they let us work and don’t make us feel that they are tanned,” says Marie-Odile Haince-LeBel, also a dancer and choreographer of the troupe.

“It takes a chemistry between the whole team, otherwise it doesn’t work, I don’t believe in that anymore. We grew up together,” said Caroline.

Marie-Odile Haince-LeBel (it is called Mao, the name of her dance studio) and Caroline Lemieux are a duo of choreographers well known, 10 years ago that they combine their forces. They have already trod the scenes of Revolution, America’s Got Talent, and World of Dance (to name a few).

“We take our dancers still young and trains at a high level. It instills a work ethic, one develops a chemistry with them also. There is a trust that develops. It is still challenging! When you mount a championship… it is necessary that you follow. But it is very close to our dancers, there are good practices and less good, some more difficult, 10 hours online. We are all together in the project, our dancers do not work for us, we work together,” says Mao.

It is undeniable that their complicity is part of the recipe of their success.

The District Mao, which leads to the troupe, was founded 15 years ago, it hosts nearly 1,000 dancers of all ages and all skill levels. Its reputation is more to do.

The two friends and choreographers have participated in the issuance of Jennifer Lopez during season 2 with their troupe of dancers, old, FLIP.

“It’s a bit to it that The Young Cast has not been taken this year. This is not because it was not good. The team of the show knew that we already had the other troop,” notes Caroline.

The third time is the good

The Young Cast has escaped to season two. The dancers were obviously disappointed, but not that much.

“We were so pushed to work for the result. We were super happy to FLIP, and I think that we were not quite prepared. We encourage one another. There is so much talent, and we know that there is a lot of time put in the numbers, there is no competition between us,” says Alyssa, who had just celebrated his 18th birthday.

The dancers, therefore, have not had a course so easy, they are now enjoying the success, after several obstacles.

The team of researchers of the issue (a huge machine of NBC) has contacted Mao and Carolina for seasons three and four. Last year was not good, the troop and its coaches were tired of their performance at the world competitions, and in need of further development. They have even sent a demo video, without expectations.

Finally, this year was the right time, season four was their own. “We have hesitated up to the last minute. It is girls of instinct, we rented two light truck and it is gone to pass the auditions in New York city, it is better than in the video, we do the hide not, we can sell itself better,” says Caroline Lemieux.

Long story short : the troop is now in our screens and dancing in front of the stars which do not require any presentation, against the best dancers in the world.

Among the forty dancers of the troupe junior The Young Cast District Mao, the two choreographers have selected 11 talented students who would form the ideal group, the dancers the most solid.

“It was loved. We have not made mistakes, took risks, and everything has gone well. Young came back with stars in their eyes. It is one of the best experiences of tv show that was made… it is so focused on the dance and the team takes care of the whole world, it is remarkable. It is necessary to listen to the show until the end,” notes Caroline Lemieux.

The duo of coaches has projects full the head, they receive a number of requests for appearances, various projects and shows.

“There are nice benefits that come after it, a beautiful advertising for our dancers. We are going to ride the wave of the issue. The championships of this summer are cancelled because of the COVID-19… We are going to focus on the competitions next year,” adds the choreographer and the dancer.

The winning dancers of the show World of Dance win a prize of $1 million.