At 8 Count, dance careers are taking off
Kim Gingras, Janick Arseneau, Vincent Noiseux and Nicolas Bégin share two things in common. All four competed on So You Think you can dance canada and all four are members of Steve Bolton’s award-winning Blueprint Cru, which has its headquarters at the 8 Count Dance Complex in Dollard des Ormeaux.
Arseneau is also a member of the all-girl crew Irratik, as is Gingras’s little sister Marie-ève. The crew is currently competing on Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew, which airs, in Canada, on Muchmusic, Sundays at 8 p.m.
“Those television dance shows have turned dance on its head,” Bolton said. “They are directly responsible for getting so many dancers work in the industry. They transformed the dancer from a background prop into a celebrity.”
Gingras and Noiseux experienced the afterglow of doing well on separate seasons of SYTYCDC, and Noiseux’s exposure was heightened after Blueprint Cru’s runner-up run on Season 5 of ABDC. (Gingras had to skip the ABDC gig because she was on tour with SYTYCDC.)
The couple – yes, they are a couple – moved to Los Angeles just over a year ago and have been working steadily.
“Being on So You Think You Can Dance Canada definitely helped me get a visa to work in the United States,” Gingras said during a rehearsal break for NBC’S The Voice. (She’s dancing, not singing.) “To get a working visa you have to prove you’re among the best in the industry and after training so hard on SYTYCDC and meeting and working with so many choreographers from both Canada and the United States, I was able to get the letters of recommendation I needed.”
Gingras has appeared on Fox’s Mobbed, American Idol and Xfactor and on NBC’S America’s Got Talent. She’s toured Turkey and Malaysia with Nicole Scherzinger and is currently working with a British-irish boy-band called The Wanted.
Not bad for 14 months and pretty darn fantastic considering the brutal nature of the business.
“The competition is really, really tough in this industry,” Noiseux said following a rehearsal with Nicki Minaj. “We knew that when we moved here and we expected to suffer for a while, but that hasn’t happened. The experience has exceeded all expectations, so far.”
Since moving to L.A. Noiseux has worked with Katy Perry, danced in New York’s Times Square with Minaj and toured Central and South America with Ricky Martin. And something even bigger is about to happen, but the ink isn’t dry on the paperwork yet and he has signed a confidentiality agreement. To watch for.
Both dancers credit Bolton for fully preparing them before they headed to L.A.
Gingras has been working with Bolton and Blueprint Cru for 10 years.
“You’re constantly being judged on your looks and your skill down here,” Gingras said. “Steve knew about it all. He pushed us to become as versatile as possible. He taught us about how auditions work and how to put together a resumé and take a good head shot. And he really pushed professionalism. It’s one of the big things they notice about us (Blueprint Cru dancers) here. They call us very professional.”
Noiseux began working with Blueprint Cru in 2008 after his Top 8 finish on SYTYCDC, but he first met Bolton in 2004 at a Canada Day gig.
“Steve is really well known in the dance industry in Canada and the U.S.,” Noiseux said. “He didn’t train me from the beginning, but when we met, we quickly bonded. I’m from the South Shore and I didn’t know much about the dance industry, so Steve taught me everything. He’s been a good mentor over the years. When I have doubts about something, I still give him a call.”