Local Marie-Josée Corriveau recently made her debut on the dance competition TV show Révolution on TVA on Sept 18.
Marie-Josée, who was once a student at her family’s local dance studio, Corriveau’s School of Dance, passed the audition phase of the competition with her partner Jason Morel with three votes from the judges.
The show is based around capturing a “revolution” which is a picture taken by a 3D camera of a movement from a competitor’s performance, providing a panoramic view. Judges then assess both the dance performance itself and the quality of the revolution picture to determine whether somebody will move on or not.
Corriveau will now move to the battle round once the audition phase passes, where she and her partner will face off against another group.
“What’s so amazing about the show is it’s really about the dancer and their story,” said Marie-Josée. “You get your own moments and you get to represent your work. So it’s really amazing because I’m not just going on there as a dancer, I’m going on there as a choreographer as well.”
Marie-Josée, who is originally from Vinton, is facing competition from all over Quebec, Ontario and as far away as New York.
She says the time she spent in her older sister’s, Natacha Corriveau, dance studio was formative to her career.
“When I started, I maybe wasn’t the best student,’’ said Marie-Josée. “I just kind of got into it because it was the family business. Everybody was at the studio, so I was there as well. But I would say towards the age of 15 is where I started to really appreciate it. And to take it a little bit more seriously.”
Marie-Josée said she started entering competitions in Gatineau and Ottawa which propelled her to do better.
“When we got first place, it felt really good,” she said. “Or when we didn’t place it felt kind of less great. So, it kind of pushed the competitive side of me to get more serious. Every year we were trying to work harder and better and learn more to place better the next year.”
Eventually Marie-Josée moved to Montreal to pursue all the opportunities to audition the city had to offer for dancers, which was great because it allowed her to easily travel back home to the Pontiac.
Over the course of her career Marie-Josée participated in productions put on by Just for Laughs, was a back up dancer for musical artist Kristina Maria, and performed in Mumbai, India for Cirque du Soleil, among other milestones.
“My career has pushed me to travel to different parts of the world, but I grew up dancing in Shawville and Fort Coulonge in the studio and I always go back home and teach or take classes with my sister,” said Marie-Josée.
Marie-Josée said her sister not only taught her different styles but also the culture of dance, which she credited for why her career has been so successful, along with her continual training regime.
“I just train and take as many classes from as many people as possible,” said Marie-Josée. “And I’m still doing that, it’s something that’s super important for me. That’s kind of how I met my partner, Jason, for Révolution. We both did a training program called Moving Beyond, basically a program for semi professionals and professionals who work and who also want to keep training.”
Marie-Josée says she is a versatile dancer and the styles she is familiar with range from contemporary jazz, lyrical, to commercial and hip hop.
“I’m going on Révolution as a jazz contemporary dancer and my partner Jason as a hip hop dancer,” she said. “Because we know so many styles we’re going on as a fusion.”
Marie-Josée said she feels amazing that she has the opportunity to share her dancing with such a large audience.
“The Pontiac has been amazing with sharing, commenting, writing and talking to me which has been pretty cool because sometimes you don’t see the benefits of work with the years of the work you’ve put in,” she said. “So it’s a moment where I get to enjoy all of the money, the work and the time that I put into it. I have no words to describe it.”
When asked for what advice she’d give to a somebody who wants to pursue a career in dance she said:
“My advice is that no matter what, in any aspect, in dance or fitness, you can do anything you want to. I know that might sound cliché, and some people might have more of a natural talent or more flexibility or might have the tools to do it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not possible for you. You just have to find a way. Never stop going for something you want just because it’s difficult. Find your way. You have to be persistent. You have to be strong. You have to work hard and you have to put time into it. And you have to be consistent.”
You can expect Marie-Josée back on the stage in an upcoming episode after the audition rounds conclude. Révolution airs every Sunday at 7:30 p.m on TVA.
To view Marie-Josée and Jason’s first performance, click on this link www.qub.ca/tvaplus/video/rev4-ep01-perfo-isolee-marie-josee-et-jason-tva-1080537066
By Brett Thoms
