Nico Archambault
ssaBio
Nico Archambault
HOW THE DANCE GOT ME HERE
I don't know why the dance came to me.
It had never visited anyone in my family before. Yet, as quickly as it came, it almost left. When I was 7 years old, I didn't want to wear tights. But after a short hiatus and many wardrobe considerations, I allowed the dance to stay with me. Scary to think how different my life could have been.
The dance has twisted me and turned me into all sorts of shapes and directions, always challenging me before my body had a minute to slip into complaisance: jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, ballet... I've had the privilege to train at some of the finest dance institutions in America and Europe, spending memorable times at the Broadway Dance Centre, the Millenium Dance Complex, the Edge Performing Art Centre, LADMMI, the Centre Du Marais and the Debbie Reynolds’ dance studio, under the tutelage of outstanding instructors, whose names would be too numerous to list.
Someone said that success is the ability to make an extraordinary living out of doing things that one would gladly do for free. I considered myself successful the moment the dance led me to my first professional gig, working as a freestyle dancer for La Fureur, a widely popular Quebec TV show. Since, I've appeared on countless live musicals, videos, TV shows and commercials, including some favorite performances for Celine Dion, Singing In The Rain, Starmania and the spectacular Beladi: A Night At The Pyramids (Cairo, Egypt).
In 2005, I became one of the co-founders and co-choreographers of the edgy music group, Pinup Saints. I guess the dance needed me to do something a little wilder. Exploring sensual fantasies through music and dance certainly got my creative juices going. Somewhere along the way, I entered The Pulse dance convention in the US and became Brian Friedman's protegé. I have tremendous respect for Brian, a dancer known for his brilliant choreography work for Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, Pink, Mya and company.
On a whim, in 2008, I stepped into an audition for what would eventually become my ticket to unexpected celebrity: So You Think You Can Dance Canada. After a rocky start, the dance kept me going, week after week, until I was voted the winner of this tougher-than-you-can-imagine hit TV show.
Many doors have opened since. In addition to a myriad of dance gigs and even film projects, I've continued creating choreographies and rocking Canadian stages with the Pinup Saints. Further, I have found more pleasure than ever sharing my experiences and conducting personal dance workshops across America, along with my partner in crime and in love, Wynn Holmes. We sign our joint work as Street Parade.
The dance has been good to me. I look forward to giving more of myself to it.