Christina Dun: Dancer in the Spotlight

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Dancer in the Spotlight - Tony Giroux

Hey everyone!

For this month's Dancer In The Spotlight, I wanted to feature my friend from Vancity, the talented Tony Giroux. Originally from France, Tony came to Canada in 2005. He's only been dancing for five years, but has been able to gain some amazing experience in the dance world. In Vancouver, he is currently a part of Project Soul, run by Kim Sato, as well as a smaller crew called Kinesix.

But the most exciting news I heard from him just a couple weeks ago was that he was going to be dancing on stage with Rihanna at the 2012 BRIT Awards...How crazy is that?!

The show was on February 21st, in London, and I caught up with him via Facebook chat while he was there! Read a bit about his experience:

How did you land a gig with Rihanna?

TG: I luckily landed this performance through an audition that took place in London, UK. It was actually an audition through an agency, therefore private, but a friend of mine told me about it and decided to crash it anyways.

How were rehearsals?

TG: Rehearsals were intense! We had two full days (eight hours) and two half days (four hours). One tech before the show and a run-through on the day of. The process of it was definitely tiring, but an amazing experience.

Could you describe your experience there? (Both in London as general and at the Brit Awards)

TG: My experience here has been amazing. London is a big city and I love it! It definitely is a really expensive city and it is a bit hard to move to a city where you don’t know your way around or anybody. But I did the move with one of my best friends (Richie Lubaton) and that made everything much easier and better. As for my experience on the Rihanna job, it has been a true blessing as well. Most importantly, the people I met on the job had amazing energy and personalities.

What was the atmosphere like at the Brit Awards? It looked amazing!

TG: The atmosphere was so hype! All the dancers I was blessed to work with were all amazing and enthusiastic. When the performance was almost coming up, everybody got together and hyped each other, singing and dancing, it was quite a sight to see. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I am so grateful to have been a part of.

How does the dance scene over there compare to the Canadian dance scene?

TG: The dance scene in London, from what I have seen, is quite different than the Vancouver scene. There are two sides to the London dance scene: the work and the underground. I could go on forever talking about the two, but briefly, since there is work in this city for dancers, focus can become about figuring out how to book a job rather than training as a dancer. On the one hand, the underground scene focuses on the craft and is driven by so much love for the dance in itself. I believe both scenes are amazing as I try to be part of both.
Vancouver on the other hand is community driven, and people dance for the love of it. Vancity has so many showcases where dancers perform and share for the love of it, as funding unfortunately is much more scarce. It truly is an inspiring city for its talent.

Check out the performance here: