She danced alongside Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Rihanna and other Kelly Clarkson. But Quebecer Janick Arseneau is now taking up “the biggest challenge of [sa] career” with the competition Dance 100expected on Netflix this week.
“The pressure is high, the emotions are intense. Dance 100 is definitely the most demanding project I’ve had to do,” says Janick Arseneau in an interview with The newspaper.
New original concept from Netflix, Dance 100 sees eight choreographers compete for a grand prize of $100,000. To achieve this, they must put on elaborate numbers every week to impress a pool of 100 dancers… who are both performers of these choreographies and judges of the competition.
Janick Arseneau is the only Quebecer in the field, facing seven American rivals.
“It still adds a certain weight on my shoulders. I want to represent Canada with dignity, but also Montreal and New Brunswick, where I have my roots. So just to think that people from all over the world will be able to find out who I am, what I do… I have sweaty palms and a lump in my stomach. [rires]. But the more a project scares me, the more I want to do it,” she says.
Janick Arseneau may be used to dance competitions – she has, among other things, participated in So You Think You Can Dance –, the experience Dance 100 is entirely different for Quebecers. Because this time she has to rely on the dancers assigned to her each week to keep her place on the show.
Competitive spirit
“I’m someone who likes to be in control. So it’s a whole learning process to put 100% of my trust in these dancers that I don’t know, ”she says.
“But at the same time, it’s an extraordinary playground. To be able to work with dancers of such a high caliber every time, it pushes me to surpass myself, to get out of my comfort zone,” she continues.
The competition Dance 100 also allows Janick Arseneau to put forward a different facet of his talent, but also of his personality. Accustomed to playing fatal women (“often in lingerie”, she specifies) alongside stars like Jennifer Lopez, the Quebecer has chosen here to upset the codes of genres in each of her choreographies.
“In dance, as in many other fields, we are used to putting people in boxes. There is the feminine and there is the masculine. But I want to let people choose their roles, to allow them to express who they are, ”she pleads.
♦ The competition Dance 100 kicks off Friday on Netflix.