Chléa is 17, Hailey, 15, and they are preparing for a rather original Christmas: passionate about dance, the two sisters will both perform roles in the famous ballet Nutcracker, but one will be in Montreal and the other in Basel, Switzerland. A dream that still brings its share of challenges for the family.
“We are just the support team. We make sure that they can go to schools and do the projects that inspire them,” explains Dave Giguère, father of Chléa and Hailey. Indeed, from an early age, young girls have shown a strong interest in dance. An environment which was completely unknown to both parents, but which quickly became their daily life. “I have never danced, but my daughters, already at two years old, they were dancing! As soon as we saw that they really liked it, we started taking them to dance classes and to shows,” recalls Annie Robitaille. In fact, the family quickly built up a tradition: going to see Nutcracker every year.
For a few years now, the two sisters have performed this famous piece with the Grands Ballets Canadiens. But this year it will be different. Chléa joined a large professional ballet school, the Ballettschule Theater Basel, in Basel, Switzerland. “It’s my dream to dance in Europe and start my professional career there,” says the 17-year-old girl.
In parallel with her training at the École supérieure du ballet du Québec, in which she has been enrolled since her Ve secondary school, Chléa decided to audition for several professional dance schools in Europe, and it paid off. Last September, she moved to Switzerland, accompanied by her mother. “I didn’t expect Chléa to leave home so early,” says Annie Robitaille.
Since they were 8 or 9 years old, they have been dancing about 30 hours a week.
At first it was a bit difficult, but she really loves it, she’s happy, and that’s all that matters. “Same emotion on the side of Hailey, who shared her room with her big sister until now. “When I found out she was leaving, I was really sad, but now it’s better,” says the 15-year-old girl.
To make it feel “like at home”, the family has installed a camera system, always connected. “Chléa can see her dogs like that and, if we’re in the area, we drop by to say hello to her,” explains Annie Robitaille, a professor at the University of Ottawa who manages to manage her time to stay present for her daughters “on no more possible “.
Dave Giguère also for his part “thanks” the technology for existing. “It allows us to stay together despite the distance,” adds the one who works at Google in Montreal.
A close-knit family full of projects
When Chléa and Hailey “fell in love” with dance, Dave Giguère and Annie Robitaille immediately put everything in place to make their dreams come true. Through their many moves, to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, they have always found dance schools for the girls to “grow and improve”. “Since they were 8 or 9 years old, they dance about 30 hours a week,” says Mr. Giguère. The fact that their daughters chose art, and dance, as a career “has never been a problem”. “We never questioned their choice. If they have this career and they are happy, so much the better! adds M.me Robitaille.
In 2018 and 2019, Chléa participated in the 1D and at the 2e dance show edition Revolution, broadcast on TVA. She reached the Face-to-face stage twice and received the title of the most promising in the first season. An experience that gave him “visibility”. “It opened doors and contacts for me in the dance world, but now I use it a little less. I left the competitive world a bit to dive into the professional world, ”she says.
Chléa and Hailey both want to pursue a career in dance and dream of joining a ballet or contemporary dance company. “Later, when I can no longer dance, I would also like to become a choreographer and, even afterwards, teach dance”, imagines Chléa who is also pursuing her secondary studies at a distance at the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, associated with the Superior Ballet School of Quebec (ESBQ). Hailey, on the other hand, is trying hard to do well in school, “in case it doesn’t work out.” “I would perhaps like to go to London to dance or otherwise join a company that travels the world, like the Ballets jazz de Montréal for example,” she confides.
For the two young artists, dance is “necessary” to their lives. “Sometimes I’m angry or I feel something, and it allows me to release my emotions. Dancing helps me express myself,” says Hailey. For Chléa, dance is also a means of expression. “It makes me feel all kinds of emotions, then I love getting into characters and having great experiences with other dancers. It makes me see the world differently,” she explains.
In December, after dancing in the “Flower Dance” and “Flower Waltz” stages of the annual show The Nussknacker in Basel, Chléa will go to Israel for five days during the YAGP International Contemporary Youth Ensemble, where she has been invited, along with 30 other dancers around the world, before joining her family in Montreal and seeing Hailey perform the Matryoshka in the Nutcracker Montreal which will be played until December 30.
The young girl is continuing her schooling and dancing full time in Montreal and does not plan to audition elsewhere for the next year.