Perfectly Imperfect, Take Two | The Press

Émilie Courval is a clinical nurse and doctoral student in medical research. She plays piano. She also has bipolar disorder. And she participates in the second season of perfectly imperfect in the company of Les Louanges who has ADHD, a disorder that helps him when he is on stage. A “superpower”, he says.

It is in simplicity, in light and, above all, without taboos that mental health is approached in the second season of perfectly imperfect, broadcast from July 12 on Tou.tv. Like the first season (2021), the series offers meetings between public figures and young people with mental health issues.

But for its second season, the team is offering a revised and modified concept with four personalities: singer Les Louanges, choreographer Kim Gingras, comedian Yannick De Martino and high-flying diver Lysanne Richard. All four act as mentors and help young people create something: a song, a choreography, a comedy number and a circus performance.

Four duos is a far cry from the twenty duos that took part in the previous season. It is wanted, indicates the producer Jean-Simon Chartier. The idea: engage viewers in these deeper stories, which they follow chronologically.

Viewers will therefore follow the four duos in each of the twelve episodes of a dozen minutes instead of having only one episode devoted to each duo. “There is a real bond that is built between the protagonists”, emphasizes Jean-Simon Chartier.

Forces

Émilie Courval, paired with singer-songwriter Les Louanges, has given herself the challenge of composing a song about her mental health problem. It had been a very long time since she had sung solo somewhere other than in the shower. “I had such a female dog! “says the bubbly young woman on the phone.

It was to help de-stigmatize her disorder that Émilie accepted the challenge. Yes, she lives with bipolar disorder, but she went to seek psychological resources in the private sector, and she fulfills herself in life. She is fine.

In the series, Les Louanges simply admits having ADHD. “I understood that it sometimes led to depressive periods, periods when you were focused on being sick,” he says. For his part, Yannick De Martino talks openly about his cyclothymia, a disorder that causes mood variations, but with shorter cycles than bipolar disorder.

Diver Lysanne Richard, who worked for more than 10 years at Cirque du Soleil, accompanies Samael, a student at the National Circus School of Quebec. Samael suffers from anxiety and has experienced dysmorphia – an obsession with a physical ‘defect’. They talk together about performance anxiety, their relationship to the body, their relationship to weight…

Without having had a major incident or diagnosis, Lysanne Richard says that she had long had a fragility in the relationship with her body. “Diving is an aesthetic sport. You are judged. And the first thing the judges see is you in a bathing suit,” she said. As she gets older, something calms down in her. Motherhood has also helped her to journey and feel gratitude towards her body.

Dancer and choreographer Kim Gingras accompanies young Ariella, who has an anxiety disorder and ADHD. In the show, Kim Gingras asks the young girl to look in the mirror and give herself three characteristics, three qualities. Despite her shyness, the little one succeeds. At another moment, both are dancing in mirror. We feel the connection between the two dancers. Great TV moments.

“Working on your self-confidence, your self-esteem, loving yourself, that was something really important in my professional success, explains Kim Gingras. I wanted to give Ariella the tools that helped me to understand that she can use what she is, that she is unique, that she is beautiful. That all of these are strengths. »

From July 12 on Tou.tv