Timmins teen to perform hip-hop solo at Dance World Cup

A Timmins area teen is carving out her own spot in the world dancing community.

Janelle Carriere, 18, is Melissa Lavoie's first student to reach the Dance World Cup stage, which Lavoie said you could almost call “the Olympics of dance.”

“She’s an ideal candidate for the world of dance because she is extremely confident, she’s professional, she is humble which is huge and she’s also got that talent,” said Lavoie, owner of Melissa Kelly Dance Academy (MKDA).

She told CTV News that Carriere’s skills combined with her stage presence make her the full package.

Dance World Cup is a competition that brings together hundreds of dancers from around the world to a location – usually a European city – for a few days of high-level competitive performances where participants are judged and can earn medals. This year 64 countries will be represented at the event.

Braga, Portugal is the competition’s host city this year. Carriere was offered to be part of the Canadian team last year by World Performers International.

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"We had a dance competition with my dance studio, Melissa Kelly Dance Academy, and we went to Niagara Falls in April last year and there I ranked fifth overall,” Carriere.

Since then Carriere's been rehearsing her hip-hop solo and travelling to Toronto on a monthly basis to rehearse in hip-hop and contemporary group routines.

“It’s a big accomplishment for sure from the start you know you come from a small town and you don’t expect getting noticed,” said Carriere.

“This is a pretty big deal and just to have the opportunity and the support from my parents to be able to get me there – it means a lot," said Carriere.

Lavoie said Carriere's solo is impeccable and points to Carriere's attitude and work ethic as reasons for her success.

“Janelle has always been a student who was driven, knew what she wanted; was a perfectionist...always had that passion for dance so it’s no surprise to me that Janelle is going this far with dance,” she said.

'Dance World Cup' takes place July 1-6 and it will be streamed online.

Carriere said she's excited to travel and explore Portugal as she prepares for her next journey – studying dance at York University in the fall.

For more information on the Dance World Cup, visit their Facebook page.