Sequins made you dream?
No, because glitter has nothing to do with my training where we remove earrings, accessories. We had to remove the glitter because we wanted to see the rawness of the dancer. As I come from a 100% classical curriculum, glitter has never been on my hard drive.
It seems like your journey is nothing but smiles. Now, dancing is suffering too…
Already, when you like doing something, you don’t see the time passing. It’s true that the body is tired but that didn’t impact me. Raised on this classical dance thing, you complain late of a pain. I remember the bloody feet and everything. It’s true that in classical dance, excellence rhymes with mistreatment. That’s why I decided to be the opposite as a teacher at “Star Ac’”. As someone who experienced this, I found that it was not justified.
Today, are you the same dance teacher in real life as at “Star Ac’”?
Not really. If I give lessons to people who want to become dancers, they have to deal with my pedagogy which will push them. But the young people of the “Star Ac’”, they just have to feel good in their bodies and no longer be afraid of dancing. What I wanted was for these young people to have a signature.
Aren’t you too nice of a teacher?
To me, being too nice is lying and saying it’s good when it’s not good. I’m going to tell you “it wasn’t good, but I’m going to give you all the tools to understand.” It’s getting out of the “it’s bad” side or, as the classical people said at the time: “you won’t achieve anything.”
And Malika, the dance teacher in everyday life, what is she like?
I teach differently at the moment because social networks have weakened young people a little. There is a lot of psychology because now young people are hyper attentive to the views of others. They are afraid of it. Whereas for me, in my time, that’s what I was looking for in dance classes: to be seen. Today, young people are more behind. They pay attention to how others look, to how others look. All this aesthetic side should not enter into dance! Today, young people are mixing it with stardom on the internet which was not there at the time. So, that’s why I work on psychology, on self-confidence,…
Your personality was also revealed through hip hop, where you earned your stripes, winning battles, becoming a performer and muse for Nike, in particular…
Yes, in classic, I had to have the same hairstyle, the same leotard, the same slippers as the girl in front of me and the one behind me. In jazz, it was the same. On the other hand, in hip hop, we go one by one and Malika’s style is not Mélanie’s style. There, I was asked for my style to be different. And that’s where my goofy side developed a little more. This clownish side, hip hop dance allowed me to have it.
When you agreed to become a “Star Ac’” teacher, the dance world, and that of hip hop in particular, didn’t wonder what you were doing there?
Luckily I did it at my age! (smile) In the eyes of the dance community, I no longer had anything to prove, they knew that I was a choreographer. There is just the general public, outside the dance world, who knew me from “Star Ac’”.
What did it bring you to teach “Star Ac’” students who don’t dream of becoming dancers?
It remains a huge challenge. I didn’t want to make the students the “Star Ac’” of the dancers. Pierre (winner of this “Star Ac’”, for those who have not followed, Editor’s note) said in an interview: “Malika, she is so passionate that at one point, I realized that I was starting to love dancing! » It’s like there’s a cake and I’m so “Oh! It’s good” that, suddenly, everyone will say to themselves “but what’s in this cake? We have to taste it! “.
Have you always been comfortable with your image?
I am an extremely modest person. For the makeup, the brushing, the heels, the dresses, all that, on the “Star Ac’” bonuses, I made a great effort! (smile)
That’s your appearance… But your body?
Yes, with my body, I am completely comfortable. Since I had this gift, I have to be there for people and tell them that it’s not them who’s the problem, it’s just that they’re not in their body.
And does growing old in dance scare you?
At a certain point, I made the decision, 2 or 3 years ago, I must have been 40, to no longer dance in the ballets that I choreographed. I find that I have an important responsibility to look after myself. And it happened naturally. My place, at some point, must go to someone else, younger. I have taken the light so much that I want to shine a light on young people. And at the moment when I make this decision, the “Star Ac” decides to put me back in the spotlight! (smile)
As a professional dancer, that’s a lot of sacrifice, right?
Ah yes, that’s a lot of sacrifice. I did it for 25 years. But it’s mainly a question of mechanics in fact, it’s the allotted time that you’re going to give to the work that you have to do. If I’m a choreographer, I put together the choreography. On the other hand, if I am a choreographer and dancer, I have to sleep in a hotel, I have to not be sick, I have to not be injured. I did that but at some point, there are projects that correspond to an age group. And I like freshness. I don’t want to get attached like that, to say “I want to be seen, to be on stage”. In a dancing career, you are a dancer, then you become a teacher and choreographer…
