Beyoncé swears by them. The Twins, a duo of French dancers and, incidentally, twins, have had the world at their feet since the biggest star of his time placed his trust in them more than ten years ago. Larry and Laurent Bourgeois are on tour with the diva, at the heart of a spectacular show that highlights their talent. The singer continues the choreographies with them; they surround him like two accomplice bodyguards, ensure the transitions with energy and draw the public into their mad energy. It’s hard to imagine that twenty years earlier they were dancing in Sarcelles, surrounded by their brothers and sisters, unable to channel their energy and emotions other than through movement.
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As children, the Twins danced with the “kids from Sarcelles” and in front of onlookers on the avenue des Champs-Élysées. Hip-hop, first, their favorite genre. At the time, they filmed themselves and their videos came in time for the era of virality on social networks. The twins break through quickly, chain tournaments, win the most prestigious competitions. Everything changed in 2008. The French public discovered them in telecrochet France has an unbelievable talent, Alicia Keys invites them to take the stage of their first Zénith. No time to waste. Three years later, they won the New Style hip-hop division of the Juste Debout competition and shared their first stage alongside the one they call “today’s Michael Jackson”: Beyoncé, on the occasion of the Billboard Music Awards. She won’t let them go.
Coveted by the biggest companies in art, entertainment, fashion and even alcohol, they are even making inroads in Hollywood with several film credits to their credit: Catsthe reboot of Men in Black… Today, the twins are giving a committed twist to their meteoric career by getting involved with the Kids Write Network program, dedicated to children’s mental health through psychology and the arts. Meeting with two audacious people, proud to evolve among the greatest.
Beyoncé’s tour is named after her album: Renaissance. Do you recognize yourself in this title?
This Renaissance is really one, for us. It’s the biggest show we’ve done in our lives. On stage and backstage, everyone participates in this total show. Everyone has their place, their duty, to the nearest second. We’ve been working with the Michael Jackson of our time for years and we’re still there, just as passionate, by her side. This Renaissance is recognition, finally.
The public at the Stade de France gave you great ovations during your visit to Paris on May 26. How do you experience this welcome from the country where it all started for you?
We are crazy proud! The French got us through the hardest time of our lives when we started out, and it’s thanks to them that we’re so strong today. We take advantage of this recognition because the France of dance did not support us at the time. These are chefs, producers, actors who have followed us. Not dancers. The hip-hop world has rejected us so it’s the outside world that has made us grow and reach platforms that other dancers will never touch. After having been all over the world, you realize how no city is tougher than Paris. She constantly sees the emergence of new artists, new businessmen, new influencers… Too many geniuses together. We are proud to always be there, without ever coming down.
During your childhood in Sarcelles, who gave you a hand to encourage you in the way of dance?
The only person who really reached out to us in hip-hop is Abibou Kebe, who became our mentor. He was also very close to our brothers and sisters. His words and his way of educating his neighbor carried us. He represents Sarcelles, the black community, hip-hop in the best possible way. He gave us his vision of things: for him, we were the future. He kept telling us to let our dance do the talking, to always be ourselves, without ever distorting ourselves, whereas most coaches want to format their dancers so that they move like them. Since then, we are exactly ourselves on stage. It’s not frozen.
Do you still play characters on stage, to match the spirit of the show?
Never. What you see is us. We have never seen dance as a profession, an art or a sport, but as a discipline without which we cannot live. We heal ourselves with dance, we soothe our mind. When we dance, we are indestructible. When we were young, on the other hand, Jackie Chan, Jim Carrey, Will Smith were our inspirations… We drew on cartoons and martial arts. We wanted to give substance to what people are afraid to do in real life: grimaces, actions, postures… With a slightly damaged, dramatic dimension. Since then, we give everything we feel on stage, as if our brain didn’t want to keep anything. We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we have a good image… Some people think we’re having it, but we just give our best.
Did the Guadeloupean roots of your family participate in your artistic awakening?
For a dancer, it is important to represent the dance of his village, his religion, his roots… Through movement. From this perspective, the dance hall Caribbean has always permeated our dance. It is because we are Caribbean that we manage to winer our bodies in this way, we are well aware that it is not given to all dancers [rires].
Do you consider America to have been the best springboard for your career?
When we arrived in America, we were already known elsewhere. We were years in Japan, in Russia… It was the last continent where we wanted to go and finally, it is there that we were kidnapped by Beyoncé and the others [rires]. Our other life started there. We had so many proposals for collaborations in stride. We would be slaves to our success if we had said “yes” to everything. By making fine choices, we were able to work with huge brands and even with the one of our dreams: Nike Jordan. French people, dancers, blacks, who signed with Michael… It was crazy. A lot of people work for Jordan but, with Michael, there are only about fifty people. And in artistic terms, they can be counted on the fingers of one hand: DJ Khaled, Travis Scott and Les Twins.
The degree of confidence that you have with such sizes is almost intimate.
All the people we work with have entrusted us with a part of their lives. In the spirit, we are told: “You are attack A, I have no plan B”. This is what happened with Hennessy, for example. Mr. Hennessy had a real roadmap for our work together. We would never have thought of working with a brand of alcohol, but we understood how much his vision went beyond the product. Hennessy has such a history, such values. People forget that it’s a French brand and not an American one. So, we asked him to allow us to remind the whole world that Hennessy comes from home. And he told us that he wanted the name Les Twins as big as the name Hennessy on the bottle we co-designed.
You could have been content to make a living from these extraordinary collaborations, but you embarked on a series of dance classes, workshops, masterclasses…
These are more than lessons, they are life experiences. The people who follow them take a real slap. We don’t lie to them by telling them “Drink more milk, you’ll be stronger”. On the other hand, when they see our journey, they say to themselves “Why not me? “. This inspiration joins the capacity of cure and elevation by the dance which carries us, us.
Why do you want to get involved with children now?
We’ve been thinking about it for years but until now, only those who had the money to pay for the workshops could have access to it and that frustrated us. When Helen Georgaklis [fondatrice de Kids Write Network, ndlr] discovered one of our workshops, she made us understand that young people absolutely had to be able to participate. We are very happy to have the chance to help and support children by bringing the dance component to the artistic program of Kids Write Network. In schools, students are shown how to gain self-confidence. The many returns prove to what extent dance has therapeutic virtues.
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