Brynne Abgrall has dedicated much of her life to dance—and on October 19–20, her business, Form Dance Convention, will host its first event at the RBC Convention Centre.
Abgrall explains that a dance convention is usually a weekend-long event at which guest faculty teach a series of master classes and workshops. They also hold mock auditions.
Abgrall grew up in Niverville and began dancing competitively at the age of four. At age 12, she travelled to Poland with Team Canada to compete in the IDO World Dance Championships and came home having been named the Junior Modern World Champion.
By age 15, Abgrall was attending school in the mornings and receiving private training in the afternoons and evenings. At 16, she was accepted into the Juilliard School’s prestigious summer dance intensive program in New York City.
“I’m very fortunate,” Abgrall says. “I travelled a ton internationally and around North America for dance, always competing and going to dance conventions and everything. [But over time] I grew a very toxic relationship with dance and I was injured… I was just very burnt out and it became a very stressful thing for me. I honestly came to a point where I just didn’t dance anymore.”
That’s when Abgrall decided to change gears and enroll in the Governance, Leadership, and Ethics program at the University of Western Ontario. As she learned about business law and ethics, she also began thinking about a long-held dream: hosting a dance convention.
“I talked to one of the career advisers at my school and they told me to connect with the Director of Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, Dr. Matt Bazely,” she says. “So I had a meeting with him and he is probably the reason I’m here. He’s the first person who really believed in my idea.”
Utilizing Bazely’s expertise, Abgrall started working out the finer details of what it takes to execute an elite convention.
“I’m using my dance experience and the lessons I’ve learned, along with my success and all the amazing things I’ve gotten to do and all the travelling I’ve done for dance,” she explains. “I’m turning it into an experience that I want the next generation of dancers to have access to… to enhance their dance careers and their experiences.”
Form Dance Convention will welcome young dancers between the ages of eight and 19. Knowing how great of a toll dancing took on her own mental and physical health, Abgrall has also planned a health and wellness aspect to her event.
The weekend will feature a nutrition component with Ashley Robson. Robson holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and is a registered holistic nutritionist, as well as a certified pilates and yoga instructor.
Dr. Lindsay Wishnowski, a registered psychologist and board-certified behaviour analyst, will be on staff for the weekend teaching about performance psychology. Wishnowski, who also grew up dancing, has ten years of experience in the field.
Rounding out the health and wellness portion will be a course dedicated to dancer conditioning, featuring Chalnessa Eames, a well-known former soloist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company and the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.
Eames is the creator of a style of mental and physical conditioning that has kept her virtually injury-free even in her incredibly demanding field. She is the owner of The Fitual studio in Winnipeg.
Finally, Abgrall has brought in five dancers to join her faculty.
Canadian dancer and actress Jordan Clark will teach jazz and contemporary dance. Clark, a previous winner of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, also played the starring role on Family Channel’s hit dance show series The Next Step and then continued to choreograph and creative direct three The Next Step world tours.
Carter Williams will teach ballroom and jazz dance. Williams was a top six finalist on So You Think You Can Dance and has appeared on both World of Dance and America’s Got Talent. He won Best Dancer at The Dance Awards and is a two-time National Latin Champion, four-time World Latin Finalist, and three-time Collegiate National Champion and Gold Medallist.
Lonni Olson will lead contemporary and lyrical dance workshops. Olson has appeared in countless TV shows and films, including The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, The Voice, and World of Dance. She has toured with Lindsey Stirling and appeared in many music videos.
Leading the hip hop component will be Gabe De Guzman, who has worked alongside superstars such as Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, Arianna Grande, and Justin Bieber. In 2014, De Guzman appeared on America’s Got Talent and was named the winner of tWitch & Allison’s Kids Dance Challenge on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2015.
Bella Klassen, leading lyrical dance, is a Canadian now living in California. She has worked with some of the best choreographers in the industry and appeared on World of Dance and the Netflix show Julie and The Phantoms.
Abgrall points out that all five faculty dancers are in the prime of their careers, which isn’t always the case at dance conventions. She believes that featuring working dancers adds a deeper perspective.
Form Dance Convention will also hold mock auditions. Dancers will all wear numbers the entire weekend so the faculty can keep track of standout performers. Some will even win cash prizes.
“Each faculty member will give out a standout award,” Abgrall says. “Then, for the audition part, we’re doing a top ten. Over the course of the weekend, that will be narrowed down to the top three, and those three will be awarded cash as well. So it just adds a little bit of a competitive edge in there, which I think is great.”
Why cash prizes?
“It takes a lot of confidence to come to a convention and put yourself out there,” she says. “I think [the dancers] should be rewarded for that… Dance is super-expensive, especially at a competitive level. So if they want to use it towards their dance fees or costumes, or if they just want to treat themselves, they have the flexibility to be able to use that [money] for whatever they feel is needed.”
Abgrall explains that starting her business and building this convention has been tougher than she expected. But it has also been very rewarding.
“My goal is to expand this across Canada,” she says. “I’m hoping to be in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax… but right now my focus is on Winnipeg. Then I’m going to take all the lessons I’ve learned and all the experiences from this one go straight into planning another!”
