‘Winning combination’: Form Dance Convention takes Winnipeg stage

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This article was published 11/10/2024 (588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 21-year-old Manitoba entrepreneur is dancing to the beat of her own drum — and she’s hoping others will join in.

She’s attracted choreographers from Los Angeles. She’s lined up experts on mental health and nutrition. And finally, after months of preparation and putting her university studies on pause, Brynne Abgrall is counting down until her dance convention.

“Winnipeg, I find in general, misses a lot of opportunities. It’s such a great city that … people kind of sleep on,” Abgrall said.

She figured she’d launch her business — Form Dance Convention — in Winnipeg.

Abgrall learned dance in Niverville, where she lives, and in Winnipeg. She danced competitively in her youth, leaving high school at noon for private lessons.

Jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, pointe — Abgrall tried them all. She netted a gold medal at the International Dance Organization’s junior world dance championship when she was 12. Right before Grade 10, she attended a summer dance program at the Julliard School, a world-renowned performing arts institution in New York City.

Abgrall recalled training for upwards of six hours on a near-daily basis while in high school. She’d leave the country for dance conventions.

Conventions aren’t competitions, Abgrall explained. They’re weekends jam-packed with dance lessons taught by various faculty. Hundreds of students usually participate.

Abgrall attended a few events of the kind in Winnipeg, but most were outside Canada.

“Winnipeg has a lot of dance talent,” Abgrall relayed. “(The dancers) don’t have a lot of opportunities like this.”

She’s been toying with the idea of a dance-related company for years. Finally, while studying at Huron University (an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario) in February, she sought a career counsellor.

“I felt a little bit lost,” Abgrall recalled.

The feeling had been building: just a year after her three-week stint at Julliard, Abgrall quit dancing. She’d fractured both her shins at the same time from overuse.

“My body was just shutting down on me. I wasn’t able to train … because I wasn’t taking care of myself,” she said. “I was very burnt out.”

Her relationship to dance became “toxic.” Instead of pursuing the professional career she’d once dreamed of, she enrolled for university, in a governance, leadership and ethics program.

By the time she sat down with a career counsellor, she was struggling to envision a post-school future. But she had an idea for a convention, similar — yet different — to the ones she used to attend.

The counsellor connected Abgrall with Matt Bazely, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at Huron University.

Alongside his guidance, she built Form Dance Convention (formdanceconvention.com). “Brynne (has) a winning combination,” Bazely said, considering her pitch.

First, there are already dancers leaving Manitoba to attend conventions. And unlike the events of Abgrall’s past, Form will include sessions on dancer nutrition, mental health support and body strength and conditioning — it makes the event stand out, Bazely said.

“Brynne and I talked a lot about that — how do we position this one to be different than the ones where there’s body shaming?” he continued. “Brynne really had a vision here of developing that community feel, wanting to be self-affirming for students.”

The pair discussed target audiences and financials. An anonymous donor, through the university, gave Abgrall $1,000 to build a website.

She paused her post-secondary studies to focus on the convention; it launches at the RBC Convention Centre on Oct. 19 and 20.

Dancers ages eight through 19 register for the two-day event, which has a range of dance classes taught by faculty residing in Los Angeles and Utah.

One of the dancers, Jordan Clark, won So You Think You Can Dance Canada in 2011. Others have danced on stage with pop superstars like Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, according to Abgrall.

Ashley Robson will teach an hour-long nutrition course Oct. 19. The holistic nutrition coach spent more than 20 years dancing and previously taught Abgrall. Just one hour of Robson’s dance life was devoted to learning about nutrition, she recalled.

“This is so needed for the dance community,” Robson said of increased education on food and mental well-being. “Your body is your instrument.

“If you’re playing a flute or guitar, you take care of it all the time. Why aren’t we learning to take care of our bodies?”

Abgrall said she hopes to prevent burnout for future generations of dancers. Once the Winnipeg event is done, she intends to prepare for another city — she has dreams of touring Form Dance Convention across the country. She also works full-time in Manitoba.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com