GiaNina Paolantonio shared her passion with young dancers during the DJAM convention
Frederic Lebeuf 
On July 29 at Collège Jean-Eudes in Montreal, American sensation GiaNina Paolantonio held two dance masterclasses for passionate young dancers from all over. Organized by DJAM la convention – alongside Alex Francoeur – these energetic and emotion-filled sessions also gave us the chance to meet GiaNina, who graciously and genuinely answered our questions.
How does it feel, giving a masterclass in Montréal ?
It feels crazy. It feels insane and surreal that so many kids showed up for me, especially in a place I’ve never been before. It really puts into perspective how far a social media following can reach across the world when you’re welcomed by so many strangers. And it was crazy — I loved every second of it.
What’s been your best moment, your favorite moment?
This has to be in my top three — this whole tour in general. A lot of people don’t know this, but I never, ever, ever wanted to be a dance teacher or a choreographer. My mom’s been a dance teacher for almost 35 years, and growing up as her student, I had this stigma like, “I see what she does, she’s really great at it, but I don’t have the patience for that. I don’t think I’d like it. I don’t want to do it.”
But it really took being shoved into it one time — having people literally grasp it and not let me let go — to make me see it differently. This is a career I never planned or envisioned for myself, but it has to be one of the biggest blessings, because it’s been one of the most life-changing things I’ve had so far in my 20 years.
Crédit photos : Blacky Patsy
Crédit photos : Frédéric Lebeuf
You’ve toured with Mariah Carey; how was it?
I think it’s a shame. Yeah, I think it’s a shame. That was iconic. I was only 12 at the time, but at 12 you didn’t realize what an icon she was. Now being 20, I’m like, that’s actually crazy that I did that. Because I grew up listening, we all do, we all listen to her music like every single season, every year, for how many years? My entire life. And so being able to sing the songs along with her, like I would in the car, but like performing with her right next to me and interacting, like the team, the experience, all of it. Christmas is my favorite time of year. So it was just like magical altogether. All right, so thank you and have a good day. In the end, I saw that she had. She sang, she danced, she had TV appearances, she was with singers like Mariah Carey.
You’ve sang, you’ve danced with major artists, you’ve been on huge tours, on shows that many of your peers have on their bucket list. You’ve done it all at 20. How does it feel?
It feels, a lot of the time I say it doesn’t feel real, like it feels surreal, but that’s a word that gets used too often to like really describe the feeling of it. It’s almost like when you’re present so much, it’s like it passes you by so quick, it’s like you blink. Because I can’t believe all of that has been over the past 10 years. Like that’s absurd to me. I feel like I just did Broadway. I feel like I was just dancing with her.
I feel like I just was on Dance Moms. It’s just, it passes you by so quickly because these are things that aren’t normal. And so you really in the moment can’t process how it’s not normal. And so it just like passes by and then you look back at pictures and you’re like, oh my God. Like, I wish I could hold on to forever, but it all happening at such a young age and now being in my 20s, which is a crazy thing to even say, because at that age I was doing so many things that I couldn’t even. I was like, I couldn’t even picture myself at 20 because I was so in the moment of working and so, to be 20 and doing all these things is a blessing in so many different ways, but I have so many other things on the bucket list that are I can see 10 years down the line, like not gonna happen right now, that it just makes it exciting because I mean I have lists that could go on for things I want to do. Resumes on resumes. It’s not over. It’s not even close to being over yet. So, that’s just a cool feeling. It’s weird. You can’t really describe the feeling because when you’re in the moment, it’s like too fast to grasp it. That’s kind of the only way I can describe it.
Crédit photos : Frédéric Lebeuf
Does working with young students, while you’re still quite young yourself, inspire any special emotion ?
I think because when I look at them, I look, I see me, like I see a lot of me and all these students just because especially most specifically when I’m out of the country or like not, not even like when I’m in the US, like specifically when I’m far, far away from home, they don’t take it for granted. And something I always did was like, I never took classes for granted. Like I lived, eat, sleep, breathe. Like I loved going to dance classes. Um, if I left, if I left and danced too hard and I hurt my knee, I was like, well, I did what I was supposed to do.
Um, and I feel like that’s what everyone that’s not in the States does because it’s less, like it’s more out of reach. And so I see a lot of myself in these kids specifically, um, just because they’re so hungry for it. And like, I’m still hungry when I’m in class. Like I still, as a teacher, still as a student, very much as much as a teacher, I want to be called out the same way they do. Like I want to be the best in the same way they do, even though I might have that privilege or status or placement. A classroom when I’m a student feels like, a student, and so I see a lot of myself in them, which is heartwarming, but also, I’m so young that I hope that the things that I teach them, that they like the ways I word it, make more sense.
And I always just wanted to be a classroom that I always wished I had, so I having them tell me that at the end of the day was like, the craziest thing for me when I first started, was them being like, ‘It was so welcoming it was you made it more understandable, I’m like, well that was the point, you know. I wish I had that, but as long as I can do that for them, that’s all that matters.
Crédit photos : Blacky Patsy
Crédit photos : Blacky Patsy
Frédéric Lebeuf | Journaliste
Grand passionné de musique rock, metal, metalcore et post-hardcore, Frédéric adore assister à des concerts de ses artistes préférés qui gravitent autour de son palmarès hebdomadaire. Passionné de lifestyle et de télévision, il reste à l’affût pour couvrir des événements de tout genre. Son premier album qu’il a acheté est Americana de The Offspring.
Patricia Duval | Photographe
Passionnée par la musique et les arts depuis son jeune âge, elle a découvert il y a quelques années la passion pour la photographie. Elle carbure aux défis, adore les festivals et capter l’émotion. Elle a une piqure pour le country, si vous voyiez une petite noire dans un pit de spectacle ou en train de courir partout pour s’assurer d’avoir une belle photo, c’est bien elle.