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Training at the Académie Internationale de la Danse in Paris, Joséphine Dussaule has performed on the set of Star Academy several times. With her eyes full of stars, the dancer is discovering all the possibilities the world of show business has to offer.
On Saturday January 25, four million people turned on their televisions to watch the final of the TV show Star Academy. For several hours, viewers enjoyed the performances of Ebony and Marine, the two candidates still in the running at this stage of the competition. Also on stage was Joséphine Dussaule. The dancer from Saint-Barth performed two choreographed routines for the audience and viewers. With a dozen dancers, she first encircled contestant Marine and singer Clara Luciani as they performed Courage. Joséphine returned to the stage a few moments later to accompany the other finalist Ebony during her cover of Adele's All I ask.
"We see the Star Ac students on TV, and they were right there in front of us! "exclaimed Joséphine, who supported Ebony. Although the Guadeloupe-born contestant didn't win the "Star Ac" trophy, Joséphine had the opportunity to share the stage with her on several occasions. Like during the semi-final of the talent show, where she was able to accompany the duet formed by Ebony and Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour, on his hit song Seven Seconds. "The costumes were magnificent," she recalls.
Soprano, Maitre Gims, Youssou N'Dour
A few months earlier, also for a "Star Ac" show, Joséphine had the opportunity to dance alongside singer Soprano in front of a rapt audience: "We'd barely been at school a month, and we got a call because they needed a hundred dancers for the picture. "Participation in the Mask Singer program, a show on the Champs Élysées to accompany Maitre Gims, Joséphine was invited to take part in these programs thanks to her training at the Académie Internationale de la Danse (AID). Last September, she joined this Parisian performance school to become a professional dancer. They warned me it was going to be tough," admits Joséphine, keeping a smile on her face. But I'm not going to give up. "
Five days a week, the 19-year-old takes dance class after dance class. The teachers are demanding and the rhythm intense, but Joséphine keeps her goal in mind: to obtain her state diploma. You have to have the mental fortitude," says Joséphine. We often compare ourselves, telling ourselves that others are better than us. "But Joséphine isn't paralysed by competition; she uses it as her strength and motivation to progress. "I like to challenge myself too much, to go beyond my abilities", she explains.
A strong stage presence
Joséphine was immersed in the world of dance from an early age. This was thanks to her mother, Cécile Coudreau, a professional dancer and dance teacher at Ajoe. My mother got me into it, and now I can't get out," she laughs. Dance is my whole life. "She began by taking modern jazz classes at the Dance with Kim school in Colombier, a discipline that remains her favorite to this day. She was a lively child who had the physical potential to dance," comments Sylvie Millerot. She kept up well in class, but above all she had a strong stage presence. "Joséphine particularly enjoyed the adrenalin of the dance competitions she took part in every year, first on the Ajoe podium for the regional selection, then in France. "She brought home gold medals every time," exclaims her dance teacher.
Dreams of musical comedy
However, Joséphine didn't immediately envisage making a career out of it. During her high school years in New York, she even stopped dancing for several months, mainly because of Covid. But a friend told her about the dance classes she was taking at a school down the street. Joséphine got back into it, and quickly rediscovered a taste for the discipline. She danced every day, from Monday to Saturday, and began to project herself into the world of dance after her baccalauréat. For a year, she took a university course in Canada. But it was too theoretical; Joséphine didn't want to study the history of dance, she wanted to dance. Her mother's friends told her about the Académie Internationale de la Danse, and she decided to take the plunge.
At this school, which has between 200 and 300 students, Joséphine consolidates her technical foundations, but also discovers new disciplines: cabaret, tap, singing, theater and hip-hop, which she particularly enjoys. "When they put me in heels the first time for cabaret, I said, what the hell! "But you have to be able to adapt to everything. "Josephine is referring in particular to auditions for musicals, for which recruiters may ask her to dance electro as well as hip-hop without her knowing in advance. The dancer was unable to take part in the auditions for the musical The Sun King, due to a nerve block that day. However, she is thinking of trying out for The Lion King, which is looking for new dancers. In the vast world of show business, Joséphine doesn't yet have a clear-cut goal. Confident, she lets herself be guided by her love of dance.
