Many Calgarians watched with pride, the finale of the hit show So You Think You Can Dance Canada, as local kids Miles Faber and Allie Bertram stood on stage among the top four contestants. In the end, Nico Archambault was the winner, but both Faber and Bertram earned fame and respect from their performances over the course of the series.
The result? A near sold-out cross-Canada tour. We caught up with Miles and Allie over the phone while they were in Edmonton. Having watched the show, it seemed like there was definite chemistry between the two – perhaps being from Calgary helped them to bond so quickly.
“We definitely had an instant connection because of that. It turns out that her older brother hung out with the same group of friends I did in high school, so there was also a connection there. We are both very proud of where we come from and love Calgary. We find that a lot of people say that the people of Calgary are so nice; we hear that from around Canada. When we started dancing together it was instant chemistry for sure,” recalled Faber.
”Everyone on the show is like family now. We lived together, went through the experience together and now we are living on a tour bus together. You get really close to everyone and it is a really great, supportive environment,” added Bertram. “I think the people of Calgary are amazing and I am so happy that there were two of us from Calgary left in the final four. It speaks volumes.”
Coming home to play a sold out show at the Stampede Corral on February 5th was something both were anticipating.
“I am super excited to come home, it is going to be so amazing. It is so wonderful to see how much people appreciated the show and how gracious they are towards us. I can’t wait to give a great show to the people in Calgary that voted for me,” said Allie. Miles agreed, saying “I can’t wait. I am so excited to see and perform for everyone. We are here because of the support that Calgary gave us. We can’t wait to show why people put us there.”
The touring experience is a new and exciting thing for both participants. Miles stocked up on socks and underwear and, after taking three days off, went back to the grind to keep in shape. Meanwhile Allie took Christmas break, but focused on her cardio. The two had polar opposite views on the difference between touring and the TV show.
“For me it is easier to be on the stage,” said Miles. “You have 10,000 people in the arena screaming compared to a couple of hundred in the theatre. On the show you have to focus on the competition, looking in the cameras, so you aren’t performing to the crowd and it is a lot more difficult. When you have the big crowd out there you have their energy to feed off of, which fuels your drive on stage.”
“Being on a tour is scarier for me,” said Allie. “I know there is no competition involved but there are maybe 500 people in the studio, you don’t realize how many people are watching on TV. When you are dancing in front of a live crowd there is so much energy. In Vancouver we danced in front of more than 10,000 people.”
“It is amazing to have that many fans paying to see us dance and screaming for you, it is unbelievable. I am really happy with how I danced in the last few shows. As the show goes along we are the ones introducing the numbers and I haven’t messed up my lines yet, and I hope I don’t because that would be really embarrassing for me. I didn’t realize how much fun it would be. I have never had a job like this before, there isn’t an experience like this one.”
The life of a professional dancer isn’t always easy. It is a long, hard road to even attempt to reach a professional level. One of the difficulties male dancers face is the presumption that all are gay. Miles says he hasn’t had to deal with a lot of negativity from others who assume he is gay because of his chosen profession.
“The funny part is that it is so the opposite. It is an untapped resource; if you are the only guy in dance class you are surrounded by girls and get the attention. It works in our favor,” he quipped, before opening up on his beliefs. “You just have to be true to yourself. You know what you want to do and love to do. Whatever some people think, in the end it doesn’t matter. You are the one who has to wake up in the morning and live your life, and if you are unhappy it is because of you. I have never really encountered much negativity as a male dancer. I have been lucky enough to grow up with a great support system in my friends and family. For people who do experience a problem, I think they need to surround themselves with those they are dancing with and those that are showing the support. It can be hard to not let that get you down, but just remember …it goes by and then suddenly you are on this show, or Broadway, and people change their minds. Unfortunately that is the way the world works sometimes; it takes something huge to change peoples minds. But if you stay true to yourself you will make it through.”
Whether a gay guy or straight girl, you can’t deny that Miles Faber is a good-looker. It seemed that during his performances, the shrieks became a bit louder and more excited when he and other male contestants would remove their shirts. He laughed at his newfound “sexy” status.
“I never really thought of myself as a sex symbol. Whatever labels or stereotypes or whatever come along with something I did, that is just part of the ride. I don’t really let that get to me or even think about it that much. When you dance with your shirt off, it is for a purpose. It represents a certain style. It is entertainment and if people enjoy it, that is all that really matters.”
The concern that people are more interested in his looks than his dancing isn’t an issue. “Of course we do think about that, and we do hope that people are voting us based on our dancing and not just what we look like. But as a performer and entertainer you are performing for the public. They aren’t dancers; they just go to be entertained. As long as you are entertaining them, you are doing your job as a performer. As long as they are having fun and enjoying it, for whatever reason, it is all good for me.”
Something both take seriously is being a role model. There are now likely many young children in dance, or who now want to enroll in dance because they were inspired by the talent seen on the show.
Said Bertram, “It is really amazing how many young girls have come up to me and said they admire and look up to me. I am so happy I can be a role model because I think I am a good one. At my age there are a lot of people you don’t want your kids to look up to, and I am one of those people that you can. I am dedicated, hard working, and I am happy that girls admire me especially in the dance world.”
The classically trained ballet dancer said that her training helped give her a basis for the other dances she performed on the show, and hopes it influences the next generation of dancers. “Ballet isn’t the favorite thing to do and if you have someone you can look up to in ballet it will help you with all your dance styles. Growing up I also did jazz and tap and at one point I almost quit ballet, and I am so glad that I didn’t. It is a great foundation for these other styles of dance - you can branch out from it. It helped with every style that I did on the show. I hope that young girls realize that ballet is a foundation to things it helps so much.”
“I have always liked working with kids and people my age,” added Faber. “Now that I am in that role model position, I feel I have had a lot of great guidance from my own role models. I am honored to have people look up to me in that way, but it is a big responsibility as well. I have to make sure I represent myself in a way that I would like people to look at and say, ‘I want to be like that’ in a good way. I want people to be respectful and humble because that is how I feel I am. There is always someone better than you. Don’t go out and try to be the best there is, be the best you can be. As clichéd as that sounds I believe it is true because that is what I did on the show. I never believed I was the best dancer I just tried my hardest. That is the message I want to get out, and hope I can be a good role model to those who look up to me.”
Both performers come across as genuinely nice people who truly appreciate what they have received so far, and will work hard to build from here onward. Both promise not to forget those who voted to get them to this point. Miles summed it up for both of them.
“I definitely want to say thank you for all the support because I wouldn’t be here without it. A huge, huge thank you. It is really overwhelming that I was put here and I know it is through all the support I have gotten, and I can’t thank you enough.”
