Nicolas "Nico" Archambault (born 18 October 1984) is a Canadian dancer and choreographer, who in 2008 won the first season of ''

So You Think You Can Dance Canada ''So You Think You Can Dance Canada'' is a dance competition and reality show that aired on CTV. Based on the original American TV show ''So You Think You Can Dance'', the Canadian series showcased the best in Canadian dancing talent. Each seas ...

''. After the win, he became well known for his lead role in the 2011 Canadian film '' On the Beat (Sur le rythme)''.

Beginnings

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Nicolas Archambault was the first of four children. He started dancing as a young seven-year-old, with a dance teacher Louise Lapierre, where all his sisters also learned dancing. He was traumatized for being ridiculed as the only male student in the class. While in Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry Secondary School in Saint-Léonard, a suburb of

, he registered for dance classes and was taunted, intimidated and ostracized by the male students for being "gay". In addition to growing up too fast for his age, he also suffered from

Osgood–Schlatter disease Osgood–Schlatter disease (OSD) is inflammation of the patellar ligament at the tibial tuberosity (apophysitis). It is characterized by a painful bump just below the knee that is worse with activity and better with rest. Episodes of pain typica ...

. His childhood suffering prompted him in his successful years to remain very active in fighting

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

in schools. BY age 14, he was already involved in public performances and at 19 studied dance at LADMMI, the Montreal school of contemporary dance affiliated with

Cégep du Vieux Montréal Cégep du Vieux Montréal is a CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, or College of General and Vocational Education) located at 255 Ontario Street East, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The College of General and Vocational Edu ...

. While a student, he was offered a position as a freestyle dancer at the popular Quebec game show ''

La Fureur ''La Fureur'' is a French music game show, first aired by France 2 on 31 December 1995. Created by French television personality Arthur, the show features two teams of celebrity contestants, segregated by gender, playing various music-related g ...

'' where he worked for 5 years. During this period, he also took part in a number of musical shows including ''Elvis Story'', in ''Night Fever'', in ''Joe Dassin – La grande fête musicale''Radio-Canada: L'ascension fulgurante de Nico Archambault
(in French) and in a lyrical version of the rock opera '' Starmania''. He was also an assistant to the choreographer

Brian Friedman Brian L. Friedman (born May 28, 1977) is an American dancer and choreographer. Friedman has created the choreography for many popular music artists – such as Britney Spears, Cher, Beyoncé Knowles, and Mariah Carey – as well as for music ...

''So You Think You Can Dance Canada''

In 2008, he took part in the first season of ''

'' in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

where 3500 contestants applied. Archambault soon became the favorite of the public, the judges and the choreographers of the show. He was the sole contestant not to be nominated to the "bottom two" position and without being put to the risk of elimination. He won the first title of the show at the end of nine weeks of competition, receiving $100,000 as a cash prize as well as a car. After his win, he was also offered the position of resident choreographer of the show.

Career

Immediately after the show, he was offered the chance to dance with Janet Jackson during the 22 November 2009

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

and he took part as a principal dancer in the music video for Jackson's video " Make Me". The same year, he played the role of a young Russian dancer

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

in the television film ''Nureyev'' on the Canadian

Bravo! CTV Drama Channel (formerly known as Bravo) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the U.S. channel Bravo (which is now owned by NBCUniversal) on January 1, 1995 b ...

channel. The series obtained six nominations at the

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

s, including one for Nico Archambault for "Best Performance in a Performing Arts Program or Series (Individual or Ensemble)". Archambault works in the choreography company Street Parade, and is the artistic director in the electro-pop group The Pinup Saints, with his wife Wynn Holmes as lead vocalist. He also appeared in The Pinup Saints music videos for "Mister" and "Halo". In 2010, he choreographed the musical comedy ''Le Blues d'la Métropole'' directed by Serge Denoncourt, honoring the band

Beau Dommage Beau Dommage was a rock band from Montreal, Quebec, who achieved success in Quebec and France in the 1970s. The group's style included rich vocal harmonies and elements borrowed from folk and country music. History Beau Dommage started in 1972 a ...

Théâtre Saint-Denis Théâtre Saint-Denis is a theatre located on Saint Denis Street in Montreal, Quebec, in the city's Quartier Latin. A movie theatre built in 1915 by Anglin-Norcross Ltd., the Théâtre Saint-Denis' mission changed in the 1980s and has since focu ...

in Montreal. He was also involved with Serge Denoncourt in a mission to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

to teach

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

adolescents modern dance. ''GRUBB The Musical'' emerged as an educational and artistic project for helping young gypsy artists through dance. The prepared work was presented at the

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

. Nico Archambault has landed with the lead role of Marc Painchaud in the 2011 Canadian film '' On the Beat (Sur le rythme)'', directed by

Charles-Olivier Michaud Charles-Olivier Michaud is a Canadian writer, director and producer from Saint-Romuald, Quebec. He has worked in English and French language films. His directing credits include ''4 Minute Mile'', '' On the Beat (Sur le rythme)'' and ''Snow and A ...

Charity

Nico Archambault is involved with the Bullying Prevention Campaign because of him having suffered greatly in school. In agreement with TXT Carbon, he designed a T-shirt "Stand Up, Rise Up" for anti-bullying awareness with proceeds going to victims of bullying. The campaign was featured on the Canadian Family Channel. Archambault said he was labelled "

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

" and experienced

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

simply because he was a male dancer.

Personal life

Nico Archambault married his longtime girlfriend and fellow dancer from

, Wynn Holmes on 10 July 2010. The couple had been dating for three years and got engaged shortly after Archambault won in ''

'' in December 2008.660 News: 'Dance Canada' winner Nico Archambault weds fellow hoofer Wynn Holmes
/ref>

Appearances

Director

* 2015:

Young Galaxy Young Galaxy is a Canadian indie pop/dream pop band formed in 2005 in Vancouver, whose members are husband and wife, Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless. History Young Galaxy formed in Vancouver as a duo including Stephen Ramsay and Catherine ...

, Falsework International Tour, Stage Director * 2015: Loud Lary Adjust feat.

Karim Ouellet Karim Ouellet (December 8, 1984 – November 15, 2021) was a Senegalese-born Canadian pop singer-songwriter. He released three albums between 2011 and 2016; his second album ''Fox'' won a Juno Award in 2014. Early life Ouellet was born in Dakar ...

"Automne" music video, Director * 2015:

Koriass Koriass is the stage name of Emmanuel Dubois (born March 12, 1984), a Canadian rapper from Quebec.

"Zombies" music video, Director * 2016: Cœur de pirate, Roses Tour, Stage Director * 2016:

Koriass Koriass is the stage name of Emmanuel Dubois (born March 12, 1984), a Canadian rapper from Quebec.

"Blacklights" music video, Director * 2016: Cœur de pirate, Carte Blanche

Quebec City Summer Festival Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Stage Director

Dancer

*2003-2008:

, freestyle dancer *2006-2007: Night fever, Capitole de Québec *2008: ''

'', winner of the first Canadian series *2009:

, dancer for

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

*2009: ''Starmania'', in a lyrical version *2015:

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

*2015:

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

*2016: ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'', role of Tony Manero,

Palais des Sports (Paris) Palais des Sports (French: Palace of Sports) is a generic name of comprehensive indoors sports venue, mostly in the French-speaking world, including: ; France: *Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes * Palais des sports Ghani-Yalouz, Besançon * Pal ...

Choreographer

*2009-2011: ''

'', resident choreographer *2010: ''Le Blues d'la métropole'', choreographer of the musical comedy *2011:

, choreographer for ''GRUBB The Musical'' *2011: Mixmania 2, choreographer for ''Tant que l'on s'aime (The part of Emmy Langlais and Tommy Tremblay) '' *2014: "The Next Star Supergroup", choreographer for all groups *2014: Stagnant Pool, a short film by Kevin Calero, choreographer *2015:

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...

, " Doompy Poomp" music video, choreographer *2015: Les Dieux de la Danse,

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pub ...

, choreographer 2 episodes * 2015: ''

Just Dance 2015 ''Just Dance 2015'' is a 2014 dance video game developed by Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Bucharest and published by Ubisoft. The sixth main installment of the ''Just Dance'' series, it was announced ...

'', commercial,

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

, choreographer * 2015:

Aldo Group The ALDO Group branded as ALDO, is a Canadian multinational corporation retailer that owns and operates a worldwide chain of shoe and accessories stores. The company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun in Montreal, Quebec, in 1972, where its cor ...

+ Farha Foundation, Ça Marche, A Parade to win against AIDS

Music videos

*2008: "C'est chelou", a music video of

Zaho Zahera Darabid ( ar, زهيرة درابيد ; born May 10, 1980), known by her stage name Zaho (), is an Algerian-Canadian R&B singer. Biography Zahera Darabid was born on May 10, 1980, in Bab Ezzouar, a suburb of the Algerian capital Algi ...

*2008: "La Roue Tourne," a music video of Zaho *2009: "Je te promets", a music video of Zaho *2009: " Make Me", main dancer in

music video *2015: "

Living for Love "Living for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid, with additional writing from MoZella and Toby Gad. O ...

", Dancer in

music video *2021: "L'habitude de mourir", a music video of La Bronze

Filmography

*2009-2011: ''

(

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

– 4), guest judge *2009: ''Nureyev'', a television series about

on the

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

channel *2010: ''

Vacation with Derek The following is a list of episodes of the Canadian sitcom ''Life with Derek'', which also appeared on Disney Channel. The show premiered on September 18, 2005 and ended its run on March 25, 2009, spanning 4 seasons, with 70 episodes produced. S ...

'' in role of Jesse *2011: '' On the Beat (Sur le rythme)'' in leading role as Marc Painchaud *2014: ''Stagnant Pool'' in the lead role as Narcissus *2014-2016: ''Quart de Vie'', ICI tou.tv in the role of Beau (3 seasons) *2015-2018: ''Les Dieux de la Danse'',

, resident judge

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archambault, Nico 1984 births Canadian choreographers Canadian male dancers Canadian male film actors French Quebecers Living people Male actors from Montreal So You Think You Can Dance Canada contestants So You Think You Can Dance choreographers So You Think You Can Dance winners Cégep du Vieux Montréal alumni