Devon Michael Brown has a lot of moments when he just has to pinch himself.
Dancing on a hit-television show watched by viewers across the continent, Brown, 17, feels so incredibly lucky.
The Milton resident is a cast member on Family television’s hit dance drama, The Next Step. In its third season, the show follows the lives of an elite group of young dancers who train at The Next Step Studio.
Brown has been dancing on the show since the first season, but this is the first year he will have lines and a bigger character part.
“I have to pinch myself everyday,” said the Grade 12 Kielburger Secondary School student. “It’s hard to believe because it’s such a great show with such a great fan base.
“It’s amazing and I’m still not even sure that it’s actually happening. It’s hard to believe and I get paid.”
Brown, who started dancing when he was 3, took drama throughout high school and has been part of school plays whenever possible.
He said the dancing is incredible and that the show has great choreographers and an amazing cast of dancers.
“My cast-mates…I couldn’t’ ask for a better group of people,” he said. “They are so easy to work with and they’ve taught me a lot since I’ve been filming with them.
“They made it so easy and made me feel welcome.”
Filmed in Scarborough, the life-long Miltonian said he gets to merge two of his favourite loves: acting and dance. He trains at Oakville’s Canadian Dance Company under the direction of Allain Lupien, who, he notes, “has been a great mentor for me over the years.”
Prior to the Oakville dance studio, he trained at Dance Elite in Milton.
Brown said dancing is in his genes, since his mom was a ballet dancer and his two older sisters both dance. His parents decided to let him try dancing when he was a toddler and he loved it immediately. He became a competitive dancer when he was seven and he enjoys all types of dance: hip hop, ballet, jazz and musical theatre.
After joining Canadian Dance Company when he was 12, Brown won numerous dance competitions, and he’s travelled across the U.S. to compete.
Nowadays, he trains four hours a night and another 10 hours or more on weekends. Most of the filming for the show takes place over the summers, so he doesn’t have to miss school.
He said friends, family, peers and teachers are all excited for the upcoming premier of season three on Monday, Mar. 16 at 7:30 p.m., with new episodes every weeknight leading up to the mid-season finale in April.
This season The Next Step sees cast members deal with their differences. After winning Nationals, A-troupe’s celebration is cut short when they’re evicted from their studio. The only way to keep their spot at International is to merge with their arch-rivals, Elite Dance Studio. The dancers must work together to show the world what they’re really made of.
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