Camp Westie Blog

As a kid, you could find Flore organizing her friends into dance routines anytime they got together. By herself, she'd watch music videos on TV for hours until she could do everything the background dancers were doing. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said, "A dancer!" Adults tried to point out throughout her life that this was not a career. "Everyone told me I couldn't be a dancer," Flore said. "They said it was too hard, not enough jobs, I was from a small town and not from Paris. How was I going to become a dancer?" Thankfully, she never listened to what those adults had to say. In fact, if you tell Flore she can't do something, she's almost certain to do exactly that — and better than anyone else. It's the energy and commitment that led to her and her partner Philippe's favorite moment as dancers: winning fourth place in the US Open Showcase Division, with a routine they were proud of.

The determination you hear in Flore's story might lead you to believe that she is a grim and serious competitor. Instead, Flore is all light. She's a bright spirit who talks about achievements with enthusiasm rather than obsession, with love rather than determination. If she loves to prove people wrong, it is to prove herself capable at exceling in what she loves. Flore does nothing without love and her love is fierce as much as it is full of play and delight.

After high school, her parents told her she needed to study something for her degree that would get her a job. "So I chose something as close to dance as I could: fitness!" Studying fitness did indeed help her land a job, which enabled her to fund her dance training. She moved to Paris and began her dance education. "I have never stopped dancing since then."

That's when partner dancing entered her life: when she left to get her degree in Paris. First, it was rock and roll, and then salsa. "I danced everything I could!" Flore said. "I fell in love with couple dancing. I love the things you can share with people without talking, and everything about the connection." Flore couldn't decide which dance she loved the most, though. She managed to dance all of them actively, and she excelled in them. "I want to do everything, try everything, be everything," Flore said.

It was a challenging three years: she never had a break, but she kept pushing to learn dance. Every morning she had jazz class from 9am-12pm. Then, she'd work at her job in the fitness center from 1-6pm. Then, she'd go out partner dancing until 11pm. She ate most of her meals on the subway between commitments. Eventually, she gave up jazz to focus on partner dancing.

It was then that her first career as a dance professional began: in Boogie Woogie. This is a style unfamiliar to many in the United States, but one that has its roots in lindy hop and was adapted to the bounce in music like Elvis. (Unlike the rock and roll dance style that was popular in France at the time, Boogie Woogie requires fewer acrobatics.) She didn't know the dance, but people told a well known dancer looking for a partner that, "She's good! Just teach her." So she picked it up as she went, and she was able to dance as a pro almost immediately.

This is a common story for Flore: if she wants to learn something she will. "Fake it till you make it" is a motto she lives by and she tends to become a pro in no time. After her partnership in Boogie Woogie ended, she met Philippe Berne. He replyied to a post she made on Facebook looking for a dance partner. He was looking for a professional ballroom dance partner. She hasn't trained seriouly in 10 Dance but figured she'd try it anyway. "It was like I was a novice dancer and he was an All Star dancer. Everyone told him that he was making a serious mistake. But I said, 'I'll show you.' I loved their faces when two years later we won first place."

The eventually came to West Coast Swing, as a compromise in their dance styles. Flore missed the creativity and improvisation of social dance. Philippe wanted a style that Flore hadn't already mastered. She convinced him to try out WCS at a social in Paris, before there were many teachers there. They both loved it. Back at their local studio, someone asked them to teach a series; They taught what West Cost Swing they knew from dancing socially. They quickly came to feel that they were destined to dance West Coast. They relocated to Quebec, to gain better access to teachers and toe be closer to the West Coast Swing communities in North America.

West Coast Swing offered what they both loved about dancing: It was a marriage between the character performance in Latin and the playfulness of swing and Lindy. You get sexy, and you get play. And you can dance to all styles of music. It's versatile in a way that most styles can't be, as some styles are attached to one kind of music. "You can be so many different characters!" Flore observed. "It was hard to dance different characters in the beginning but then I learned that it wasn't me, I was just playing someone. When you get that, it's amazing, you can suddenly be everything! And you can be who you are at the same time."

This spirit of "you can be anyone" is the spirit Flore gives to her students. It's why she loves to teach. "I want to help you trust in yourself, trust more in your body." She knows that it can be hard to break out of your shell and not be afraid, especially for female followers. "I love when I see dancers become 'who they are.'"

She especially values working with students over an extended period of time. "I love it when I can coach someone and help them work on the things they are shy about. I like to study my students and help them grow." It's one of the things she's excited about for Camp Westie: the chance to teach a small group of learners over several hours. "That doesn't get to happen very often when you travel to competition events!"

So, join us at Camp Westie this year, April 12-14, in the woods of Pennsylvania. Flore can't wait to meet you.