Calling all The Next Step fans!
The cast of your fave Disney dance series have just arrived down under for their Absolute dance tour!
The 90-minute shows will feature solos, duets, trios and group numbers choreographed to popular hit songs along with original music from the show, plus your chance to get up close and personal with the cast.
This is the series’ biggest Aussie tour yet, as it’s set to hit all capital cities plus plenty of major regional areas, too.
The tour kicks off tomorrow in Newcastle and tickets are selling fast, so be sure to grab your tickets here.
Ahead of their performances, Girlfriend caught up with Victoria who plays OG favourite Michelle on the show.
You can check out our chat with the 21-year-old below!
Girlfriend: You started dancing at the young age of three. Is dance something that’s always been in your family?
Victoria: You know what? I probably am the first dancer of my family. My mom always really wanted to be a dancer, but she ended up doing like local plays in her city. Also her family really couldn’t afford to put her through dance, so when she saw me as a little girl dancing around the house she was like, “Yep, I’m putting her in dance.” I never looked back, and here I am.
Girlfriend: What do you love so much about it?
Victoria: I think I just love the ability to emote through dance and to show everyone your feelings or your thoughts through your body movement and without words. I think that’s probably my favorite thing. You can tell such amazing stories through dance. It’s a very unique thing that no other art form is like.
Girlfriend: With that passion for storytelling, was acting a natural transition for you? Was that something you’ve always wanted to get into?
Victoria: I think I went out on my first acting audition when I was probably 12, and I really didn’t like it. I was really shy, I was like, “Ah, I don’t know if I can do this.” I really doubted myself about it, but I think I’ve always low key loved the idea of wanting to be an actress, and then when The Next Step came around, it just fell into place and I felt super comfortable and I was able to play my character very easily. Ever since then, I’ve just loved acting and auditioning and the whole thing. It kind of just happened naturally.
Girlfriend: How does filming The Next Step compare to dancing live on stage?
Victoria: Yeah, they’re very different. When you’re live on stage, there really is no room for messing up. You can’t forget your line or you can’t go out there and mess up your dance moves, because you only have one shot and you only have one show. Whereas when you’re filming, you’re able to do multiple takes. If you fall down while you’re dancing on set, you’re able to be like, “Okay, can we stop and do that again?” Whereas when it’s a live show, you have to be on, it has to be perfect, it has to be timed out right, and there really isn’t that much room for mistakes.
Girlfriend: Your character is Michelle is a dancer too, but what are the other biggest similarities with your character?
Victoria: I think Michelle is a natural born leader without knowing that she is. She dominates a lot of rooms, but she’s also very sweet and quiet. I think that’s where we are similar, but then when it comes to the silence and being quiet about her problems, I’m not like that at all. I feel like I’m able to communicate how I feel right from the get go for the most part. I think that’s how we’re different, but there are a lot of similarities that I do see in my character, I’m able to portray my character very well through my natural ability to connect Victoria to Michelle.
Girlfriend: There was a storyline where Michelle first comes into the studio and Emily’s a bit threatened by her talent. Is that something that you’ve experienced in your own life?
Victoria: Yes. Growing up in dance, and then also after I booked The Next Step, I just was going into high school. I was very young. I was actually younger than everybody else. Everybody else was finishing high school. I had a really hard time in high school trying to balance a normal social life but then also being on TV, because I feel like a lot of people treated me strangely because I was kind of an outcast when it came to being a normal kid, if you will. Because it would be like I would go on tour for months at a time, and I would come back and people kind of wanted to be my friend, but they also kind of didn’t really want to.
It was a weird dynamic that I had with a lot of people, but I was clinging to the cast of The Next Step, because I spent so much time with them and they really became my family and friends. They really assured me and made me feel welcomed and loved. I’ve definitely experienced that mean girl type of attitude from people, which is terrible, but I think just my strong mentality and my ability to be like, “No, no, no, this is my career and it’s my life,” kind of helped me with that.
Girlfriend: Are you still really close with the cast?
Victoria: Yeah, I’m really tight with a lot of people. I actually live in LA now, and Jordan who plays Giselle on the show, and Trevor who plays James, they live 10 minutes away from me, and a couple of other people as well. I still talk to everyone, we all hang out sometimes. We just had a really good reunion this summer, and yeah, I feel like they’re the type of people that will be at my wedding or vice versa. It’s crazy, because they really have become my family.
Girlfriend: How was it moving to LA from Canada at quite a young age? That can’t have been easy.
Victoria: I officially moved when I was 19 and it was really, really, really scary. I won’t lie. I think I cried for like, if I’m being brutally honest, I cried through for a couple of days after my mom left. It was really hard, but you know, I’ve kind of found a balance between going back and forth between Canada and America, since obviously it’s not far from each other. It’s all about balance. I think I don’t spend too much time there, I don’t spend too much time at home, and I see my family as much as I can and they also come to see me quite a bit. I feel like we have a nice balance.
Girlfriend: And you have a boyfriend, too — James. Does he live in LA too?
Victoria: Yeah. He’s an actor as well. He lives 10 minutes away, he lives in LA. He’s been in LA for a long time, or just in California, since he started acting when he was younger.
Girlfriend: You guys would travel a lot for work both being actors. How do you keep your relationship strong when you’re not together.
Victoria: Honestly, I think it’s all about a mutual understanding — with anyone, not just relationships with your lovers, but even with family too. It’s about keeping the communication strong and always texting each other as much as you can when you’re not working, or calling. I was just on a call with my boyfriend, James, and just telling him about my day, even though the time difference is crazy. I think it’s just about finding a balance and finding the appropriate times to communication with each other. You have to be with someone that’s going to understand your schedule and is going to love you endlessly through your art, because they know that this is what you’re doing.
It helps that also who I am now dating is also in the industry. He understands, because he might book a job and go to wherever for a month and be like, “Okay, I’m going to do what I love to do,” because we’re so passionate about what we do.
Girlfriend: We know you’ve also taught some dance workshops. What are the biggest tips you would give to someone who wants to dance but doesn’t have that confidence or is feeling a bit self-concious?
Victoria: Honestly, it is hard to be a dancer and it is hard to really be able to find the confidence to want to dance, because it’s a big commitment. But I would just say, if you really, really want something, you’re going to know inside of you whether or not you can do it. I think anyone can do anything as long as they just have a positive mindset and if you have support and you have people rooting for you and you find what you love to do. You should find whatever style of dance it is that really you connect with. I just think anyone should go for it. There’s no limitations, ever.
Girlfriend: Being a professional dancer, what’s your go-to dance move at a party?
Victoria: I am a sucker for a good hair whip. I feel like when my hair is looking fresh and I got my makeup on and I’m at a party, I just bust it out and everyone’s like, “Woo! Yeah, girl!” You know, it’s like a confident move.
Girlfriend: You’ve got quite a big social media following. How do you go about setting boundaries with real life and social media and how much you share?
Victoria: Honestly I love to share lots about my life in regards to letting fans into what I’m doing or what’s next for me or what’s currently happening. But I never overshare, if you know what I mean. I feel like there are things that I feel I should keep private. Whether or not if I’m at a party or if I’m going out to dinner with someone, I like to keep those moments to myself. I don’t need to let everyone into that part of my life.
But I also love hearing from fans being like, “Oh my gosh, you inspired me and I watched your dance video.” So I love posting dance videos, or like acting self-tapes. I like to basically show people what I’m up to in regards to my art, but I just think that it’s all about trying to uplift people on social media and not putting them down or body shaming, or anything along those lines. That is a no go for me when it comes to Instagram. I love being real, I want to be authentic, and I just want to make people comfortable when they come to my page, you know?
Girlfriend: So, what’s next for you? We know you’ve been getting into a bit of modeling and influencer type work as well.
Victoria: Honestly, my goal right now especially being in LA is to maybe get on another series or to do film. I’ve been auditioning like crazy, crazy, so I’m just waiting for the next project to stick. I want to be a big actress!
WATCH: James Charles gets dance lessons from ‘Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller
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