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A-Troupe is the highest ranking troupe at The Next Step Dance Studio. As a result, A-Troupe represents the studio at major competitions, most notably those affiliated with Absolute Dance.

History

Cathy created A-Troupe in 1995.[1]

The Next Step won the 7th Absolute Dance Regionals. At the following Nationals the studio was defeated in the small group round. Kate and Phoebe were members of the troupe. Kate was in the eliminated small group, whilst Phoebe was the female soloist. [2]

A-Troupe has competed at every Absolute Dance Regional competition since 1998 as a unified team. Between the years 2008 and 2014, A-Troupe consecutively lost every Regionals they went to,[3] meaning they never advanced to Nationals, which they have attended at least twice. A-Troupe has attended Internationals once, in 2015.

The A-Troupe audition held prior to the 17th Annual Absolute Dance Regionals is the first audition to allow dancers from outside the studio to contend for a spot on the troupe.[4] Before the 17th Annual Absolute Dance Nationals, the studio holds The Challenge.[5]

After the 18th Annual Absolute Dance Regionals, a schism forms in A-Troupe due to conflicting views on the most important dance styles, resulting in the formation of TNS East and TNS West.[6] After a climactic fallout which results in the teams being disallowed from competing at the 19th Annual Absolute Dance Regionals,[7] they eventually make amends and reunite as a merged A-Troupe, thus regaining their position as contenders for the Regionals title.[8]

After qualifying for the 19th Annual Absolute Dance Nationals, A-Troupe takes the opportunity to audition for Dancemania, a popular televised dance competition,[9] and qualifies. However, it emerges that if the individual dancers on the team were to compete on the show, they would no longer be eligible to compete with Absolute Dance. The A-Troupers ultimately choose to go on Dancemania, resulting in the first known instance of A-Troupe qualifying for an Absolute Dance competition and not attending.[10]

At Dancemania, The Next Step Dance Studio disqualify themselves at the finale in favour of competing with Richelle and to avoid signing a contract with manipulative coach Maria. Maria voids their Dancemania contracts meaning they can still compete at Nationals and have every intention of doing so although B-Troupe have already been approved as The Next Step's representative. [11]

Following a year-long delay of the Nationals competition, the existing A-Troupe decide to pursue professional careers and form Step Inside as a pathway to professional endeavours. [12] To decide a new A-Troupe, Nick and Michelle run The Challenge, in which the existing B-Troupers and wishful new dancers would need to audition for a spot on the Nationals team. [13]

Description

A-Troupe is The Next Step Dance Studio's highest-ranking competitive troupe and the only troupe that can attend the Absolute Dance competitions. Therefore, it always consists of between 10 and 12 dancers, as at least 10 dancers are needed for most competitions, with up to 2 alternate dancers allowed on the team in case a main dancer cannot perform. It is well-known that nobody's spot on A-Troupe is guaranteed, and that everyone has to audition for their place - though both philosophies sometimes waver.[Note 1][Note 2]

Unlike other troupes, A-Troupe is led by a dance captain.[Note 3] The troupe is also sometimes, but not always assisted by a head choreographer.

A-Troupe rehearses in Studio A, and occasionally in Studio 1.

Uniform

After qualifying for the 17th Annual Absolute Dance Nationals, A-Troupe receives a uniform, professionally made by designers Zoltan and Minnow.[14] The uniform consists of a blue zip-up jacket with the two logos of The Next Step on the front and back and the letter "A" for A-Troupe on both shoulders, worn over a light blue T-shirt with the same logos on the front and back, and accompanied by blue bottoms (fitted yoga pants for the girls and sweatpants for the boys); this is later changed to black leggings for the girls and black sweatpants for the boys.

Presumably redesigned after the studio's Internationals win, A-Troupe later wears new jackets of the same colour, but with black detailing, smaller collars and a different font for the logos.[15] The new A-Troupe jacket are now also different for the boys and the girls. The boys' jackets have a black collar, black sleeve cuffs, and black hem at the bottom, but the girls' jackets only have the black sleeve cuffs. The boys still wear black sweatpants, but the girls now wear black leggings with the "TNS" logo layered on blue detailing around the hems.[16] The design of the shirt remains the same.

After A-Troupe's Regionals loss and the division of the team, Elliot purchases jackets for TNS East, which are very different from the previous ones. The new jackets are silver, with blue font displaying the studio's name on the back and TNS East on the front.[17] After the two teams merge, A-Troupe reverts to wearing their old uniforms.[18]

After the team qualifies for Regionals, new studio head Miss Angela provides different uniforms for A-Troupe. These consist of sky blue tank-tops for the girls and matching T-shirts for the boys, both with "TNS" is printed on the front in gold lettering, accompanied by black bottoms, ranging from leggings or a skirt for the girls to sweatpants for the boys. Some of the boys wear long-sleeved white shirts under them and the girls either wear black tank tops or black sports bras underneath.[19] After Angela is dismissed as studio head, A-Troupe does not wear these uniforms anymore; they are next seen during "It's a Wonderful Life, Piper - Part 1" and "Part 2", as part of an alternate reality where Angela is still studio head.

Members

Current

Former

Trivia

  • The existence of J-Troupe, along with the judgment that Noah and Richelle are too young to be on the Nationals team in Season 2,[5] suggests that there is an expected age to be on A-Troupe although, it seems unlikely an actual policy exists as these younger dancers are still able to audition without the enforcement of an age limit.
    • While Michelle and Phoebe say in Season 2 that Noah and Richelle are too young to join A-Troupe, it is possible that they actually mean that they are too small in height and build; Noah joins A-Troupe in Season 3 when he is significantly taller and can lift the older A-Troupe girls,[20] and it is implied that it is primarily Richelle's physique that causes the A-Troupers to vote for Max instead of her during their dance battle.[21]
    • This is reiterated by the deciphering of ages of some of the characters on the show, namely Emily, Eldon, James, Riley and Noah; Emily and Eldon are revealed to be the same age in "Never Enough", Emily is revealed to be 16 in "Under Pressure", James is revealed to be a year younger than Eldon in "Make a Plan to Love Me" and has to be 16 in "Better Than This", thus Emily has to turn 17 in Season 3 to still be a year older than James, which means that Riley, who is Emily's younger sister, is at a maximum, 16 in Season 3. Given that Noah is revealed to be 18 in Season 6, this illogically means that he is at least a few months older than Riley and Riley was in A-Troupe the year before Season 1.[22]

Gallery

Kathy Riley season 3 episode 13 "Look at that painting!"

To view the A-Troupe gallery, click here.


Notes

  1. Neither Michelle or Emily has to audition for the troupe in "The Final Cut" - though it is possible that they were given a bypass due to their status as dance co-captains, or because this was supposedly during the middle of the year as opposed to the start of a new year and season. Additionally when the new A-Troupe partake in The Challenge, Cleo doesn't need to audition for her spot on A-Troupe, until she makes the decision to relinquish her guaranteed spot on the team which she presumably held due to being dance captain, with these events occurring in "I Can Do That" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall".
  2. Stephanie is allowed back onto A-Troupe with an incomplete audition in "First Date", despite auditioning for Elite Dance Academy without telling Kate. Similarly, Amy is later allowed to return to A-Troupe simply by asking in "The Return of Amy", despite leaving voluntarily and competing for a rival studio at Regionals. Additionally, Heath is later allowed to rejoin A-Troupe after the disbandment of Step Inside by asking Kenzie and completing a trial period set by her after Grace's departure to join Ultra Elite, with these events occurring in What'd I Miss?" and "Take Me or Leave Me".
  3. This changes in Season 7, when Winnie is made dance captain of B-Troupe, and later replaced with Summer and Cleo; however, this is assumed to be purely related to B-Troupe attending Nationals in place of A-Troupe, rather than an indication of how B-Troupe will function from now on.

References

  1. The Next Step Souvenir Book. Wikia. Retrieved on May 15, 2016.
  2. "I Don't Know". Wikia. Retrieved on May, 31, 2021.
  3. "Don't Stop the Party" Wikia. Retrieved on November 4, 2019
  4. "Get the Party Started." The Next Step. Family Channel. Retrieved on December 11, 2017.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Ready to Start." The Next Step. Family Channel. Retrieved on December 11, 2017.
  6. "Go West, Young Michelle." Wikia. Retrieved on May 21, 2017.
  7. "TNS: Civil War." The Next Step. Family Channel. Retrieved on November 5, 2017.
  8. "This Changes Everything." The Next Step. Family Channel. Retrieved on November 5, 2017.
  9. "A Tale of Two Auditions". Wikia. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
  10. "There Can Only Be One". Wikia. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
  11. "It All Comes Down to This". Wikia. August 31, 2020.
  12. "Today for You, Tomorrow for Me". Wikia. Retrieved on October 28, 2022.
  13. "I Can Do That". Wikia. Retrieved on October 28, 2022.
  14. "Work It." The Next Step. Family Channel. Retrieved on June 10, 2016.
  15. File:Finn's Disastrous Interview.jpg. Wikia. Retrieved on January 4, 2020.
  16. File:Richelle Regionals.jpg. Wikia. Retrieved on January 4, 2020.
  17. "Brave New World". Wikia. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
  18. "Pointe of No Return". Wikia. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
  19. "Grave New World". Wikia. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
  20. "Blind". Wikia. Retrieved on January 19, 2020.
  21. "Let the Games Begin". Wikia. Retrieved on January 19, 2020.
  22. "Get the Party Started". Wikia. Retrieved on January 11, 2024.
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