Every weekend, Irina takes hundreds of apprentice dancers along with her in crazy choreographies. This 21-year-old Montpellier resident, animator just dance, pushes festival visitors to jiggle, trying to follow the movements imposed by the famous game from Ubisoft. “I’m booked until December! “, she rejoices. She will be this weekend at the Montpellier fairto introduce onlookers to this cult game.
just dance, whose new opus comes out on November 22, Irina has had it under her skin since she was little. His dad, a video game enthusiast, put a controller in his hands very early on and introduced him to the classics. In particular “my first mario smiles the young woman. But one Christmas day, a game like no other awaited him under the Christmas tree: just dance. Quickly, Irina ignites for this hit made in France.
“We were dancing in the living room, so everyone could enjoy it! »
“I was passionate about dance and music, and every Christmas, my parents gave it to me,” she recalls. It was for me the perfect game, which I absolutely wanted to have! The first time, I was 9 years old. What I liked was how easy it was to reproduce choreographies with this game. It’s really very instinctive, just dance. The teenager, endowed with “a very good memory”, very useful for remembering steps, and particularly gifted in dancing, very quickly became a champion of just dance. “We often played as a family, during the holidays, at Christmas, on birthdays,” smiles Irina. We were dancing in the living room, so everyone could enjoy it! »
Ubisoft’s hit not only allowed Irina to indulge her passions for dance and video games. just dance, it was also, for her, a real escape. “I left school early, at 17, because of health problems,” she says. Mentally, it was very complicated. I had, unfortunately, a physical illness, which affected me, particularly, at the level of the face. In high school, it was not obvious, the way others look at you. What got me through this is just dance. It is thanks to this game that I managed to forget the rest. It allayed my fears. It was very therapeutic. »
” just dance can really bring well-being”
This hit has become so important in the life of the young woman, that she had the idea when she was only 18 years old, to make it her job. “At video game fairs, I went straight to the stands just dance, she recalls. Organizers ended up saying to me “We can see that you love it, why don’t you make it your job?” Since then, supported by a musician friend, she travels, her Xbox under her arm, events, to share her passion. Hoping, perhaps, to help other young people, badly in their skin, to assume themselves. “It’s not just dancing,” says Irina. just dance can really bring well-being. On the events, we are happy, there is no judgment. »
And when she’s not dancing, Irina parades. The Montpellier woman tried the Miss France adventure last year. Even if she was “never interested in that world”, pushed by followers who followed her adventures on “Just Dance” on social networks, she won the sash of 1st runner-up of Miss Hérault, and 2nd dauphine of Miss Cévennes. “It was not in my plans at all! I had never watched this show! she laughs. But “it gave me a lot of self-confidence. And then, a fan of video games, in a Miss competition, we could say to ourselves “What is she doing there, that one?” It allowed me to break this stereotype a bit. To show that video games are not just about people staying at home. »
The Montpellier Fair, until October 17. All of the information, here.