It’s crunch time in the contest to decide the next member of the Toronto Raptors’ Dance Pak — and two Windsor-Essex dancers are leading the way.
Lakeshore dancer Nicole Nouvion. (Handout / The Windsor Star)
As of Friday afternoon, LaSalle’s Holly Holmes was in first place out of the contest’s eight finalists, while Lakeshore’s Nicole Nouvion was holding on in fourth.
“You never know. Every day, it changes,” Nouvion said on the phone from Toronto on Friday.
“One day, my (rank) was really low, and the next day, I was almost tied with someone.”
Started on Aug. 6, the competition allows online voters to decide who should be given the coveted final spot on the cheerleading squad of Toronto’s NBA team.
LaSalle dancer Holly Holmes. (Dax Melmer / The Windsor Star)
Visitors to the official site can cast one vote per day for the dancer of their choice. The voting closes midnight this Sunday.
Holmes, 21, has taken to social media to campaign for votes.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Nouvion is hoping voters like her own moves. “I’m in the Top 5, and I think we’re all really close,” she said on Friday. “I have two more days to hope for the best.”
Pick the Pak finalist Nicole Nouvion. (Foot Locker)
A graduate of the University of Windsor and the University of Ottawa with degrees in biology and education, Nouvion has been dancing since childhood. She believes she first started moving to music when she was three years old.
At the age of 11, she became a member of the Essex County Dancers, a competitive team.
Nouvion’s local experience has included time with such studios as Nancy Pattison’s Dance World, The Dance Barre, and the Pure Academy of the Performing Arts in Chatham.
Now she’s hoping to take her dancing career to the next level with the Raptors.
“I just think it would be a great experience,” Nouvion said on Friday. “I think it would be really fun to get up in front of a crowd every day and just perform.”
Pick the Pak finalist Holly Holmes. (Foot Locker)
Although Nouvion is in direct competition with Holmes for the last spot on the Dance Pak, there’s no ill will between them.
Nouvion said she and Holmes knew each other previously from teaching at the same Windsor-Essex dance studios.
They auditioned for the Dance Pak together, and Holmes even stayed at Nouvion’s place in Toronto during the audition process.
Nouvion — a Gemini — says her favourite musical artist is Beyonce, she does yoga to stay limber, she enjoys singing while driving, and her worst habit is nail-biting.
Holmes — a Scorpio — says she’s adept at old video games, can fake an English accent, enjoys sailing, and has the hidden talent of being able to kick herself in the head.
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