Renowned dancers, Les Twins, are well known for dancing with Beyoncé, but they have also been working hard on helping to bring awareness to youth mental health. They recently partnered with Kids Write Network (KWN) to help raise awareness about youth mental health through the arts.
Larry and Laurent Bourgeois, more famously known as Les Twins, are currently dancing on tour with Beyoncé and will be kicking off their RISE for Mental Health U.S. tour in Atlanta in October.
Les Twins Have Partnered With Kids Write Network For Youth Mental Health Awareness
While the popular dancing duo is currently touring with Beyoncé during her Renaissance World Tour, they are also working to make a difference in awareness of youth mental help through movement.
The duo is passionate about using movement to help heal and felt KWN’s 6-step program was a natural fit for them.
“Each person has a unique story that has allowed us to show people how to tell their own story through dance. We have worked using our dance/movement all our lives to heal people so to be working with the KWN 6-step program was a natural alignment for us,” they exclusively told The Blast.
“The KWN has had a positive impact on mental health. It is the only mental health intervention that has been adapted and implemented into four arts – writing, art, music and now dance being the last one with us. It made sense, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”
While the professional dancers don’t want to give away what they do in the workshops, they explained that there are “exercises that we use that show students and teachers how strong their resilience, confidence, and determination is.”
“Students are struggling with confidence because of past issues, or current. Once they have gone through the workshop, they have this incredible sense of freedom which is our goal; to give participants another option to help them deal with their emotions that puts them back in control to make positive choices,” they said.
“We believe that mental health is about being able to focus and have discipline. It isn’t about having something ‘wrong.’ It is about handling all the difficult situations we are faced with, or negativity we may feel or encounter and processing it in more positive ways that puts us back on track to our focus and discipline.”
Les Twins are looking forward to being in the U.S. for the RISE for Mental Health tour later this year and “being able to give youth the confidence they need and should have to be able to live the best version of their lives.”
“We have worked with thousands of students over the years, and we have seen how mental health can impact them,” they told The Blast. “Being able to show them that they can clear the chaos and control their outcomes is the ultimate gift we can give.”
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The renowned dancers want people to know that no matter what, you can and will succeed with the right mindset.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, you can do whatever your mind decided,” they said.
“We made it here because we worked hard, didn’t let anything stop us from achieving our goals, and stayed the course no matter how many obstacles were put in our way. If there is one thing, we want youth to know is that your body follows what your mind tells it. You will be able to succeed in whatever you put your mind to. Every dream can become your reality.”
Les Twins Have Been Dancing Their Whole Lives
The dancing duo, who was born and raised in France, come from a large family and said they’ve always had dance in their lives. They started dancing on the streets of Paris at the young age of 13 and quickly rose to prominence in Europe. They have not only been dancing with Beyoncé for more than a decade but were also the first dancers to sign to the Jordan brand as artists, handpicked by Michael Jordan himself.
“We have had dance in our house since we were born. We felt comfortable doing it. We felt confident in what we were doing because it was natural for us,” they exclusively told The Blast.
“We are often asked how we dance the way we do, and we tell them; this is our gift to share with the world and we show others how to trust themselves and just follow their body. Music is the question; your body is the answer.”
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When asked about the opportunity to be a part of Beyoncé‘s tour, they simply said, “Any opportunity to share our gift is always special to us.”
They also said that they love how the summer has started for them being on tour with Beyoncé, and they are looking forward to the RISE for Mental Health launch in Atlanta in October.
