Characters / The Next Step

This is the character sheet for The Next Step.

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Current A-Troupe members

Amy

Played by Shelby Bain, Seasons 4 - 8 (regular)

• Beware the Nice Ones: Joins AcroNation in Season 6 after being overlooked by Michelle and Emily
• The Cutie: Amy is an incessantly sweet character who seeks nothing more than everybody's happiness. When she gets nervous, she acts in a particularly goofy fashion.
• Dude Magnet: La Troy, Henry, Ty and Finn have all been interested in her.

Cleo

Played by Danielle Verayo, Season 7 - present (regular)

• The Trickster: Has a tendency to scheme due to her desire to dance on A-Troupe. Still, Richelle sees through this.

Heathcliff

Played by Carter Musselman, Seasons 6a (recurring) 6b (guest) 7 - present (regular)

• Arch-Enemy: Is this to Ozzy

Lily

Played by Katie Ortencio, Seasons 6 (recurring) 7 - present(regular)

• I Just Want to Have Friends: While she wouldn't admit it, she is upset that A-trope doesn't like her and does genuinely attempt to befriend Richelle.
• What You Are in the Dark: Lily is horrified when she learns that her mother cheated to win Regionals and turns her in.

Kingston

Played by Noah Zulfikar, Season 5 - present (regular)

• Naïve Newcomer: Before joining The Next Step in Season 5, he’s a self-proclaimed ‘basement dancer’ who posts videos online of his dancing. Over subsequent seasons, his technique improves with the help of ballet lessons.

Kenzie

Played by Emmerly Tinglin, Season 6 - present (regular)

• Hidden Depths: She went to Space Camp
• Sassy Black Woman: Exhibits these traits to someone

Finn

Played by Liam Mackie, Seasons 6 - present (regular)

• Cloudcuckoolander: Has bouts of this
• Old Shame: Was in a ‘Fruity-Moons’ commercial when he was younger. He uses this to help Piper with her trepidation before the Regionals routine.
• Nice Guy: Is an all-around friendly guy. When Ozzy admits his feelings for Richelle, he respectfully backs off. He also helps Piper with her anxiety during Season 6.

Ozzy

Played by Julian Lombardi, Season 5 - present (regular)

• Abhorrent Admirer: is this to Richelle in Season 5. Though she does eventually warm up to him later on, she still finds his affections annoying.

Piper

Played by Alexandra Chaves, Season 4 - present (regular)

• Naïve Everygirl: To an extent. Piper proves to be very trusting of others and believes that no one will do wrong to her so long as she does not do wrong to them. This is why she is especially hurt when Michelle manipulates her into messing up her audition and when she catches Riley cheating on James.
• It's Personal: Piper holds a large grudge against Alfie and Riley after she finds the two kissing, since James, who was dating Riley at the time, is her older brother. Although, Piper does eventually forgive the two.

Richelle

Played by Briar Nolet, Seasons 2 - 3 (recurring) 4 - present (regular)

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• Fatal Flaw: Whenever situations get hard, she tends to push those she cares about away.
• Little Miss Badass: Richelle is an extremely talented and strong dancer, despite being one of the smallest among her peers. She frequently astounds with her talent and knows that she is good.
• Love Is a Weakness: Richelle more or less says this when she develops a crush on Noah and it proves to be unrequited.
• The Stoic: Even in the heat of tension or in the midst of drama, Richelle rarely shows any emotion other than nonchalance.

Current Studio Heads

Nick

New studio head from Britain, though he has no proficiency in dancingPlayed by Myles Dobson, Seasons 7-present

Former Studio Heads

Angela

• Cheaters Never Prosper: Cheats her way to win regionals and gets turned in.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Is introduced as a multiple times winner of Regionals, but is eventually revealed as a cheater.
• Jerkass: Openly condescending to the dancers and constantly makes up rules.
• Nepotism: Makes her daughter Lily the dance captain, in flagrant defiance of studio rules and despite her obvious ineptitude at the position.
• Repalcement Scrappy: In-Universe, she replaces Michelle and Emily as studio head and is such an awful excuse not only as a studio head, but as a human being, that the two get brought back before the end of the season.

Former A-Troupe members/Otherwise major characters

Alfred "Alfie"

Played by Giuseppe Bausilio, Season 4 (regular) 7a (guest)

• Gratuitous French: Alfie is fluent in French.
• Gratuitous German: Alfie is discovered to be fluent in Swiss German, after it is revealed that he is from Switzerland.
• Rebel Prince: Alfie regularly runs away from his duties as prince. During one of his rendezvous, he even worked at a cafe for three months. After running away from home once more, Alfie ends up at The Next Step Dance Studio. When the Swiss Ambassador to his kingdom is alerted of his presence at the studio, she attempts to get him to return to his princely duties. Alfie refuses and is eventually allowed to remain dancing, thus neglecting his duties as prince.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: During his Confession Cam, Alfie is often found concocting ways to woo Riley, usually in an elaborate fashion. When Alfie decides to proclaim his love for Riley, he does so after playing and singing her a song on his guitar. For their first date, Alfie gets Riley caviar all the way from France and hires a professional violinist to play for them.

Summer

Played by Sage Linder, Seasons 6 - 7 (regular)

• Homeschooled Kids: Summer is homeschooled due to her scientist mother, who travels a lot. Her dad homeschools her.
• Nice Girl: Summer is cordial with everyone, though she does have her limits, like being undermined as dance captain. Nevertheless, this does come to her detriment as it makes her unable to criticise people accordingly.

Henry

Played by Isaiah Peck, Seasons 4 - 7(regular)

• Did Not Get the Girl: Despite Henry's alleged happy and wholesome relationship with his now ex-girlfriend, Jackie, she left him for a new boy that moved in next door.
• Love Hurts: Henry is basically this trope incarnate. Henry is often found lamenting about his failed relationship with his past girlfriend, Jackie, who was his alleged best friend and love of his life. Henry claims that after she left him for another guy, he hid away and ate gummy bears.
• Magical Negro: Henry is never at the forefront of the plot nor in any particular dramatic scenario, but is almost always providing his peers with advice.
• Mellow Fellow: Henry is a very calm character who rarely stresses out. He has even admitted that "being calm is sorta [his] thing."

Emily

Played by Alexandra Beaton, Seasons 1 - 2 (regular) 3a (recurring) 3b (guest) 4b (guest) 5- 7 (regular)

• Alpha Bitch: What Emily is throughout most of Season 1, especially toward Michelle.
• Break the Haughty: Emily goes through this during her entire appearance on the show. Emily loses her position as dance captain to her rival, has to turn all of her friends against her, is forced to break up with her boyfriend, is temporarily suspended from the studio for allegedly stealing the studio's money, and suffers from a career-ending knee injury.
• Character Development: Emily goes from a Draconian dance captain to a character who genuinely feels remorseful for her past actions, believes that she is awful to be around, and will do absolutely anything for her team.
• Heel–Face Turn: Emily is the main character to undergo this.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Emily appears to be a borderline narcissist during her initial appearance, but later reveals that her attitude is merely a cover up for her insecurity in regards to her dancing.

Amanda

Played by Logan Fabbro, Seasons 1 (recurring) 2 - 4 (regular)

• Character Development: Amanda starts off as a genuinely mean and Draconian dance captain, only to later become a mole with her sole intention to be to ensure that her rival team fails. Amanda eventually becomes aware of her vindictive nature and attempts to become a better individual, of which she ultimately does become. Amanda even references that she used to be very mean, but is now a "big old softie."
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Amanda has to constantly prove her loyalty to A-Troupe after being exposed to The Mole. She is made an alternate in Season 3 and Season 4.
• Heel–Face Turn: Next to Emily, Amanda is perhaps the greatest example of this. Amanda begins as one of the show's major antagonists, but slowly becomes a well-meaning protagonist.
• Statuesque Stunner: Amanda is one of the tallest of her peers. Although, her height has never acted at an issue like it has for, say, Cassie. Amanda has been commended for her height, in fact, as her peers have claimed that it allows to have the best extensions when she dances.
• The Mole: Amanda originally joins The Next Step in an attempt to infiltrate the studio and prevent them from getting to Nationals, under the guise that she is a changed person who just wants to dance.
• What Does She See in Him?: This is the subliminal reaction that many of Amanda's peers have when it is discovered that she likes Noah. This is probably due to the fact that she and Noah appear to be polar opposites, and Amanda is much taller and more developed than Noah is.

Cassie

Played by Allie Goodbun, Season 4 (regular)

• Apologises a Lot: Cassie tends to apologize quite a bit, especially after saying something that may be deemed too honest or too pessimistic.
• Brutal Honesty: Cassie is known for her inability to tell a lie, much to the chagrin of her peers.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Cassie is extremely tall and easily taller than all of her male peers. This acts as a large (buh dum tss) insecurity for Cassie, who fears that she will never stop growing. Additionally, it has proven to make her peers uncomfortable.
• The Cynic: Cassie is known to say things that are harshly pessimistic, which she often apologizes for. Although, it is revealed that Cassie's cynicism mostly stems from the belief that if she always proclaims the worst that can happen, it won't actually happen.

Chloe

Played by Jennifer Pappas, Seasons 1 - 3a (regular) 3b (guest) 6b (guest)

• Break the Cutie: After her father loses his job, Chloe is forced to work two jobs in order to pay for dance. This results in Chloe arriving to class late, having to leave class early, and being a victim of mockery and accusations of a lack of dedication because she is too embarrassed to tell her wealthier peers about her circumstances. Later, Chloe is even accused of stealing the studio's money.
• Extreme Doormat: Due to her extremely non-confrontational behaviour, Chloe tends to be a pushover.
• The Cutie: Chloe is genuinely a sweet and innocent character who only wishes to help her peers.

Cierra

Played by Cierra Healey, Seasons 3 (regular 4a (recurring)

• Beware the Quiet Ones: When her younger sister, Skylar, backs out on their deal that either both of them of neither of them makes it onto A-Troupe, Cierra undergoes an uncharacteristic bout of anger.
• Break the Cutie: Despite wanting nothing more than to dance with her sister, Cierra does not make it into A-Troupe a second time. Why? She messes up her audition because she is too busy worrying about said sister.
• The Cutie: Cierra is a very sweet character who is never a part of the plot's main drama.

Daniel

Played by Brennan Clost, Seasons 1 - 2a (regular) 2b - 3a (recurring) 3b - 4a (guest) 5 (regular)

• Jerkass: Daniel proves to be utterly obnoxious after he loses his solo to Eldon in Season 2. Until late Season 3, Daniel does nothing more than attempt to sabotage The Next Step. He even goes as far as joining Elite.
• Heel–Face Turn: After Daniel does not get onto A-Troupe to replace Chloe, in favour of Stephanie, Daniel finally realizes that he has been mean, which is why his former friends have all turned against him. From then on, Daniel comes to his former team's aid by getting Lucien fired as a judge and acting as a guest choreographer for auditions.
• The Perfectionist: Very much applies to Daniel in regards to his dancing.

Davis

Played by Berkeley Ratzlaff, Season 6b (regular)

• The Glorious Warof Sisterly Rivalry: Has this with Jacquie. She has a sense of resentment for Jacquie because she wouldn’t be seen as anything other than ‘blonde Jacquie’

Eldon:

Played by Issac Lupien, Seasons 1 - 3 (regular) 4(recurring) 6a (guest) 6b (recurring) 7a (guest)

• Cannot Talk to Women: This is only the case with Emily. Eldon has difficultly saying anything meaningful to Emily and, when he does, he is shut down.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Despite his difficulty speaking to women and general idiocy, Eldon has had the same amount of girlfriends as James has been revealed to have.
• Dumb Blond: Eldon is easily the dumbest character on the show and he's - you guessed it - blond.
• Fatal Flaw: In terms of relationships, his maturity did not equate to his dancing, leading to ruining things with Emily and Michelle. He eventually rectifies in Season 3, earning a stable relationship with Thalia.
• Genius Ditz: Although Eldon is unintelligent, he is very competent when it comes to dance.

Giselle

Played by Jordan Clark, Seasons 1 - 3 (regular), 7a (guest)

• Ascended Extra: Despite getting back into A-Troupe after episodes in B-Troupe, Giselle is just... there.
• Demoted to Extra: Giselle becomes a member of B-Troupe at the on-set of Season 1 and, thus, a minor character.
• Fiery Redhead: Not only is Giselle a dancer who was hyperactive as a child, but she is outgoing, fun-loving, loud, and universally loved by her peers.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Giselle's mindset while in B-Troupe.

Heather

Played by Hanna Miller, Seasons 4a (guest) 4b (recurring) 5 (regular) 6a (guest)

Hunter

Played by Zac Vran, Seasons 2 (regular) 3a (recurring) 3b (guest)

• Hidden Heart of Gold: When Hunter arrives at The Next Step, he appears to be a total pain in the butt. But, Hunter turns out to be a pretty good guy.

Jacquie

Played by Dylan Ratzlaff, Seasons 5-6 (regular)

• Genius Slob: She’s great at dancing, but not as proficient as keeping her locker tidy

James

Played by Trevor Tordjman, Seasons 1 - 4 (regular) 5 (guest) 7a (guest)

• Book Dumb: James is extremely bad at math and, although to a lesser extent, geography. In Season 1, he is pulled out of the studio because he is flunking math and barely passing any of his other classes. Outside of school, James is quite street smart.
• Family Man: James is extremely close to his family, especially his younger sister, Piper. In fact, he is so close to his sister that he flies back to the studio all the way from England because he sees her crying when they video-chat. How sweet.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: James definitely exhibits this toward Riley. In fact, he has even says that a part of the reason he likes Riley is because she has "some sorta kryptonite" that he digs.
• Ladykiller in Love: James is introduced as a ladies man who has dated many girls before the series' beginning, namely Amanda and Beth. Although, James eventually falls for Riley who appears to be the only girl completely immune to his charms. Eventually, James falls in love with Riley and begins a long relationship with her.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Despite being white and presumably upper middle class, James almost always uses slang in a faux-urban accent. To top it all off, he's a hip-hop dancer... who raps.
• Street Smart: Despite performing comically badly in school, James knows his way around the city and is able to concoct intelligent plans and schemes.
• The Charmer: James is known to charm the ladies.
• The Prankster: James loves practical jokes and has even deemed himself to be a "pranker" who, more or less, cannot be pranked.
• "You!" Exclamation: James more or less says this when he encounters Alfie whom his girlfriend, Riley, is cheating on him with.

Josh

Played by Dawson Handy, Season 5

LaTroy

Played by Akiel Julien, Seasons 4 - 5a (regular) 5b (recurring) 6 (guest)

• Clueless Chick-Magnet: LaTroy is very shocked to find that both Sloane and Amy like him and doesn't realize as much until they both say it outright.
• Oblivious to Love: LaTroy is completely unaware of his childhood friend (Sloane)'s crush on him until she and Henry tell him as much.

Kate

Played by Bree Wasylenko, Seasons 1 - 3 (regular) 4a (recurring) 5a (guest) 5b - 6a (recurring) 6b - 7a (guest)

• Actor-Shared Background: Bree Wasylenko who plays her is a highly skilled dancer and street dancer.
• Adults Are Useless: The epitome of this trope. She rarely knows what is going on with her young dancers.
• Informed Attribute: According to Word of God, she is a badass but this is not shown on-screen. A Story Arc concerning her badass status never got beyond discussion stage.
• Team Mom: She's this to all the dancers.

Lola

Played by Jessica Lord, Season 5

• Aborted Arc: Had the set-up for a romance with Kingston, but left because her actress, Jessica Lord, started filming the Hulu show ‘Find Me in Paris’
• Nice Girl: She’s the first person on Emily’s A-Troupe to genuinely try to be Richelle’s friend

Max

Played by Devon Brown, Seasons 1 (recurring) 2a (guest) 2b (recurring) 3 (regular) 4a (guest)

• Gentle Giant: Max is very tall and stoic, but not a mean guy. In fact, he likes to square dance with his mom on weekends.
• The Quiet One: Honestly his only purpose on the show
• Running Gag: Him needing some milk.
• The Stoic: In conjunction to being quiet

Michelle

Played by Victoria Baldesarra, Seasons 1 - 6 (regular) 7a (recurring)

• Character Development: Michelle undergoes drastic character development throughout her time on the series. Michelle is initially very innocent and timid, complete with golden hair and talent that she does not wish to brag about, but eventually becomes a borderline vindictive and haughty individual whose sole goal is to win.
• Dude Magnet: Michelle draws the attention of many guys, to the point that two of them actually have a ''dance battle'' for her heart.
• Face–Heel Turn: Although not to a drastic extent, Michelle undergoes this. Michelle changes from an innocent, mild-tempered girl to one who manipulates her younger more impressionable peers in order for her to come out victorious.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Michelle has blonde hair throughout the series and is initially very innocent and kind, as well as deemed to be pretty and talented. As the series progresses, this trope is very much subverted.
• Hypocrite: Michelle is quick to antagonize those who do her wrong even when she has done the same. A prominent example of this is when Michelle tells Emily that she is disrespecting her past history with Hunter after seeing Emily and Hunter kiss. Although, a season ago, Michelle pursued and eventually began dating Eldon despite him being with Emily.
• Naïve Everygirl: When Michelle arrives at The Next Step, she proves to be blissfully naïve, kind-hearted, and very slow to any form of anger. She is the unassuming target of all of Emily's insults and schemes. Michelle truly wants nothing more than to dance and make friends.
• Shrinking Violet: Michelle is initially quite shy and almost completely unable to defend herself. There are often points in the series when somebody will be victimizing her and she will be left utterly speechless.

Noah:

Played by Myles Erlick, Seasons 1 (guest) 2a (recurring) 2b (guest) 3 - 6 (regular)

• Cannot Talk to Women: Noah exhibits this when he is crushing on Abi.
• Foil: to Richelle. Both of them start off in J-Troupe. Noah makes A-Troupe in Season 3, whereas Richelle has to wait another dance season to compete in Regionals
• Suddenly Always Knew That: Somewhat subverted. Noah has very high spacial awareness, to the point that he can catch objects with a blindfold on. This is established before it is useful, but is only known by Cierra, Eldon, and West. When this ability proves useful for a blindfolded round of the Internationals competition, it is a shock to every other dancer.

Phoebe

Played by Natalie Krill, Seasons 2 - 3 (regular) 4b (guest)

• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite being incredibly odd and generally unhelpful, Phoebe maintains her job as head choreographer of The Next Step. It seems as though she is able to keep every job she has, in fact; before being head choreographer she saves dolphins and after being head choreographer, she works in the Galapagos Islands.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Phoebe's head appears to be perpetually in the clouds.

Riley

Played by Brittany Raymond, Seasons 1 - 4 (regular) 5 (guest) 7a (guest)

• Brainy Brunette: Riley is initially very intelligent and observant. [[Irony Ironically]], it is when she dies her hair blonde that she becomes strikingly dumber.
• Dumb Blonde: Although Riley is a natural brunette, she later dyes her hair blonde. Coincidentally, it is in the season that she becomes a blonde when much of her staple decisiveness and intelligence falls to the wayside.
• Fangirl: Riley is in love with the band, Brighter Brightest. She grows very nervous in the band's presence to the point that the band members believe she is speaking Swahili when she begins babbling.

Skylar

Played by Skylar Healey, Seasons 3 (recurring) 4 (regular) 5 (guest)

• Beware the Quiet Ones: Skylar appears to be sweet and quiet for most of her initial appearance, but once pushed, this is not the case. After the team loses the qualifier Skylar takes it onto herself to formulate a group of dancers in the hopes of dethroning Riley as studio head. Ouch.

Sloane

Played by Erika Prevost, Seasons 4 (regular) 5 (guest) 6b (guest)

• Token Minority: Sloane is the only Asian dancer on A-Troupe during season 4 and the only Asian dancer ever to be on A-Troupe. Additionally, she is the only Asian person/racial minority in the Zero Percent Club.
• Gratuitous French: Sloane is revealed to be of partial French descent, as well as fluent in French. At one point, she is used as a waitress on Alfie and Riley's date purely because she can speak French.

Stephanie

Played by Samantha Grecchi, Season 1 (regular) 2-3a (recurring) 3b (regular) 4a (recurring) 7a (guest)

• Beta Bitch: Throughout Season 1, Stephanie's sole purpose is being Emily's right-hand woman.
• Demoted to Extra: In Season 2, Stephanie becomes this after being demoted to B-Troupe.

Thalia

Played by Taveeta Szymanowicz, Season 2 - 3 (regular) 4a (guest) 4b (recurring) 5a (guest) 6 (regular)

• Cloudcuckoolander: Thalia is revealed to be this later on in the series

Tiffany

Played by Tamina Pollack-Paris, Season 1 (regular) 2 (recurring) 4a (guest)

• Demoted to Extra: This applies to Tiffany when she is demoted to B-Troupe
• Sassy Black Woman: Tiffany very much embodies this

West

Player by Lamar Johnson, Season 1-3 (regular) 4 (recurring) 5 (main) 7a (guest)

• Cloudcuckoolander: West is very odd and his sanity is often questioned.

Zara

Played by Milaina Robinson, Season 5

Minor characters

Abi

• Dumb Blonde: To a lesser extent. Displayed only in a conversation she has with Richelle.
  Richelle: You don't really see paisley much in these magazines anymore.
  Abi: Oh yeah... I think she retired a while ago.
  Richelle: Not the model. The pattern.
  Abi: Oh...
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After her actress, Abigail Bergman, ran away from home and was fired, Abi was completely written off of the show with no explanation for or nod toward her disappearance.

Beth

• The Ditz: Beth's main function on the series is to be this trope.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Although Beth is clearly obsessed with James, she decides to finally give him up after realizing that he loves Riley, not her.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Beth acts this way toward James for most of her appearance, until she finally gives him up.

Charlie

• Dumb Muscle: Charlie is thought to be very handsome by his female peers, but is clearly unintelligent. He is quick to flaunt his abs and arm muscles, but is not too keen on saying anything profound. To really hit the nail on the head, he only reads fitness magazines and his main hobby is doing push-ups.

Chris

• Adults Are Useless: Although to a lesser extent than Kate, Chris is hardly aware of what is going on in the dancers' lives.
• Demoted to Extra: Chris becomes this when he leaves his position at The Next Step to co-own a rival studio, Superstar Dance.

Ella

• Evil Brit: Despite her carefree nature, Ella turns out to be an antagonist when she steals Riley's solo and wins the female solo round with it.
• I Have Brothers: Ella is tomboy-ish, which she deems a result of her five older brothers.
• The Prankster: Ella is an infamous prankster.

Lucien

• Evil Old Folks: Lucien is an elderly man who is the main rival to the protagonists.

Margie

• Guardian Angel: Margie is said to be this to Chloe when she disappears into thin air.

Tess

• Beta Bitch: Tess is this to Amanda until Amanda turns good.